RIFORD ROAD RESIDENTS DISCUSS LAKE ELLYN FLOODING WITH VILLAGE

The Village Board Meeting on Monday, January 13 was attended by several Riford Road residents impacted by flooding in July and August. Glen Ellyn Park District Board President Ed Hess, Ppark District Executive Director Cory Atwell and Bill Rickert from RHMG (Rezek, Henry, Meisenheimer and Gende, Inc.) were also in attendance.

The following is a summary of comments made by those in attendance during the 80 minute discussion.

Jerry Dentinger, 700 block of Riford Road:

On July when the berm at Lake Ellyn overflowed, he suffered over $50,000 in uninsurable losses. His FEMA check barely covers the loss.

There was no warning, no help. The Fire Department needs to be involved with this as well. No emergency personnel arrived on their street. The road was closed but people were still driving by and creating wakes in their houses.

Lake Ellyn is an 18 million gallon lake for stormwater. It is NOT for recreation and should NOT be managed by the Park District. Lake Ellyn should be managed by the Village.

Curt Kabat, 700 block of Riford Road:

Mr. Kabat showed a video of the flooding and stated it is dangerous, beyond dangerous. The flooding left a 20 ft wide sinkhole in his yard.

With the Village fixing roads and channeling more water into the Lake, it can no longer be managed with 20 year old plans.

No Emergency Response was present; during a similar severe flood in September 2008 the Fire Department evacuated his children with harnesses. This time no one was present to help. With every rain he feels that the levy gets weaker. “Who wants to buy my house? I live in a floodplain. I just want something to be fixed.”

PJ Sinopoli, 700 block of Riford Road:

Remarked: “It is intuitive. Clearly Lake Ellyn is taking in a lot more water than it used to”. Ms. Sinopoli requested that the Lake level be lowered and the berm raised.

Ms. Sinopoli thanked the Village and Park District Board for their genuine empathy.

Joe Sinopoli:

Requested that the inflow to the Lake be reinstated to where it was 15 years ago.

Dan Anderson, 600 Block of Essex:

Mr. Anderson pointed out that this issue is larger than Lake Ellyn and that the Village is suffering, in part from their own success. This flooding did not occur until we embarked on a campaign to improve stormwater and drainage – the process began upstream. And they have not yet finished the process downstream.

Earthen dams are vulnerable, we may need a spillway. He applauded all for talking about the problem and for being committed to seeking a resolution.

Frank Bachochin, 700 Block of Riford:

Five Step Plan to resolve this:
1) A new engineering plan that specifically addresses the levy on the north end;
2) Lower the Lake 2 feet and keep it that way until a plan is in place;
3) Develop am emergency warning plan for the affected residents;
4) Police and Village need to develop a plan to move those who are in danger;
5) Village Board and Public Works should manage the Lake, not the Park District.

Village President Mark Pfefferman:

Promised to work together with the Park District and seek a joint solution

Glen Ellyn Volunteer Fire Company Chief Scott Raffensparger:

Chief Raffensparger explained that the Glen Ellyn Volunteer Fire Company is prepared. They have a scuba team, boat, certified divers and they are swift water rescue certified. They are part of MABAS Illinois – Mutual Aid Box Alarm System as well as.

Steve Jones, Village Manager:

After the Park District Meeting on September 7 the Village and the Park District met to brainstorm. We are making progress. The flooding issue is not something we are proud of. This is our stormwater and we are absolute partners is seeking a solution.

We need a new engineering study; the last one is from 1991. We need answers to the following:

1) What is the condition – what is coming in and going out of the Lake:
2) Update the manual so management practices are in place:
3) Mitigation strategy to prevent flooding, minimize the damage and divert the water.

Park Board President Ed Hess:

Lake Ellyn is a passive entity for stormwater. We do not normally manage the water level but are trying to do so now to create a short term solution.

Patrick Engineering inspected the structural integrity of the dam after the September 2008 flooding and will inspect it again soon.

Joe Caracci, Director of Public Works:

This summer we had the largest recorded history of rainwater. The groundwater is high and 16% of the Village drains into Lake Ellyn. Sump pumps that were allowed to be hooked up to the storm sewers are not helping.

The July flood had 7” of rain in 5 hours and the system is not designed to handle that.

The Village of Glen Ellyn and the Glen Ellyn Park District are committed to resolving the flooding issue that is affecting these residents.

The following is a summary of improvements made to Lake Ellyn in 2005:

The low flow bypass system was installed with the funds from an anonymous donation to the Village of Glen Ellyn. The park district funded approximately $300,000 for the Vortex separators. There is an 18" pipe buried at the bottom of the lake, the reason for the piping is collect the low flow of water that drains into the lake and cause the thinning of the ice through the center of the lake. The vortex separators collect most of the debris that funnels into the lake through the storm piping within the village. The vortex separator's are cleaned out once per year by the Village of Glen Ellyn.

The piping system carries the water through the lake and then lets it flow out through the outlet on the North side of the lake as it always does. The low flow system cannot help additional water flow out during a rain event s such as the one this past July 24th. The system is to only drain the low trickle flow of water that is carried in the winter months when the snow and ice thaws throughout the village. Over 2/3 of the villages storm water flows through Lake Ellyn, and all of the central business district storm water flows into Lake Ellyn. All of that salty, garbage laden water funnels into Lake Ellyn. That's how the vortex separators and low flow piping works...

The next Regular Board Meeting of the Glen Ellyn Park District is scheduled for Tuesday, September 21, 2010 at 7:00 PM. The meetings are held at the Spring Avenue Recreation Center (SARC) 185 Spring Avenue. As with all meetings, the public is invited and welcome to attend.