Journal & Topics Media Group

Elk Grove Village To Ramp Up Rear Yard Flood Remediation Program

By TOM ROBB Journal & Topics Reporter

Elk Grove Village Hall, also known as the Charles Zettek Municipal Complex, (Journal file photo)

Elk Grove Village trustees discussed ramping up existing programs dedicated to mitigating rear yard drainage issues and repairing sidewalks at their Tuesday, April 27 committee of the whole meeting. Both the sidewalk and yard issues relate to localized flooding.

Mayor Craig Johnson said addressing the two related issues on an ongoing permanent basis would require $1.5 million per year in dedicated funding. He said funding options for both sidewalks and rear yard drainage issues, along with a recently discussed ongoing road maintenance program, which would cost about $3.25 million, would require a dedicated funding source totaling about $5 million, which could require new or increased taxes. Johnson said financing options would be discussed at the Tuesday, May 11 village board meeting. 

Elk Grove Village’s physical structure for drainage was designed in the 1950s when the Centex Corporation designed the village. 

While homes in other communities typically see stormwater runoff move from the rear of a home across the front yard and into the streets, in Elk Grove Village, while grading of homes causes some stormwater to flow across the front yard, down sidewalks to driveways and out to the street, grading for a majority of home lots sees stormwater flow across backyards to a depressed area where backyards meet, which flows into stormwater intake areas at the ends of blocks.

Johnson said, in theory, the system worked well when it was designed, but consultants pointed to several factors which can interfere with that stormwater flow, including fencing and trees, areas built up to change the grading of yards over time, depressed areas of yards, and even an increased density in the soil of some rear yards preventing stormwater from easily soaking into the ground.

Combined with this are issues with sidewalks that can interfere with the outflow of water to driveways and into street storm sewers.

Consultants walked 190 miles of village sidewalks during dry conditions and drove past them after storm events.

Considering the flow of water across yards, onto sidewalks, out to driveways, and into sewers, areas of depressed sidewalks or higher yards and parkways can interfere with the stormwater flow. In some cases, sidewalks would need to be raised up, and yards or right of ways re-graded to allow stormwater to more naturally flow where it was designed to. 

Making issues worse, consultants presented an analysis of rain events, looking at both increased water volume and storm frequency over the last century.

The village has offered a program since 1997 to remediate rear yard flooding issues, with no cost share by homeowners. So far, since 1997, that program has addressed issues on 1,811 properties at a cost of about $4.7 million. The proposal for the ramped-up program is to nearly double that annual expense from about $800,000 to $1.5 million for rear yards and sidewalks. 

Johnson said the newer west side of the village is beginning to show its age, catching up to the number of storm and sidewalk-related issues with the east side of the village.

That existing rear yard program sees the village sometimes advise and sometimes install physical fixes to rear yard flooding, but usually only in cases where four contiguous property lots, either in a row along a street or homes whose rear yards meet back to back, to qualify for village assistance. 

That program was set to address programs on a first-come-first-served basis. Currently, the waiting list runs about eight years.

Johnson said the village would amend that practice to also consider the severity of issues and would also consider exceptions depending on the particular situation. Increased funding for the program would also reduce that backlog.

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One response to “Elk Grove Village To Ramp Up Rear Yard Flood Remediation Program”

  1. Brenda Zamudio says:

    I would just like to say my sidewalk floods so bad in front of my house that sometimes it’s flooded for days. I’m sure it’s not easy for people walking or walking their dogs or kids. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to send this

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