Above is from: http://www.rrstar.com/news/20180825/report-suggests-42m-fix-for-belvideres-flooding-woes
By Susan Vela
Staff writer
Posted at 12:05 PM
BELVIDERE — Sheila Fowler bought a foreclosed Fourth Street home for a sweet price, made extensive repairs and then saw her renovations and money get wiped away with spring flooding.
Floodwaters ripped through her property soon after the purchase of her home nearly 20 years ago.
“It came through in the night, and the roar of the water was incredible,” she said.
Rushing water wrecked a privacy fence, and sewage flooded the basement. She bleached the stinking waste away once the water disappeared, but the flooding, sewage and stench recurred in 2007, 2009, 2016 and 2017. Help is on the way, but solutions for the south side’s drainage problems come with a $42 million price tag. The city has set aside $1 million to begin improvements and it’s not clear how long it will take to finish the public works upgrades.
“Of course, everything is depending on the funds available,” said Brent Anderson, the city’s public works director. “We’re seeing more heavier rains more frequently than we have in the past.”
The City Council adopted a citywide 2-cent-per-gallon gasoline tax in July and a sales tax on Monday that, taken together, will generate $1.5 million annually for infrastructure improvements and escalating pension expenses. City officials are also considering a utility fee that would generate about $500,000 a year more for Belvidere, Anderson said.
Fowler and her neighbors are thankful help may be on the way. Yet they’re not sure how long they can wait.
“The citizens of the south side strongly urged you to hear our prayers and hear our voices. You did,” Fowler said at Monday’s City Council session. “Thank God Mother Nature passed us with a flood this year. We’ll breathe easy through the fall and winter. Come spring, we’ll all start praying once again, just like we’re praying that you will help us tonight by setting money aside for our $42 million project.”
Belvidere considers $42 million in stormwater improvements
Belvidere officials are mulling over $42 million in stormwater improvements that they’ll pay for in five phases.
• Phase 1: $370,000: Construction of ponds on two church properties south of Bellwood Drive.
• Phase 2: $1,810,000: Redesign of the Belvidere High School detention pond.
• Phase 3: $11,490,000: Basin improvements, a new stormwater pond at Washington Academy, conveyance improvements on Seventh Street, Fifth Avenue and Pearl Street and a swale at Birch Avenue and West Tenth Street.
• Phase 4: $19,180,000: Improvements would start on East Sixth Street and continue throughout the system to West Locust Street.
• Phase 5: $9,400,000: Improvements along Bellwood, Cedardale and Elmwood drives, Fremont and East Eighth streets and a small section of East Avenue. There also would be two proposed stormwater detention ponds at Fremont Street and the intersection of East Eighth Street and Whitney Boulevard.
Source: City of Belvidere
Baxter & Woodman, a Crystal Lake company, issued its south side stormwater study findings in March. The 100-plus page report details problems with a watershed area that is approximately 1,300 acres and consisting of nine separate municipal drainage basins.
“The south side of the city was mostly developed before modern stormwater regulations were in effect,” the report reads. “Topography is hilly and rolling, creating areas where large amounts of stormwater flow overland through streets and properties. The rolling topography also includes large depressional areas where ponding can reach several feet deep before surface flow can continue downstream.”
The $87,500 study shows pictures of standing stormwater and also details the five proposed phases, which include new and redesigned detention ponds, conveyance improvements and more. Bellwood Drive, Pearl Street and Whitney Boulevard will receive some of the attention.
Anderson said construction of ponds south of Bellwood Drive could begin by the end of this year. The high school pond redesign will have to wait until next year, he said.
John Dal Santo doesn’t know how many more storms his 913 Caswell St. home can take. He’s experienced two severe storms in the past three years. He had 40 inches of water in his basement because of a 2016 downpour; 34 inches in 2017.
“We can’t store anything in our basement,” he said. “I can deal with rainwater getting in my basement. It’s the sewage. Last summer, it happened in the middle of July. We want to stay but, no, I don’t feel optimistic. I know there’s a breaking point to everybody.”
City aldermen say they’re committed to the proposed improvements. However, city finances will dictate how much upgrades the city can tackle in the coming years.
“I wouldn’t want to have the mess in my basement that some of those people had,” Alderman Ronald Brooks said. “You just can’t let the people pay their taxes and lose all their possessions in one rain storm. It’s going to take money. You just can’t ignore it.”
Susan Vela: 815-987-1392; svela@rrstar.com; @susanvela
Above is from: http://www.rrstar.com/news/20180825/report-suggests-42m-fix-for-belvideres-flooding-woes
No comments:
Post a Comment