By Seth Ufheil
Hinsdale Suburban Life
Fri Apr 06, 2007, 11:09 AM CDT
Hinsdale, IL -
A $5 million water treatment facility unveiled by
Hinsdale village officials this week is the result of months of
negotiations led by attorney Bill Seith. The Hinsdale resident
navigated through more than 30 years of acrimony between the village
and the Flagg Creek Water Reclamation District to determine a
sensible course of action to prevent polluted water sewer overflows.
His approach — a team effort indeed — cast blame aside and focused
on reaching a deal to solve the problem without breaking the bank.
His accomplishment makes him our newsmaker of the week.
Q:
Hinsdale plans to build a $5 million facility
to solve its longtime dispute with Flagg Creek Water Reclamation
District over storm-water management in the village. What is
the most important benefit of the deal to residents?
A: The biggest
benefit to the village and its residents is the elimination of
overflows at Third Street and Princeton Road during heavy rain storms, leading to a
cleaner and safer environment. The next biggest benefit is a
cost savings of between $21 million and $55 million when compared to
the cost of the other two alternatives considered. The most
expensive solution would have been full sewer separation. Since only
about half of the village currently has separate sewers, full sewer
separation would require that we rip up half of our streets to lay
separated sewer lines. The cost of this option has been
estimated to be about $60 million in 2005 dollars. The other
option considered was one proposed by the Flagg Creek Water
Reclamation District. Flagg Creek’s option involved constructing a
new interceptor to handle wet weather flow and direct it to their
plant. The estimated the cost of this option was $26 million
in 2006 dollars. We also believe that reducing wet weather
flows to Flagg Creek’s system will lead them to phase out an $8
surcharge to Hinsdale resident’s water bills.
Q:
Wrangling over this issue has gone on for more
than three decades. What was the principal difference in
negotiations this time that led to a solution?
A: No one person or
strategy deserves all the credit. But I think the principal driving
forces were: 1.) the filing of a lawsuit by Flagg Creek to force the
parties to the table; 2.) the commitment by Village President
Michael Woerner and the Village Board to push for solutions; 3.) the
willingness of Flagg Creek to back off from their historic
insistence on full sewer separation; and 4.) coming up with a
cost-effective solution and agreeing to implement it rather than
continuing to argue about who’s right and who’s wrong.
Q:
The village has touted its plan as a “win-win,” but
with any compromise there is give and take. What’s the downside to
the village’s plan?
A: I honestly can’t
think of one. There will be some ongoing cost to owning and
operating the facility, but that cost is minimal compared to the
capital cost of the other alternatives considered by the village.
The proposed site location in the northeast corner of Veeck Park is
ideal for any number of reasons, including: it is currently fenced
off and not open to the public; Flagg Creek runs right through it;
and connections to Flagg Creek’s system either run through that site
or are a short distance away, making it easy to capture wet weather
flow and treat it. The facility will be completely enclosed,
so there will be no offensive odors or noise. What noise is
generated when the plant is running, will be masked by traffic noise
from the Tri-State Tollway and noise from commuter trains.
Also, the plant will run fewer than 10 times per year.
Q:
Once the treatment facility is running in 2009 are
the village’s storm-water management problems solved?
A: We believe that
the treatment facility will take care of 80 to 90 percent of
storm-water management issues. The remaining percentage will
be dealt with through selective sewer separation throughout
Hinsdale. The village is currently working on a villagewide
storm-water master plan designed to help solve surface flooding
issues that are unrelated to the issues with Flagg Creek. The
storm-water master plan work is being coordinated with the
development of the wet weather treatment plant so that sewer
separation that is done as part of the storm-water master plan will
also benefit the operation of the wet weather treatment facility and
further reduce wet weather flows to Flagg Creek’s system.
