Acting Mayor and Members of Council,

Levee 37 Update:

City Manager Michael Bartholomew spoke with the Village Manager of Mount Prospect and both have agreed to work through the blocking of the gap issue cooperatively.  Mount Prospect Village Manager has agreed to start removing the wall on Monday.  The Managers and Engineers from both towns will work to have a meeting which will be facilitated by the IDNR in order to receive some guidance and arrive at a solution.

National Weather Service (NWS) Update:

The NWS has updated the flood projection as of 2:45 pm on Sunday April 21, 2013.  On April 19^th at 2pm, the water level reached record flood stage at 10.92’.  The current stage as of 3:45 pm is 10.01'.  The projection of water levels receding below 8’ is currently at early Tuesday morning. 

Shelter Update:

The Shelter at Prairie Lakes Community Center, 515 E. Thacker Street, has been closed.  A Shelter, established by the Red Cross, is available at the Wheeling Park District, 333 E. Dundee Road. 

Police Update:

Police continues to monitor the situation and is in the process of increasing manning for the Monday morning rush hour.  Additionally, PD is setting up Detour Message boards at the following locations:

1.       River/Touhy

2.       Oakton/Wolf

3.       Northwest Highway/Mount Prospect Road

4.       Oakton/Lee

5.       Golf/Rand

6.       Rand/Wolf

7.       Golf/Wolf

8.       Algonquin/Lee

9.       Touhy/Wolf

10.   Oakton/Mount Prospect Road

11.   Rand/Dempster

Fire Update:

The water at Fire Station 1 is receding.  While still not passable, cleanup efforts have begun.  The department continues to respond to emergencies in the City. 

Public Works Update:

Public Works continues to inspect streets for debris and possible clean up locations.  Emergency garbage collection operations will begin on Monday, April 22^nd.  

For the open and closed street locations, a picture with the open streets highlighted in yellow is attached to this message.  The closed streets are marked in red.

The following street locations have been closed: 

·         Eastbound/Westbound Northwest Highway is Open

·         Oakton Street between River Road and Lee Street

·         Big Bend Drive

·         2000 Block Fargo Avenue

·         Golf Road between River Road and East River Road

·         Lee Street between River Road and Elk Boulevard

·         River Road between Golf Road and Perry Street

·         River Road between Miner Street & Touhy Avenue

·         Central Road between East River Road & River Road

·         Algonquin Road between River Road & Lee Street

·         Maple from Oakton Street to Riverview Avenue

·         Busse Highway at Miner Street to Mason Lane

·         Elk Boulevard from Lee Street to Rand Road

·         Ballard Road from Rand Road to East River Road

·         Rand Road from Golf Road to Dempster Street

·         Northbound River Road at Central Road

·         Graceland Avenue from Jefferson Street to Rand Road

·         Westbound Oakton from Riverside Closed (in Park Ridge)

·         Westbound Algonquin from Oakton Street Closed (in Park Ridge)

The EOC continues to be open on a 24 hour basis and residents can call 847-391-5396.   

Michael G. Bartholomew, City Manager

Dorothy Wisniewski, Finance Director

City of Des Plaines

1420 Miner Street

Des Plaines, IL 60016

To folks in the Des Plaines FEMA buy-out area:

State Representative Marty Moylan wil be holding a town-hall meeting---

                               March 28
                            7 PM
                  Des Plaines City Hall

It would be worthwhile for those of us affected by the FEMA buy-out to attend and express our feelings about the inequity of this program. Just so you are aware:  even though the city sent out more letters after the original forty, there has been no more money added to the buy-out fund. So those of us who were not among the first to be offered a chance to have our property purchased will end up in a neighborhood punctuated by empty lots. Try to explain that situation when you attempt to sell your house.

Despite the fact that Moylan is not directly involved in the process, he is our most logical and immediate connection to the state and federal agencies that will over-see this program. Thus, we need to convince him of the urgency of the situation.  Hopefully, a good representation of people from the affected area will be persuasive. We are, after-all,  tax payers and voters.

Please let me know your thoughts about further actions, i.e., should we also contact our Federal Representatives and Senators.

I also would like to hear if anyone has had any contact from the city or state regarding further steps in the buy-out process. Additionally, would it be worthwhile for us to hold a meeting (with or without city representation) to discuss further action.

Bill Burrows