Niles' Plan Should Help Avert Future Flooding

Jeff Wickencamp was eager to see just where, and how, Niles streets and homes flooded during the April 18 storm.

That's because Wickencamp, of Hey and Associates, is an engineer and consultant who has helped develop Niles' $15 million plan to alleviate future flooding.

He and the village's Stormwater Committee have extensively studied how and where the village floods, and drawn up computer models, upon which the flooding prevention plan is based. 

Earlier: Niles OKs $15 million plan to fight flooding

The good news he shared at a Niles village board meeting April 23 is that flooding occurred as the models forecast it would. That means the planned flood prevention projects should be effective.

"The models prepared for the stormwater program do a good job of reproducing what happened Thursday," he told the board. "As with any model, there are assumptions you make. There are a few things we’re going to change." 

The three major infrastructure projects planned

Asked to outline the village's three key stormwater relief projects, called the Tier One projects of the plan, Wickencamp noted they are:

1. The Cleveland Avenue project, a relief storm sewer that will discharge into the river. It will start from Monroe and Odell, and then go east down Cleveland Street into the river at Caldwell.
2. Centering around Greenwood Avenue and Normal (8300 north), relief storm sewers which will hold water at a future detention pond on the Our Lady of Ransom Church property.
3. At Maryhill Cemetary on Main and Lee Streets, a project to solve flooding from Main Street and Milwaukee Avenue to Lee Street and Harlem.

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Trustee Joe LoVerde, who has been active on the Stormwater Committee, called these the hotspot areas. 

Cleveland Street has gotten most priority so far

Wickencamp said the Cleveland Street project has taken priority so far, because it affects the greatest number of homeowners. It also doesn't require getting permission. The other two projects require the consent of Our Lady of Ransom Church, which Vinezeano said is discussing the issue with its parishioners, and Maryhill Cemetery, which is part of Catholic Cemeteries and the Archdiocese of Chicago. The village has been showing drawings of the proposed project to both of them.

"They have no reason to participate other than goodwill," Vinezeano observed.

Main Street project could move ahead

Trustee Rosemary Palicki thanked village employees for their hard work during the flood and said people who lived near Milwaukee Avenue had approached her with frustration because water levels approached three feet.

Vinezeano responded that the village could step on the gas with that project. 

"I would like to be able to go back to people and tell them something definite," Palicki commented.

These two projects could not be constructed at same time

Wickencamp cautioned that the village could not construct both the Cleveland project and the Maryhill/Main Street project at the same time. 

"(They are) parallel to each other, we couldn’t work on them at once because people need street access to their homes," he said.

The detention basin part of the project is a piece that could move forward next year, but the sewer part of it will take five to six years, he said.

LoVerde added that, although the board passed a 0.25 percent sales tax increase to fund stormwater relief, there are still funding issues.

"Maybe we need to brainstorm on funding," he said.

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