Flood - A Call to the Committed

Here is the question. Do YOU want to see this problem solved, or do you want to pass it to someone else to solve some day, or one day, in the future? Are you willing to take a stand or not? If you want to solve this, then continue reading.

Believe me, there are a lot of people who have no interest in solving this. For the stakeholders, who are those who will have to make the decision to expend hard cash to solve this, there are a lot of other things pulling at those dollars. So what would the popular decision be? Solve this problem, or avoid it and promote something with glitter, like a new statue on the COD campus, or downtown activities in Glen Ellyn and Wheaton?

If you were a politician, or an administrator or member of the board of the trustees of the "Community" College of DuPage, what would you do?  Frankly, the answer to that question is easy. Simply continue doing what has worked in the recent past, and avoid the difficult decision.

That is exactly the outcome to be expected after the flood of 2013. Why should you expect anything different? Left to their own devices, the decision makers will make exactly the same decision they have made in the past.

On April 19 4:49pm I made the formal request that this message be sent to everyone in the neighborhood network.  Here is that message:

A Personal Request
Hello, I’m the guy who filmed the flood, has the personal blog, and is advocating a solution.

The flood occurred four weeks ago. Most recently, including 1996, 2008 and 2013 this type of flooding has been experienced south of COD’s Glen Ellyn Pond 7 and Wheaton’s Lake 4, which is a part of that City’s “Special Flood Control” project.

Four weeks after the most recent flooding, a lot of us are returning to normal and the attention of the College, Glen Ellyn, Wheaton and the neighborhood is looking toward the end of the current school semester, summer and the Memorial Day Holiday.

However, it is up to each of us to keep this problem in front of the officials and decision makers who can do something about this. This is vitally important if we want to accomplish any positive change. In the past, there has been public concern but as some of the neighbors have said “nothing came of it.” The City of Wheaton did, in fact, do some things in 1997 to alleviate this problem but it was insufficient and they acted alone. That’s not going to get the job done. The watershed which flows into this neighborhood covers about 1-1/2 square miles and includes portions of the COD campus, Glen Ellyn and Wheaton.

Do you want this to be another one of those situations in which this difficult problem gets passed over to deal with more attractive, colorful and easier problems? If not, then we need your help. We need to keep this problem visible and we need to press a variety of officials at the college, nearby communities, the county and the state in order to assist them in making the difficult and expensive decisions required to reduce the flooding in our neighborhood.

To provide some insight, I’ll relate a statement that was made on May 8 during a neighborhood meeting at the College of DuPage. Robert Breuder, the president said to one of the neighbors that “The flooding is obviously not a serious situation; otherwise there would have been more people here tonight.” That’s the perspective and unless we each press this, I am convinced this is the position the politicians and administrators will take. Some mean well, some have more pressing concerns. We need this to be an important issue and we need to keep it in the forefront if it is to get the funding and attention it requires.

This is a legal, technical, financial and political problem. Legally, COD may be complying with all codes and ordinances. Legally, it may be proper to allow the “natural drainage pattern” to continue and these floods to continue. Technically, there are solutions which can reduce flooding. Financially, someone or someone’s must come up with the funds to fix this. Politically, sufficient exertion must be placed on Wheaton, Glen Ellyn and COD to work together to solve this problem, make the difficult decisions to do what will be necessary and come up with the funds to do so. If we expect the City of Wheaton can do this on their own, we are mistaken.

The decision makers include:

•  Anthony J. Charlton, P.E – Director and Jim Zay - Chairman, Stormwater Management Planning Committee
• Dan Cronin - County Board Chairman
• Clayton Heffter, Stormwater Permitting Manager, DuPage County Dept. of Economic Development and Planning
• JR McBride – District 4 Board Member
• Michael Gresk - Mayor of Wheaton
• Mark Franz – Village Manager, Glen Ellyn
• Robert L. Breuder – President, College of DuPage
• The Board of Trustees, College of DuPage
• Sandy Pihos, Illinois State Representative

You can send a letter to each of these, and the names of the board of trustees of the College of DuPage is on their website. In the past, I've sent individual letters to each of the individuals on the above list and to each and every member of the Board of Trustees of the College. I suggest you do likewise. You may also add your Village or City councilman or councilwoman.

I also suggest that [the communications leader for the neighborhood group] prepare a petition. I request that each of us provide our names and addresses and sign that petition. I suggest a copy be sent to all of the individuals on the above list.

This situation is being monitored by a reporter at the Chicago Tribune, who has been helpful in focusing attention on this problem. I’ll send a copy of any and all letters or emails I receive, as well as the petitions to that reporter, as I have agreed to stay in communications about this problem.

Here is a possible text for the petition:
“We, the residents of unincorporated Glen Ellyn and of Wheaton, who live at the southernmost extreme of the College of DuPage’s Pond 7 in Glen Ellyn and Wheaton’s Flood Control Lake #4 hereby petition the State, the County, the College, the Village of Glen Ellyn and the City of Wheaton to take coordinated steps to end the flooding of these neighborhoods in 50 year and 100 year flood events, which are sometimes called 1% and 2% rainfall events.

This is an unacceptable situation in these affluent communities, and in neighborhoods which are adjacent to a Community College which boasts “luxury hotel accommodations” and a “fine dining” restaurant. In recent years, alterations to the neighborhood has exacerbated flooding. Our neighborhood is now the repository of runoff during severe storms. It has been stated that this is the “natural pattern of drainage” and implied that flooding is to be expected and is acceptable.

We think that repetitive and reoccurring flooding of our homes and neighborhood is not to be expected or tolerated, and via this petition we are communicating our expectation that the County of DuPage, Community College of DuPage, City of Wheaton and Village of Glen Ellyn come together to do something about this. Each of you are an entity which is supported by tax dollars. You are public institutions and part of your role is to promote well-being.

We encourage you to solve this problem. We encourage you to cooperate and take the difficult steps to alleviate flooding in this area. We do understand that under extreme conditions flooding is unavoidable. However, the definition of “extreme” is subjective. The flood of April 18, 2013 occurred with 6.91 inches of rainfall in a 24 hour period. A ["100 year" or 1% event] will have between 7.35 and 8.68 inches of rainfall in 24 hours. On April 18 the rainfall was in the range for a “50 year event” which is between 6.66 and 7.24 inches.

Something has changed to contribute to the flooding. On September 12-13, 2008 the area received 5.27" rainfall according to DuPage County. At that time, with minor sandbagging behind COD’s Pond 7, neighbors were able to contain the overtopping of that pond and avoid flooding. In 2013 flooding was unavoidable and the interconnected pond #7 and Lake #4 overtopped. Several blocks of homes were flooded. Water was 3 feet deep behind and in front of homes on Brentwood, some homes had 8 feet of water and it ran for blocks down Briarcliffe Blvd. The recommendation for personal flood proofing may be futile in this situation.

We encourage action and expect accountability.“

To my neighbors, thank you for taking the time to read this and thank you for contacting the decision makers. It will make a difference. I've written about this situation in my personal blog http://briarcliffelakes.blogspot.com/ and I am convinced it will take each and every one of us to shift this.

Norman Retzke
LetMeThinkAboutThisBlog@gmail.com”



Notes:

1. "We are either a part of the solution or we are a part of the problem." That paraphrases the comment I made to Robert Breuder, the president of the College of DuPage in my email dated May 6. 
2. So where do you stand? Are you a part of the solution or a part of the problem? It's time to choose sides and there is no middle ground here.