A group of Heather Hill neighbors met Sunday, July 21, at Heather Hill School to discuss their concerns about the storm water detention basin under construction adjacent to the school. Flossmoor Mayor Michelle Nelson attended to answer questions about the project.
The basin is being built to temporarily store storm water diverted from the downtown viaduct and the Berry Lane neighborhood to reduce the risk of flooding. Village officials have said the basin is expected to be dry about 99% of the time, and when it fills with water it is designed to empty out in about nine hours.
Several residents said their worries about safety have not abated since construction began in mid-June.
Earthwork is scheduled to be completed by mid-August before the new school year begins.
Ashly Giddens, who has been an outspoken opponent of the project for several months, started the meeting by asking parents who have had children attend other Flossmoor schools to envision the grounds, which do not have detention basins adjacent to the building. She said parents can let their children run and without concern at those schools.
“I am sad and concerned that my child doesn’t have those options now,” she said.
Giddens led the group on a tour of the perimeter of the basin, stopping at the west end.
Nelson noted that the finished product will look much different than it does now, although it will take some time for the plant life planned for the basin to mature. Planting of native species and possibly some trees is set to take place this fall.
As she promised the group, banners with an image of what the basin will look like when completed were installed in two places on the construction fence a few days later.
Nelson passed out copies of a drawing showing the smaller footprint of the basin as compared to the area taken up by construction. A large pile of topsoil currently looms over the playground, but it is there temporarily. After excavation is done, the soil will be spread over the basin to provide a home for the new plants.
In addition to safety concerns, a common theme among residents at the meeting was a feeling that they had not been included in the process of developing the project.
“There were alternative locations. Unfortunately, parents were not involved in the vetting process,” Giddens said. “Most parents are still not aware of this. They are learning about it to this day by word of mouth.”
Nelson noted there is in-depth information about the project on the village’s website, flossmoor.org. She encouraged residents to email questions to [email protected] and the village will provide answers on the website.
Nikki LaGrone said even when parents were informed about the project early on, their questions were not answered.
“While it’s obviously too late for this project, we would like, going forward, a voice. We were not included in that buy-in process,” she said. “I understand you, as administrators, have to do what’s best for our community, but we live here. Can we have that community voice?”
Andrea Perry said she felt the Heather Hill neighborhood was disregarded during the planning process.
“There needs to be ways to include the community involvement in decisions that are made for them,” she said. “This was really imposed upon Heather Hill. That’s the issue.”
Nelson noted that neighborhood input did influence the project. An example she mentioned at the meeting was the inclusion of a fence around the finished basin, which isn’t required but was added at the request of neighbors.
She also described the difficulty the village faces in getting information to everyone in spite of efforts to be comprehensive.
“One of the frustrating parts of this project for all of us is that we put the communication out in a lot of different forms,” she said, listing social media platforms, the village website, newsletters, email and board meetings of the three local government agencies involved. “You just don’t know what somebody’s going to be picking up on. You just keep putting it out there as many ways and as many times as possible.”
