Work on the Evans Road and Douglas Avenue Drainage Improvement Project is expected to be completed by the end of this calendar year.
The village board voted unanimously to approve a contract award and budget amendment for the project as well as construction engineering services for the work as part of its consent agenda during a regular meeting held Monday, Aug. 16.
M&J Underground Inc. of Monee submitted the lower of two bids for the project at $819,000, which the board accepted. The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District’s Stormwater Partnership Program is to fund $754,000 of the construction costs, while the Village must provide matching funds of $65,000.
The Village is also to pay Baxter & Woodman Consulting Engineers up to $95,000 for construction engineering services on the project. The engineers are to conduct a full-time field observation of the construction because it will happen in established residential neighborhoods and near a major arterial roadway, according to a report from Public Works Director John Brunke.
Planning for future funds
The Village Board also gave a nod of approval to a plan presented by Finance Director Scott Bordui for the use of potential state capital grants as well as federal American Rescue Plan Act money that Flossmoor is anticipating in fiscal year 2022.
Bordui said the village may receive $1.24 million in federal funding, as well as state Senate Bill 2800 allocations of $112,500 for roadway improvements, $50,000 for infrastructure improvements, $37,524 for engineering and reconstruction of the Brookwood Bridge Deck, $500,000 for Flossmoor Viaduct improvements and $1 million toward capital improvements. Though, Bordui noted he still needs to investigate whether or not certain projects qualify for certain sections of funding.
Bordui highlighted five priorities in his report: water supply improvements, Brumley Drive Reconstruction Project, Village Hall Generator Project, Brookwood Bridge Reconstruction, and Flossmoor Road and Berry Lane Drainage Improvements Project.
Regarding the drainage improvements, the total cost of the project is expected to be $7.24 million. But $1.5 million in appropriations combined with $1.69 million in other grants could reduce the village’s direct contribution to $4.04 million, he said. And $1.08 million in appropriations could go toward the total $1.68 million cost of water supply improvements, according to his report.
The ball is in another court
The Village Board tabled the approval of a special use permit for a sport court on Heather Road.
A permit was granted in 2018 for a 22-foot-by-35-foot concrete patio, which has since been converted into a sport court with a permanently mounted basketball backboard and painted lines, according to a report from Scott Bugner, Flossmoor’s building and zoning administrator. In April, neighbors complained about noise, saying groups of 6-12 youths and adults were playing “at all times of the day and night,” according to the report.
The owner of the property was notified a special use permit would be needed to continue use of the sport court, and following a process the Plan Commission voted 4-0 in favor of recommending the permit with several conditions regarding the court’s use. But residents remained opposed to the project, and Mayor Michelle Nelson suggested they seek mediation.
“In the interest of a long-term solution, we’d love to have agreement from both sides,” Nelson said. “They’re walking through that process right now.”
The parties involved in the dispute agreed to participate in mediation via the Center for Conflict Resolution, and the board is expected to revisit the issue at a later date, according to Village Clerk Gina LoGalbo.