Des Plaines Flood Action group Dec 16th meeting minutes

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1) At the meeting I reported on the The River road progress.  I have included that info here, as well the latest update information and attached the supporting documents covering the phase 2 plan. My thanks to Ald. Walsten for passing it on from Tim. Showing us he is watching out for the residents by keeping up on things.

 

The River road work is progressing ahead of schedule. This permits AT&T, ComEd and Nicor to complete their utility relocation work for the southbound lanes during the coming months.  Midwest Gaming has approved an accelerated construction roadwork schedule at their cost moving the completion dates to July 1, 2011. 
  
Phase II of Des Plaines River Road Reconstruction (Rand to Touhy) project, we recently completed review of the 65% complete plans submitted by IDOT.  In summary, most of our comments concern grading (elevations and slopes) for the new pavement to assure that our local drainage is accommodated.  In addition, we want IDOT to minimize the amount of right-of-way that they acquire from adjacent property owners.  This right-of-way is primarily at the signalized intersections where the pavement will be widened to add lanes or improve the turning radii at the intersection corners. Most likely, construction would start in 2012.  The schedule is dependent on completion of the plans, securing the right-of-way, and getting utility conflicts

resolved by the utility companies.

 

UPDATE INFORMATION - Jan 6th, 2011.
information on the Fargo Area Storm Sewer is attached.  With reference to the Exhibit, the proposed 60” diameter storm sewer along Des Plaines River Road will be constructed in connection with IDOT’s Des Plaines River Road Reconstruction, Phase II improvement.  Projected construction date is late 2011 or early 2012.  Extension of the storm sewer along Fargo Avenue (48” diameter) and Jarvis (extended, 36” diameter) would occur at the end of the Storm Water Master Plan program in 2013 (unless additional funds can be secured earlier).

A copy of the IDOT plans in this area is also attached and shows the proposed 60” diameter storm sewer.  In addition to the drainage improvements, the elevation of the new road will be approximately 3’ higher in elevation to serve as a flood barrier from the river.

Please contact Timothy Oakley   if you have any questions on this information.

2) Again it was brought up that just Who is the watch dog for Des Plianes and it's resident when dealing with with local, state, and federal agencies?  Our past mayor was ready to start a lawsuit against Levee 37 and it always changing specs like lack of water retention storage, flood gaps, etc.. To answer these and many other questions Mike will try to get get both Tim Oakley the city engineer and Marty Molan our mayor to attend the next  meeting.  We suggest that if you have questions please submit them to Mike  mike@bestclients.com  or myself  gwiorek@aol.com  so we can ask  them at the meeting.  This way we can focus on each question, manage the meeting time better and perhaps cover more ground.  In fact if we give Marty and Tim the questions ahead of time they can be better prepared to answer them.  It also keep down the  "I have to check into it" responses.

3) It was decided not take any action concerning The Methodist Camp's flood program. It would be a strain on our resources to fight it as the Campground has for years now been fighting for their historical designation and spent a year working towards getting the basic grant.  Also their building elevation grant is on hold pending replacement of the campground water system (at their cost) to assure proper fire flows. while plans from the association's engineer on the water project are nearly completed it still could be months before they actually get the grant money. I will do my best to keep tabs on the project and also will try to learn from them how they got the grant from IEMA to we can use that knowledge to apply for grants ourselves.

 

4) Heritage Park - Levee 37 water storage area.  There is a huge difference between the prior proposed 2.6 million AC-FT of storage to cover levee 37 and the concept plan's 151 AC-FT of storage.  Nor does the concept plan cover how they plan to get the water from the levee 37 gaps to there.  Kind of looks like again they stuck it to us and did nothing but set up to cover overflow from Buffalo Creek. This is the biggest issue we face as a group.

 

5) We will not be doing any group property tax appeal because of the amount of work involved for the few interested parties. Still it is urged that you appeal yourself.  We have members who had property tax increase on homes they still can not live in.

Oct 2010 Meeting notes

1) Levy 37 -   Heritage Park  4.2 million gallons water over flow storage was needed.  Stated would allocate acreage for at least 2.5 million but only 1.5 million allocated.  No plans on how River water gets to Heritage.  We feel that all it protects is their area.   Mike is trying to keep an eye and pressure on this one.

2)  No one is provide us with up to date information or  worse miss leading  or wrong info.  Who are the flood project watch dogs  for Des Plaines?  

3)  Jeff Tondola was the guest speaker . He and the nurse he brought with discusses -  flood construction DR program, Mold and water health dangers.  Covered different ways water can get in - heavy clay content of soil causes foundation and sewers movement leading to cracks,  hydrostatic pressure during flooding also produces  movement and cracks,  flow over top of foundation,  water wants to fill a void and seeks it's own leave 2-4 inch pitched away -  side yard swales  to give low points between houses.    Sewage and mold are bad.   If you can see the mold it's already  a lot.   Bleach is only a disinfectant not a cleaner. 

4)  Methodist camp ground - I will tour the grounds and do even more research - what about city code?  Where money to inspect come from,  separation of church and private business,  summer homes,   what shape?   Water fire/system.   IEMA
Rebuild Des Plaines movement backing,  Landmark status. Do they pay property taxes or flood insurance?

What do we need to do?  What can we do?   Can we if nothing else force matching funds for flood relief of our full residency  homes.  Glenn research

5) Property tax reform?  Do we want to get involved again Took a lot of work last year.  Mike

6)  Cook county Disaster Grant - fiasco  Person in charge indicted.   Contractors not begin paid so so stalled.  A number of residents displaced.     Jeff who worked as an estimator for cook count was forced to do 150 inspection in 3 weeks.   Need to find out all the contractors and through them the customers.   Class action suite?  At least make number of folks number displaced know to Des Plaines and Cook County officals.     Mike and everyone who can help.

7) Next meeting Dec city hall chambers - data to announced when Mike can get the room.

8)  Latest River road construction update  Posted prior to this entry.

Oct Des Plaines River Road Update

Phase I (Touhy to Devon) of the Des Plaines River Road reconstruction project is on schedule with a completion date of July 2011.

On Phase II (Rand to Devon), preliminary plans have been prepared by IDOT and are under review.  The 60" inch diameter storm sewer is part of the Phase II project since the outlet for the system is north of Welwyn Avenue, which is well beyond the project limits of Phase I.  As you may know, the elevation of the new pavement will be raised, where possible, to provide flood protection from Des Plaines River flooding.  Projected construction date is late 2011 or early 2012, and is dependent on when IDOT secures the right-of-way / easements necessary to construct the project.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions.

Timothy P. Oakley, P.E., CFM
Director of Public Works and Engineering
City of Des Plaines
847.391.5390

August 21, 2010 Newsletter

IT’S AN OLD PROBLEM. As you undoubtedly know, the earstwhile genii at the Cook County Assessor’s office have sent out their proposed assessments for 2010. Ignoring these is one of the greatest sources of tax increase there is.

There is no secret that property values have continued going down, especially if you are in a flood plain. We have until September 20th to file appeals with the Assessor’s office. After that, we still have the avenue of the Board of Review for the appeals process. The monster in all of this is the State Equalization Factor. You can get your assessments reduced, but still pay significantly more taxes because of an increase in the State multiplier.

So if your proposed assessment is 4% less than last year, it doesn’t mean your taxes are going down. My suggestion is to appeal anyway because the State multiplier is used against the final assessment. If you look at your assessments over the past three or four years, I promise you that any reduction in assessment is incremental compared to the drop in value you experienced. If you experienced a 50% drop in value (not surprising in a flood plain), the assessments, at the highest moment, may have dropped 10%. Then the State multiplier puts you in the position of actually paying more taxes. The State multiplier is a stealth device, plain and simply. Supposedly, the Illinois Department of Revenue has public hearings before setting these amounts, but I challenge you to get any information from the Department about when and where these public hearings are held. Your Cook County Assessor is supposed to assess around 16%, and the State multiplier is supposed to bring the assessment up to 32%. But the State multiplier is close to three, not two. That is brutal and unconscionable, but also true.

What we need to know is how many of you want to diligently appeal your property tax assessments. If you are interested in appealing your assessment, please email Mike at mike@bestclients.com. I must tell you that it takes a lot of work from a lot of people to help you. In this case, we are probably talking about two appeals…one to the Assessor’s office, and one with the Board of Appeals. Remember, if you want to do your own appeal, the deadline is September 20th for the Assessor’s office. If you want help from the Action Group, we have to organize quickly. By the way, I have no idea why this issue never comes up in any political discussion or debate. I would think the Republicans would have a field day with this issue. Please note that on your property bill are eighteen taxing bodies, including the Mosquito Abatement District, Cook County Forest Preserve, City of Des Plaines, etc. etc. Can you imagine the political pressure on the Illinois Department of Revenue and the Governor to increase the multiplier? That way, they get their tax increases without being accountable for it. That is truly stealth politics, and both parties are to blame for it.

Please contact us as soon as possible. In addition to contacting me at the email above, you can also contact any of our Board members. Overall, we’d like to get assessment reductions for anyone living in a flood plain, but that is for the future.

We should comment that there is a tax increase this year to fund expediting the stormwater management plan. That was done up front, and it shows much courage on the part of our mayor and aldermen. Increasing taxes is not popular, especially in this environment, and they know that. But they also believed that expediting the Stormwater Management Plan is critical, and they chose doing what they think is best………knowing that the criticism won’t abate, and they will hear about increasing taxes at election time. That takes courage.

More later….we are working on an update on levee 37 and Heritage Park! Funding the National Flood Insurance Program comes up in September, and that has been a political mess. By the way, our next membership meeting is October 5th in City Council chambers at 7:00 P.M. Please save the date!!!!

Mark Walsten's 8/13 update on Generator Rebate

If you wish to respond to this or contact Mark email him at mail: mewalsten@hotmail.com

Residents,


There was a engineering committee meeting last night ( I'm not on that committee) to discuss the Mayors proposal to offer a $250 rebate to DP residents when they purchase a generator. $15,000 would be offered for the year.  I did attend the meeting, there was some 6th ward residents in attendance.

I found the program that staff proposed, flawed.
I'm not saying that I support giving tax payers money away for this program, but if I supported it I would make changes.

1. Many resident Like Sue on Birch St. have already bought generators during the 07 outage and before, they should be compensated first.

2. I would not offer $250 for a generator, at $15,000, that only covers 60 people.

3. I would offer a percentage, 50% of the $250 would cover 120 people,  30% would cover 200 people.

4. Should we really be offering any money for generators anyway? When I put my new picture window in, it (the window, I did the labor) cost me around $800. Should I expect the tax payers to pay for $250 of it?

As it turned out, Chairman Bogusz proposed that looking into 'Groupon' is a better alternative, the other committee members and myself agreed. Go to ww.groupon.com_ (http://www.groupon.com/) to see it.

Basically, if enough people sign up to purchase a certain product, they get dramatic discounts. A $400 generator could be $300 or less.

I am interested in seeing where this goes before spending tax payers money on generators.

If you already have a generator, please answer the following questions:

1. How many Watts is it.

2. What do you run on it, IE ejector pump, sump pump, refrigerator, T.V.,
lights. Some of these, all of these?

Thank you and have a great week end!
Mark

Senator Durbin reply's about the NFIP

Thank you for contacting me about the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).  I appreciate hearing from you.

For the past five years, the NFIP has been challenged by higher numbers of flood claims. These claims have exceeded what the NFIP collects in annual premiums and its borrowing authority from the U.S. Treasury. To help meet these increased claims, Congress increased the NFIP's borrowing authority in 2005 and again in 2006.

With my support, Congress passed and the President signed into law the National Flood Insurance Program Extension Act on July 2, 2010.  This law ensures that basic NFIP authorities remain in force by retroactively reauthorizing the program from June 1, 2010, through September 30, 2010.

Congress is working to reform the entire program. On July 15, 2010, the House of Representatives passed the Flood Insurance Reform Priorities Act (H.R. 5114). This measure would reauthorize the NFIP through Fiscal Year 2015 and make major reforms to the program. This bill has been referred to the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. While I am not a member of this Committee, I am committed to ensuring the Flood Insurance program remains strong and viable for years to come.

Again,thank you for contacting me. Please feel free to keep in touch.

Sincerely,
RichardJ. Durbin
UnitedStates Senator

River Road Construction At Touhy

According to Alderman Mark Walsten Here is what's taking place on River Rd.  North of Touhy. Phase II is to start next year. The current work is part of the reconstruction of River Road from Devon to just north of Touhy. The end of the new pavement for Phase I will be 100’ north of Sherwin. Phase II will pick at this point north of Sherwin and continue to Rand Road. The work they are currently doing is to prepare for the 1st stage of construction that requires temporary pavement up to a point north of Welwyn. This is all for the lane transitions into a single lane in each direction.
If you have any other questions direct them to:

Jon Duddles, P.E.
Assistant Director of Public Works and Engineering
City of Des Plaines
1420 Miner Street
Des Plaines, IL 60016
Phone: 847-391-6127
Fax: 847-391-5619
(http://www.desplaines.org/)