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Regional Flood Mitigation Meeting Summary
October 21, 2019

The Northeast Illinois Regional Flood Mitigation Meeting took place October 21 at the Highland Park Country Club. The community greatly appreciated the opportunity to convene all stakeholders in a room at one time. As was apparent from the conversation, the City needs to continue coordinating efforts to address this regional threat to health, safety and welfare. The issue and the detrimental costs to the affected communities will persist and likely grow given the weather trends. This meeting was just one step in our quest for flood mitigation solutions and funding.

Overall, the meeting had more than 100 attendees.

Panel Members included:

  1. Nancy R. Rotering, Mayor
  2. Julie Morrison, State Senator
  3. Paul Frank, Lake County Board Commissioner
  4. Larry Bridges, East Skokie Drainage District (ESDD) Chairman
  5. Dan McManus, US Senator Duckworth’s office
  6. Yasmeen Bankole, US Senator Durbin’s office
  7. Ann Limjoco, US Representative Schakowsky’s office
  8. Greg Claus, US Representative Schneider’s office
  9. Joshua May, State Representative Morgan’s office
  10. Delcan Binninger, Chief of Staff for IEMA
  11. Mike Warner, Lake County Stormwater Management Commission
Mayor Nancy Rotering opened the meeting by providing information on previous flooding events, the frustration of our residents, and the real need to find an inter-jurisdictional regional solution. City of Highland Park Public Works Director Ramesh Kanapareddy gave a brief summary of the City’s efforts to help residents with flood mitigation. Programs include maintenance of sewers, capital projects to upsize sewers, backflow preventers on the mainline, the voluntary cost-share lateral program, and the FEMA Home Buy-Out program. Mike Warner, LCSMC, discussed the County’s assistance with flood mitigation programs including the Home Buy-Out program, the upcoming Skokie River bank stabilization work (performed by ESDD) and the Park District of Highland Park (PDHP), the potential grant opportunities for a storage reservoir at the Highland Park Country Club (HPCC), and the overall County efforts in other areas. Lastly, ACOE staff presented their recently completed study, potential programs available, and their work with various entities to address flooding.