When Ashoor Yonan went to the podium to make a comment at the Morton Grove village board meeting Monday, he put a brave--even humorous--face on a dire situation. He referenced the fact that the board had earlier discussed the Oriole Pool, which is closed this summer for reconstruction.
"I’d like to thank the park district for (bringing the) water from Oriole Pool onto my block. The kids missed the pool so now it’s in my basement," he said.
Venturing into the darker aspects of the situation, he said, "I have a 1- and a 4-year-old living in a motel (because the house isn't fit to live in). I’ve lost a vehicle under water. My house floods in minutes," he said.
He and his wife bought their home, on the 9400 block of Ozanam, 10 years ago, and he said there are five houses on the block for sale, including two in foreclosure, because during storms, water just sits on their block.
"I can’t keep paying $20,000 every time my house floods," he said.
Another resident on the 9400 block of Ozanam, Donald Peterson, told the board his house has been hit during both floods this year, one in 2011 and three more before that.
"Is is possible anything could be done to correct the problem?" he queried. "In my area we have a lake. We have waves come in, water goes…almost up to my house."
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"It’s very frustrating."
Jonathan Li, who lives on Olcott and Dempster, said after the meeting that his home floods so often that the company which replaces his carpeting has his phone number on Caller ID, and when he calls, they ask, "Did your house flood again?"
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Joe Dahm of the village's public works department gave a report on the Wednesday, June 26 flood at the meeting before the residents spoke.
He said 3.75 inches of rain fell from 3:15 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.
"It was a significant amount of rain in a short time," he said.
Because it was garbage day, there was a problem with garbage bags floating down the street.
"The majority of streets reopened on or before 11 a.m.," he said, adding that village personnel took 150 resident calls about flooded streets, basements and alleys, and residents requesting sandbags.
Ultimately, he was not optimistic.
"If these rain events continue in the pattern they are, we will experience this again," he said.
Trustee Shel Marcus observed that when the village got some grant funding in the 1980s, it was successful in reducing flooding on Austin with new sewer lines.
Mayor Dan DiMaria expressed sympathy, saying, "We're aware of the situation. This is not a problem we can solve in six months or two years...But I do hear you, the board hears you, and Public Works hears you."
He alluded to the fact that infrastructure repairs needed to alleviate flooding are expensive.
In neighboring Niles, the village board approved raising the sales tax by 0.25 percent, with the revenue going to fund sewer upgrades and detention ponds to reduce flooding. The project has a $15.2 million price tag for its first phase alone.
Niles was able to do that because it has a significant sales tax base from Golf Mill Shopping Center and numerous stores. Morton Grove has a much less robust commercial tax base.
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