Niles council deals with street flooding

By Jordan Cohen

The south side of Indiana Avenue is temporarily lower than the north because of uneven grading.

NILES — A storm sewer project under construction on Indiana Avenue has left residents on the south side of the street with flooding problems, a resident told city council Wednesday.

Maryann Flynn said that because of the uneven grading of the avenue, the water is flooding driveways and basements. Flynn said the excess water is causing cracks in the driveway and leaving debris in its wake. She circulated photographs of the damage to members of council.

Flynn noted that the avenue’s north side has catch basins while her side has yard drains.

“Why can’t you put those basins on our side?” she asked.

Mark Hess, engineering grant and development coordinator, explained that the south side of the avenue is temporarily lower than the north because of uneven grading, but he said changing the project to add more catch basins would be costly.

“It could cost us $100,000 or more to put catch basins in front of all of those homes,” Hess said.

The coordinator said the yard drains should be sufficient once the project is completed, but that will not be as soon as Flynn had hoped. Hess asked her to be patient; the city is possibly two months away from completion.

On another matter, council was asked to help support purchase of five scoreboards for baseball fields at Waddell and Stevens Parks by Harry Serena of Ambrose Street, who is active with the Niles Youth League.

“We’re not asking you to pay, but would like you to help us generate funds,” Serena said, estimating the cost of the scoreboards at $18,000 to $20,000. He also asked council to consider providing some matching funds.

“We already light the fields, fertilize them and fix fences,” responded Mayor Ralph Infante. “We can provide some matching funds, but it’s up to all of you to come up with a plan to raise the money.”

Serena said he would take that up with representatives of the youth and soccer leagues.

In other action, council tabled a motion that would have placed a moratorium on permits for animated signs.

Council sent an ordinance on a building permit for Schimley’s Excavating, North Main Street, to the planning commission for review and comments. The company wants to build an addition closer than 50 feet to the right of way.