Mount Prospect moving forward with flood relief projects

Mount Prospect is moving ahead with construction projects intended to reduce flooding for neighborhoods near the Des Plaines River in the northeast part of town.

The village board on Tuesday accepted a bid from DiMeo Brothers Inc. to conduct up to $4.4 million in drainage improvements at Burning Bush Trails Park, near Levee 37. The initiative, which involves an intergovernmental agreement with the River Trails Park District, will address flooding that occurs in the area during heavy rains and when river levels are high, officials say.

The project is the first of two flood-control efforts the village is pursuing with the park district. The other is to the north at Aspen Trails Park.

"Everybody in the neighborhood is for this, if it can help the entire neighborhood," said village Trustee William Grossi, whose house borders the area targeted for the work.

A 2015 flood study by Christopher B. Burke Engineering Ltd. found that the capacity of pumps along the levee in Mount Prospect is inadequate during significant rainstorms, which have occurred more frequently than anticipated.

Among the work in the Burning Bush Trails Park project is the construction of a stormwater detention facility on the eastern half of the park.

"It will provide offline storage during severe weather events, so (water) doesn't get stored in the streets and in basements," Public Works Director Sean Dorsey said.

To help fund the work, the village received a $1.3 million grant from the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago.

"You and your public works department have done a tremendous job over the last four years putting this together," Trustee Richard Rogers, who lives in the area, told Dorsey. "I think this is going to be great for our community and especially for that area just west of the river."

Dorsey said the project could be finished in May or June.