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Health & Fitness

WINNETKA'S DIRTY LITTLE SECRET?

A resident once complained to me that if "Winnetka's dirty little secret" got out, no one would want to move here anymore.  "What's the dirty little secret?" I asked.  "We flood!" was the response.

With 100-year rain events, I guess that would be a "dirty little secret" across the entire country.  Even Chicago, with its deep tunnel system, floods with 100-year rains.  In Winnetka, approximately one-quarter of the land is located in the FEMA-floodplain and will flood, even without a 100-year event.  The 2011 historic rain saw widespread flooding, with 1100 basements (out of 4400) affected in Winnetka in a combination of storm and sanitary issues.  While we all agreed that further mitigation must take place, the question became: do we construct for the 100-year level, hence the eight-foot-diameter tunnel and associated cost of $34.4 million (all in, almost $70 million over 30 years), to try and eradicate 100-year floods?  An in-depth public conversation with the community would have been very helpful here.

On March 18th, Winnetka voters will be able to voice their opinion on a citizens' referendum.  Being advisory, the Council can choose to ignore the vote.  They have already indicated that intent, unless results support the tunnel.  Some hope you won't bother to vote or that bad weather will keep you away.  One individual is frenetically emailing, telling you to vote "Yes" (after telling you not to sign the petition for a referendum, and trying to bump a Caucus candidate off the ballot) and peppering you with snippets of the August 2, 2011 Council meeting that followed the historic rain event.   

For a #LakeMichigan freshwater perspective, check out Protect Our Water Winnetka (POWW) which is urging voters to vote "No" on the tunnel referendum in the hope that this might prompt the Council to consider more environmentally friendly and cost-conscious options for disposing of polluted stormwater.  See:  #www.powwinnetka.org.

So how did we get to a referendum?  Looking back, residents called for a 'blue ribbon' committee to research and recommend solutions.  Based upon past experience with ad hoc committees, and staff's recommendation, the 2011-2012 Council decided to tackle this issue itself, with the promise to thoroughly engage and seek feedback from the community once it decided upon a plan of action.  In that way, property owners would have the best efforts of the Council and its team of hired consultants, as well as community input, support and consensus.  Some flood-prone folks criticized the Council for not moving fast enough.  However, the Council recognized not only that community consensus was crucial to support a project of this cost and magnitude, but that the permitting process would prevent any quick action from taking place.

Due to term limits (which I support at all levels of government) the Council turned over in May, 2013.  Rather than following through on the previous Council's commitment to in-depth public engagement, the plan and financing were quickly finalized over the summer months.  Permitting by state and federal agencies for tunnel construction remains undetermined.  The water treatment structure at the Lake Michigan outfall has yet to be designed; build-out and maintenance costs are undetermined.  All property owners will be assessed beginning in July.  You can now look up your annual bill through 2016 on the Village Stormwater Calculator.  If the remaining bonds are issued, by 2018 you will need to multiply your number of ERUs by $362.00.

Winnetka's dirty little secret?  There never was one...unless you consider that there may be no Plan B for flood-prone folks if the tunnel does not get regulatory approval, and the Council may spend those stormwater funds on whatever it feels like.  See: http://winnetka.patch.com/groups/myhometown/p/and-the-oscar-goes-to

Jessica Tucker, Village President 2009 - 2013, Village Trustee 2004 - 2008.

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