LA GRANGE, IL – A top La Grange official on Monday acknowledged that installing underground water storage tanks at an eastside park is an option.
During public comments, John Pluto, who lives in the 700 block of East Avenue, questioned whether the village planned to put underground tanks at Sedgwick Park to solve the flooding problem.
He has spoken before about the possibility of the village sending water from west La Grange to his southeast La Grange neighborhood.
Find out what's happening in La Grangewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
In response, Village President Mark Kuchler said, “At this time, we’re not intending to put underground storage at Sedgwick,” but added it was a possibility.
Kuchler promised the village would be “transparent” about its plans.
Find out what's happening in La Grangewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Pluto, who lives a few doors away from Sedgwick, said the village’s problem was poor engineering more than 60 years ago. Now, he said, the village is poised to create problems for southeast La Grange.
“I don’t think putting storage facilities under soccer fields (and) under parking lots is a good idea because they never get maintained, they breed pathogens. It’s not good for our environment,” Pluto said. “And it’s right in my backyard. You wouldn’t want it in your backyard.”
He said the village needed to figure out another plan to get rid of stormwater. But he contended everything was “hush-hush.”
The village’s long-term plan is to send water to a quarry in neighboring McCook. In the early 1990s, the quarry cut the pipe that emptied water there.
In 2023, a Cook County judge ruled the quarry must allow the pipe on its property, citing records from the 1920s. But the matter is on appeal.
Some suburbs have made great use of underground water storage to solve flooding. For instance, Elmhurst completed such storage underneath a sports field a couple of years ago at York High School.
Click Here: cronulla sharks team jersey
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.