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Home My WebLink About07/09/2019 COW Minutes Mount Pax.417,7 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MINUTES — July 9, 2019 — 31d Floor, Village Board Room Village Hall, 50 S. Emerson Street 1. ROLL CALL— CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 7:06 p.m. in the Village Board Room of the Village Hall, 50 South Emerson Street, by Mayor Arlene Juracek. Trustees present included William Grossi, Eleni Hatzis, Paul Hoefert, Richard Rogers, Colleen Saccotelli and Michael Zadel. Staff present included Village Manager Michael Cassady, Village Clerk Karen Agoranos, Director of Public Works Sean Dorsey, Director of Community Development Bill Cooney, Director of Finance Amit Thakkar, Deputy Chief of Police Mike Eterno, Director of Building and Inspection Services Bill Schroeder, Director of Human Services Julie Kane, Fire Chief Brian Lambel, Deputy Director of Public Works Jason Leib, Village Engineer Jeff Wulbecker, Assistant Village Engineer Matt Lawrie and Management Analyst Alexander Bertolucci. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Trustee Saccotelli, seconded by Trustee Zadel moved to approve the minutes of the Committee of the Whole meeting of June 11, 2019. The minutes were approved by unanimous voice vote. 3. CITIZENS TO BE HEARD Jerry Boldt 300 N. School St. Mr. Boldt stated he has experienced an increase in power outages recently and urged ComEd to resolve this issue. 4. DISCUSSION ITEMS 4.1 Private Property Drainage Assistance Program Village Engineer Jeff Wulbecker provided the Board with the history and current state of the Private Property Drainage Assistance Program and plans for its future. Mr. Wulbecker explained the reasons and conditions for the existence of drainage issues. There are different factors that affect drainage of a property; manmade factors that include landscaping, fences, sheds and regrading and natural factors that include soil conditions, tree roots, bushes and settlement. Mr. Wulbecker outlined three common elements shared by properties where backyard flooding exists: 1. Properties accept storm water from higher neighboring properties 2. Collected storm water volume exceeds absorption abilities of the yard 3. Storm water becomes trapped in yard; no outlet Mr. Wulbecker provided a brief history of the program, stating that before the 1980s, the Village held the position that if flooding occurred on private property, it was the responsibility of the property owner to resolve. During the late 1980s, the Village adopted a policy to assist homeowners by offering to survey the property, identify the problem and Committee of the Whole Page 1 of 3 5/14/2019 provide a design to the property owner, all performed by Village staff, at no cost to the property owner. This however, resulted in low project implementation due to the high cost of construction. The Village sought to further assist residents and developed a policy in the 1990s that provided financial assistance to homeowners by offering to share the cost of construction and reimburse homeowners for improvements made within the public right-of-way. The Village would also continue to provide the homeowner with the plans to do so at no cost. During this period, staff designed plans for 73 properties and 6 were constructed. In 2008, the Village implemented the Backyard Drainage Program to further alleviate the financial burden placed on homeowners. Through this program, the Village would absorb all costs associated with backyard flooding. Staff would continue to survey and develop plans. From 2009-2018, 59 design plans were prepared by staff; 27 were constructed. In 2015, changes were made to the program to address the increase in properties requiring assistance, creating a backlog of those waiting for funding which affected project completion in a reasonable timeframe. These changes are the Village's current practice today. Mr. Wulbecker outlined the key elements of the current program. Staff will continue to provide consultation, survey of the site and design to minimize flooding. Some flooding issues can be resolved by re-grading the site. Mr. Wulbecker stated that as staff responds to residents' requests, each is placed in a flood risk category "A,""B"or"C." This evaluation system is for those properties most in need. Mr.Wulbecker provided conditions for each category. The Backyard Drainage Program includes an element of homeowner financial participation. The homeowner is responsible for 25% of the construction cost with maximum cost of$5,000. Since 2015, the number and intensity of significant rainfalls has increased, leading to an increase in requests for assistance. Mr. Wulbecker provided a status on the current program. Mr. Wulbecker stated staff has a backlog of 78 plans remaining to be prepared. With no dedicated staff member to perform this task, staff is able to complete approximately fifteen plans per year. Mr. Wulbecker stated it takes forty staff hours to complete one plan. Mr. Wulbecker displayed and provided details on a typical backyard drainage program design. Mr.Wulbecker shared other municipality's approaches to resolve the same issues, as all share similar problems. Mr. Wulbecker stated staff has provided assistance to over 2,000 property owners and significant staff hours have been utilized preparing plans that are never constructed. This results in very few improvements and little or no relief for flooding properties. Mr. Wulbecker provided the following staff recommendation: 1. Staff will continue to respond to private property flooding assistance requests that will include classification and recommendations for resolution based on visual observations 2. Village will continue to prepare design plans and award contracts for flood risk "A" issues 3. Village will no longer prepare design plans for flood risk "B" and "C" properties and will not be eligible for the Village-funded backyard drainage program 4. Staff will use available funds in the 2019 budget to hire a consulting engineer to complete backlog of backyard drainage designs for those properties previously Committee of the Whole Page 2 of 3 5/14/2019 promised drainage designs. Once completed, design work for flood risk properties "B" and "C" will cease. Board Comments • Wise for residents to contact Public Works instead of outside companies to seek direction pertaining to these issues • Suggested fee to prepare plans so residents will have a financial investment in project; might increase implementation of plans • Suggested public education opportunities for residents to address causes, increase awareness and to become better informed • Appreciated comparisons to other communities who are facing similar issues • Supports staff proposal • Some of the existing issues have been created by neighbors who have re-graded their own lots • Public education is important Mr. Wulbecker provided the following in response to questions/comments from the Board • Engineer's estimate to prepare plans is between $3,000 -$3,500 • No funding set aside for staff to prepare plans • Older subdivisions typically experience more problems • Will explore opportunities to educate public through resident workshops and self- education programs via the Village website • Property owners must maintain drainage just as you need to maintain driveways, etc. Trustee Hoefert left the meeting at 8:13 p.m. 5. MANAGER'S REPORT Village Manager Michael Cassady announced Talk and Chalk will take place on Saturday and invited all families, young and old, to attend. 6. ANY OTHER BUSINESS Trustee Grossi urged all taxpayers to review their tax bill for accuracy, especially those who qualify for a Senior Freeze in Wheeling Township. If you feel an error has been made, you must complete a Certificate of Error form available on the Wheeling Township website. 7. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 8:16 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Karen Agoranos Village Clerk Committee of the Whole Page 3 of 3 5/14/2019