By Dan McLeister
For The Elmhurst Independent
Mayor Steve Morley expressed his disappointment last week that elected officials from neither the District 205 School Board nor the Elmhurst Park District attended the last Storm Water Communications Committee meeting held last week.
“The best way to characterize it is that I am disappointed that there were not any elected officials from these organizations,” he said, especially noting that Jim Rogers, executive director for the Park District, did attend the meeting.
The Mayor created the Committee two years ago by asking that the two taxing bodies each send two representatives to Storm Water Communications Committee meetings to continue discussions and find solutions to help residents with flooding problems. Plans were to create temporary floodwater detention areas on various Park District and School District properties. Morley urged people to watch the video of the meeting on the City’s web site.
At this time, there is an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) signed by the City and the Park District for a detention area at York Commons, for which construction has not begun. An agreement is being drafted for a detention area at Golden Meadows Park.
Also, the City and the School District have signed an IGA for a detention area at Madison School, for which construction has also not yet begun.
City Manager Jim Grabowski reported that the City is trying to expedite as quickly as possible the process for an IGA for the gravel lot at Bryan Middle School. The Public Works and Buildings Committee met before the City Council meeting on April 4. City Committees do not usually meet on the same night as the City Council.
The Bryan Middle School site will be one of the largest proposed temporary flood detention areas, he said. Grabowski said he planned to meet in the next week with District 205 Superintendent Dave Moyer to discuss the possibility of the School District using part of the City garage on Riverside Dr. to store vehicles and materials.
He noted that there have been delays in appraisals for the Bryan site. Grabowski said there could be a swap of properties, perhaps even some cash given, since the City is buying 1.6 acres at Bryan and the School District asked for one acre of land at another location.
