A million bucks in debt service is a lot of money, but out of a $60-million budget per annum, it’s not insurmountable. Yes, it’s $20 million — but over 20 years or so, right? And how much of that was infrastructure — you know, the I-word we can’t seem to find a dime for these days as trees fall left and right and sewers clog up and down? The reservoir project and other infrastructure upgrades were part of that Uptown package, too, and rather worth doing. And even if you don’t buy the argument that Chuck Baldachinos’ looming lawsuit had a quashing effect on retail rentals, you should admit there was this little thing called the Great Recession. You know, the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression? You may have heard of it. Yes, the City fathers got sold a bill of goods by the uber-canny developer and our complaisant staff way in over their heads, when you look at instant payola promises made in 2007. But that doesn’t mean the whole project was a bad idea. Who knows how many young, relatively affluent families were/are attracted to Park Ridge by a halfway viable, pretty Uptown with some modern retail/dining options? Who knows how many of our new and existing retail ops are here because of the Uptown upgrade synergy? Not every plant bears fruit the first or even second season. Doesn’t mean they weren’t worth planting.

EDITOR’S NOTE: We’ve never said “the whole project was a bad idea” – only that the City decided to let its taxpayers subsidize the developer for questionable reasons that might transcend the mere abject stupidity of our then-elected public officials and clueless staff.

If you want to use “the Great Recession” to excuse every stupid decision made by government over the past decade, knock yourself out – but the Uptown TIF was so factually and legally suspect that D-64’s cracker-jack TIF attorney told the D-64 Board that the TIF wouldn’t pass legal muster if D-64 filed suit. Not surprisingly, that Board wimped out.

Who knows how many young, relatively affluent families were/are turned off to Park Ridge property taxes that aren’t justified by “a halfway viable, pretty Uptown with some modern retail/dining options”? As for the “Uptown upgrade synergy,” feel free to provide all your evidence of how that justifies the $5 million-and-rising TIF deficit.

The “I word” explains only about half the City’s bonded debt committed to the Uptown TIF, primarily related to the reservoir. Most of the rest of that debt went to help the developer pay for the underground garage and other amenities that the developer should have paid for but didn’t, perhaps because of its principals’ rumored coziness with some of our public officials of the day.

Oh, and BTW: As we understand it, it’s not “[a] million bucks in debt service” but a million bucks of TIF debt service deficit.

Send Lawyers, Guns and Money….and a bathing suit….and a row boat…..and a life vest…..and a mop……and a pump………

EDITOR’S NOTE: Should have installed a private flood control device.

I have a private flood control (7+years now) device and have a dry basement. That does not mean I cannot point out the use of this issue for political purposes. Use it to beat up your opponent and do nothing……typical.

“For example, our inadequate storm sewer system has caused many residents to lose thousands, and even tens of thousands, of dollars of possessions, including such irreplaceable things as family photos and mementoes. It also has increased the cost of their insurance and caused them a lot of time, effort and drudgery related to clean-up and repairs”.

“I will support accelerating the program for building relief sewers and modernizing and repairing our existing sewer lines in an effort to prevent potential catastrophic flooding problems in the future. I will also ask the Public Works Department to investigate using a new type of porous asphalt which allows water to percolate through the pavement instead of pooling or creating run-off and contributing to flooding”.

-Mayor Dave from 2008

EDITOR’S NOTE: Back in 2008, Park Ridge DID have an “inadequate storm sewer system.” That sewer system WAS causing residents to lose all sorts of personal property. It also WAS increasing “the cost of their insurance” and “time, effort and drudgery related to clean-up and repairs.” So those statements were all true back then. Unfortunately, they remain true today.

Since he became mayor, however, Schmidt has consistently advocated (as in “support”) accelerating the improvement of our sewer system to address flooding problems – far more so than any of the three former mayors. And that’s despite being saddled with the approx. $1 million annual Uptown TIF deficit which he inherited from…wait for it…those three former mayors.

Unfortunately, the Flood Control Task Force Report and the Burke Engineering Report (both of which were commissioned and delivered during Schmidt’s first term) both identified problems far more substantial and far more costly to remediate than what had been anticipated, and solutions far less comprehensive and certain than what most residents had hoped for.

“Unfortunately, the Flood Control Task Force Report and the Burke Engineering Report (both of which were commissioned and delivered during Schmidt’s first term) both identified problems far more substantial and far more costly to remediate than what had been anticipated”.

Care to clarify??? What were the problems and the costs that the Mayor had anticipated?? How much did the costs provided by the task force and the consultant exceed those anticipated costs costs??

I thought the committee and the consultant were brought in because we had no idea what exactly should be the plan going forward. If that is the case, how could there be “anticipated” solutions and costs?? Where did those anticipated solutions and costs come from?? Were the published anywhere??

EDITOR’S NOTE: No firm numbers were ever talked about because, until Schmidt commissioned the EDTF and the Council contracted with Burke to seriously study the situation, nobody knew. However, numbers from $20-$50 million had been tossed around, although those were speculation. And they were supposed to provide more than just 10-year storm protection.

So nothing has been accomplished because problems identified and costs to remediate exceeded data that was:

1. Not firm.
2. Nobody knew.
3. Was tossed around.
4. Was speculation.

Now I get it. Thanks!

EDITOR’S NOTE: You missed one, champ:

5. None of the three previous mayors even cared about.

The old “It was like that when I got here” excuse is a gem. If the city isn’t going to fix the problem then it needs to help the homeowners do it. Niles, Des Plaines, Elmhurst, Glenview and many others offer homeowners monetary assistance with the cost of installing private flood control devices and Park Ridge should too. It is the responsibility of the city to provide police and fire protection as well as basic sanitation. If sewerage is shooting out of my toilet every time it rains then the city has failed in its duty and should either remedy the situation on a citywide scale or assist homeowners on an individual level.

EDITOR’S NOTE: By that rationale, the City should pay for locks on your doors, an ADT security system, fire sprinklers, and a closed-circuit surveillance system under its “responsibility…to provide police and fire protection.”

Or are you just a quasi “welfare king” or “welfare queen” that wants all the government handouts you think you can get?

I fail to see where the city is at fault with most of the flooding and therefore don’t think it should subsidize flood control. If anyone’s to blame, isn’t it the builders and developers who either chose poorly when it came to building sites (Mayfield Estates comes to mind) or cut corners in construction? Seems that the homes that are well located and well built have far fewer problems.

I am neither a “welfare king” nor “queen.” I am a citizen that expects the city I live in ( and pay taxes to) to live up to its responsibilities. Why do our tax dollars support paramedics who respond to heart attack victims who never took care of their health? Or police officers who respond to burglary victims who failed to lock their doors ( it happens with alarming frequency in PR)? Because we live in a society! By your rationale the city has no responsibility to its citizens. Maybe if we had less paddle tennis and new pools, we could begin a fund to fix the cronic flooding problem.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Sure you are, or at least you’re doing a good job acting like one. Fortunately, the City Council has taken this foolish form of welfare off the table.

Sorry, Chauncey, but a majority of the voters chose paddle tennis…and the whole Youth Campus Park. And the folks you elected to the Park Board decided we needed a new $7 million pool without even consulting the voters.

Our rationale is simple: There is no “citizens” – i.e. community – benefit to the City’s giving handouts of tax dollars to those homeowners who have sewer backup problems but haven’t had the good sense to already have fixed that problem by spending their own money to install check valves or overhead sewers.

Anon @ 11:44,
If developers are to blame then so is the city. All developments must pass permit muster. If the city is approving projects that it shouldn’t, then it IS responsible. Park Ridge nit picks every business and residential project, if development is the culprit then the approval process is either broken or corrupt.

6/27-10:10 am-There is no way to justify the city subsidizing an individual homeowner putting in a flood control system. If you can afford the money to put flood control in then you do not need a subsidy from the rest of the taxpayers of Park Ridge.

One could question whether or not it should be allowed to put a check valve or tank on your property in the first place because all you are doing is diverting the water to the basement of the house that does not have flood control or cannot afford it.

Perhaps the city should step back and revise the building codes so that mansions are not built on lots that were never meant to handle them. Larger side yards, bigger back yards, no basements more than 5 feet below grade. The houses that have been built in PR over the last 2 to 3 decades have eliminated much of the open space that used to absorb the rain water.

In addition, the city should at least enforce the codes currently on the books. Look no further than 322 S. Vine to see a mansion built that violates a number of codes, the city did not make the builder owner occupant fix the violations and now neighbors on every side have flooding when they had none before. This builder raised the elevation of the lot by anywhere from 18 to 24 inches, has downspouts and sump pumps connected to the city sewers, poured a large concrete patio not on the original plan etc etc. Yet no action by the city to correct any of these violations. And as a result, the neighbors suffer the consequences.

There are likely steps the city could take now-even if they are small ones-that over time could make a difference. But subsidizing flood control on personal property is not one of them.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Your point about “whether or not it should be allowed to put a check valve or tank on your property in the first place because all you are doing is diverting the water to the basement of the house that does not have flood control or cannot afford it” is an interesting question.

But revising the building codes to increase side yards and back yards, or eliminating basements more than 5 feet below grade will effectively reduce the value of all those properties which have not had McMansions built on them over “the last 2 to 3 decades,” while arguably increasing the value of those McMansions (since anybody who wants one in Park Ridge won’t be able to build a new one).

But you are spot-on re 322 Vine. The City – or, more specifically, former City Building Administrator Steven L. Cutaia, under the non-supervision of former City Mgr. Jim Hock and former Community Preservation & Development Director Carrie Davis, and aided and abetted by City consultant Bernie Bono – totally BOTCHED that 322 S. Vine situation, as we wrote about in our 05.23.12 post. In fact, they botched it so badly that City Attorney Everette “Buzz” Hill apparently couldn’t even prosecute that violation – because the City couldn’t carry its burden of proof through the testimony of its only witnesses, Cutaia and Bono.

How screwed up is THAT?!?!

11:44:

Do you have any facts to back up your statement? My observations about the flooding in town are that it spans all areas and all types of houses (newly developed and old as well). 7 houses in my several block area flooded yesterday and I live no where near Mayfield. In the April flood there were flooded homes in neighborhoods all over town.

Many of these homes are flooding because the city sewer system is not adequate and has not been maintained. As the water backs up in the city system, the pressure builds and it backs up into homes. Many of these homes were built prior to any requirements for overhead plumbing (now a requirement on new construction). How is this the fault of the builder??

One might say that location or grading contribute to overland flooding. However, if the water builds up because the sewer system is full that might be city issue as well.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The current condition and capacity of the City’s sewers is not the fault of the individual homeowner. But that doesn’t make the City responsible for the cost of installing overhead sewers or check valves in the homes that don’t have them – just like the City is not responsible for your blown tire if you hit a pothole in a City street, or for your losing power when an un-trimmed tree limb snaps a power line.

City inspectors failed miserably at protecting neighboring residents from builders who raised the grade of the new construction. Bad enough the new houses covered at least twice the the land of the old houses leaving nowhere for the rain to go, but the grade changes have caused big issues for neighbors. Bozos!

EDITOR’S NOTE: Fortunately, the “Bozos” primarily responsible for the 322 Vine fiasco – Steven Cutaia, Carrie Davis and Jim Hock – are no longer with the City. Unfortunately, we don’t yet know with any certainty if their replacements have raised the City’s game on this process.

11:44:

The thing that you ignore in your statement is the wide spread nature of the flooding. If it were confined to one area, such as Mayfield, or to only relatively new houses, you might have a point.

Unfortunately this problem affects areas all over town and a variety of ages and kinds of homes.

I also agree with 12:49s comments about permits. If the house has an issue such as flooding but it passed the permit process and inspections there is very little recourse. Just as the folks involved in that issue with the house on Vine.

I can’t believe people on this blog are still talking about the City paying for their flood control devices. Shut the hell up and install your own on your own dime, just like the rest of us did.

EDITOR’S NOTE: People with a “welfare” entitlement mentality – no matter how rich or how poor – have no shame.

So I guess all those people in Glenview are “welfare kings & queens.” They are a real bunch of lowlife moochers.

All I am saying is that citizens have civic duty and the city owes the citizens some basic services. Since the city has failed to provide adequate sanitation, which I believe is their responsibility, they should bear some of the cost of the remedy.

EDITOR’S NOTE: They would be, except it appears that their elected officials gave them a pass by adopting an ordinance that legalizes this form of freeloading.

The remedy for which the City should be responsible, should its officials believe the remedy to be cost-effective, is to improve the sewer system – and tax its citizens to pay for that improvement. If private citizens don’t want to pay for check valves or overhead sewers to protect their own homes unless and/or until the sewers are improved, then their flooded basements are their responsibility.

The building of a mcmansion would likely decrease the property value of those around it if the mcmansion causes the neighboring homes to flood every time PR gets more than a modest amount of rain. Why does any house need a basement 8 9 10 feet below grade? And if you have one and it floods I hardly think that is the city’s fault.

It is interesting that the city attorney refused to require 322 Vine to fix all of its building code violations-even issuing a letter to the neighbors saying any more complaints about building code violations prior to the date of that letter would not even be entertained. Mayor Schmidt and the alderman know why this letter was issued and why the matter was dropped and they too have NOT come forward to give any assistance to the neighbors. So what does the owner of 322 Vine have on the city and its current or former employees that the city refuses to enforce the building codes? And why should the neighbors be the ones to pay the price for the city’s incompetence? Here is an example of a mcmansion that is not increasing the value of the neighbors’ properties but rather likely devaluing.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The letter was issued because former City employee Steven Cutaia and outside consultant Bernie Bono apparently would not have been credible witnesses in support of the City’s attempts at Code enforcement – because they or other City staff members screwed up the whole permitting and enforcement process. Read our 05.23.12 post for further details.

To 6/28, 1:46 PM:

If you take governmental assistance, you are taking welfare. It doesn’t matter that the city council in Glenview or anywhere else is handing out the money for flood control. Why should your neighbors and friends have to pay to solve your problem? After all, the government doesn’t have any money of its own; the government has to take money from others to give it to you.

Let’s look at this another way. Two houses are for sale and everything is equal except one of them has flood control and one does not. You buy the one with flood control already installed and pay extra for it since it has added benefit (no flooding). I buy the one without flood control and pay less than you did. The rain comes and my basement floods. If I lobby the city for assistance, should you and the other residents pay for me to get a flood control system? Remember, you paid for yours already in your higher purchase price and I chose to buy the house without it for a lower price. The answer seems obvious.

IMO, anyone who thinks that the government (more accurately the taxpayers) should buy them a flood control system is a welfare king/queen. It doesn’t matter that they live in Glenview.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Excellent object lesson re the home purchases.

It’s not just the 322 Vine neighbors that have suffered because of botched city inspections, but the 322 Vine neighbors have been the most vocal. Others of us have experienced similar water issues. Former city employee Steve Kane inspected the grade of the McMansion next to my house and told me that because the builder had a drain and a swale I would experience half the water. What a doofus. I get twice the water that I used to. As we see building picking up again I can only hope that the new inspectors learn from the goofs of the previous inspectors and have some respect for the neighbors. But I’m not holding my breath.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Some of the most problematic City personnel are now gone. Their replacments need to be held accountable by the City Manager; and, ultimately, by the Mayor and the Council.

I know the details. But why would Cutaia and outside consultant Bono “not be credible witnesses”? What did they do or did they take a bribe or some compensation to blatantly ignore a host of building codes at the 322 Vine property? The mayor knows and so do some of the aldermen. I think the neighbors of 322 Vine have a right to know, too.

In addition, if certain city employees did screw up the city has a responsibility to correct the mistakes and require the house at 322 Vine (or any other house in PR) to be brought in line with the current city codes if the violations cause damage to the neighboring homes. If it costs money in litigation so be it. No one builder or homeowner should be allowed to violate city codes for their benefit but at a big cost to the neighbors.

EDITOR’S NOTE: City attorney Hill made the decision that the City could not enforce the Code against 322 Vine, apparently because of errors made by City employees and/or hired contractors; so it can’t legally “correct the mistakes.”

3:59:

I may be mistaken in this regard but is it not difficult to correct these “mistakes” after the fact?? This may not apply to 322 Vine, but if I buy a new home in PR, and that home is legally being sold and has a certificate of occupancy, I am legally off the hook. I did not go out and measure or survey the entire property to see if the land was graded according to code or the rest of the home. Hell, I would have no idea even how to do it. But I cannot be held liable to make changes when the city approved everything in the first place. If the city attempted to have me pay for changes after the fact, my attny would point out that they approved everything and all documents were in order. If there were any issues related to the property that had been documented I would have never purchased the home. If the city attmptd to do this the would lose in court. PD is the lawyer here so perhaps he can comment.

Again, I do not know everything about the Vine situation, but if the property passed inspections and it was legal to be occupied, they can’t very well go back to the builder either after all these documents were issued and say it was all by mistake. If the city employees made mistakes the attny for the builder would hammer on that in legal proceedings. Perhaps that is what Hill meant. It they tried to correct the mistakes they would be sued and lose.

It seems to me that if mistakes were made, any changes to correct the issue would end up being at the tax payers expense.

EDITOR’S NOTE: As best as we can tell from the information and documentation we have seen, City inspectors approved the home as built even though it did not conform to City Code AND the plans that the City approved. Apparently City Atty. Hill, after interview8ing the main culprits responsible for this fiasco – Cutaia and Bono – determined that they could not testify credibly enough or persuasively enough to establish that the owner of 322 Vine was properly informed about the non-conformity and violations of his home as built.

Hence, the City Attorney determined that, should the City spend the money to litigate the issue with the homeowner, howeowner, the City would likely lose.

8:27 pm-The house at 322 Vine “passed” inspection only because city employees who we the taxpayers pay to do their job ignored the building codes. Why did they ignore the codes for this one resident? Did they get something in exchange? The city attorney knows but won’t take action to get the violations corrected.

When this house is sold some time in the future doesn’t it have to be inspected to see if it is compliance with the codes? With the city employees gone-and let’s hope the city has stopped using outside contractor Bono-will this house pass an inspection?

The city can certainly require 322 and anyone else in violation to fix what it can. Disconnect the sump pumps from the city sewers; move the 3 air conditioning units into the back yard; move the down spout to their proper location; make the homeowner pay for the permit he should have gotten to finish the 3rd floor attic-but then this would increase the finished square footage of the property making it over the limit; make the homeowner remove the concrete patio he put in that was not on the original plans and got approval for after the fact-this would create some green space for water; require the homeowner to maintain or install swales at the property lines; require the removal of the large concrete parking pad on the north of the driveway again for green space; require the removal of the second floor in the garage that was installed with no permit after the “final” inspection was done; require the yard to be regarded to lessen the increase in elevation. There are probably more that can be addressed. None of these fixes to the violations in the building code are too onerous. If the owner can afford this house he can afford to get it as close to code as possible.

The fact that the city (former city employees) overlooked a number of codes for this homeowner is not relevant. And there is no defending the city attorney’s decision to not pursue action to correct the violations or defending the city council who backed the attorney’s decision. The neighbors have been ignored in this entire fiasco and they are the ones paying the price.

EDITOR’S NOTE: You contention that “[t]he fact that the city (former city employees) overlooked a number of codes for this homeowner is not relevant” is WRONG. Not only is it “relevant,” it is probably dispositive as to this dispute, because a homeowner has a right to rely on City staff’s issuance of permits, certificates, etc. – unless it can be proved that the homeowner bribed those staff members, or otherwise illegally procured those permits and certificates.

Then why did the building inspector’s-city employees-purposely ignore the building codes and so many of them? On the flip side of your argument, the neighbors too rely on the city to do its job so that they are not stuck living next to a new house that causes damage to their properties. Doesn’t the city have a responsibility to the neighbors who are the ones paying the price for the city’s incompetence and/or wrong doing? Isn’t the city attorney and the city council supposed to represent them as well-not just the deliberate blatant building code violator at 322 Vine?

In addition, why should the neighbors have to go after either the owner of 322 Vine or city employees regarding the property damaging violations when none of this would have occurred if the city would have just done its job and applied to building codes. Why have building codes at all if the city is not going to enforce them. The bottom line is the neighbors are paying for the city’s failures and the homeowner of 322 Vine could give a sh*t about what he has done.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The City employees could simply be incompetent; or they could be corrupt; or they could be something in between incompetent and corrupt.

For the City to successfully prosecute Building Code violations against the 322 Vine property owner in court requires competent after all that has occurred to this point, we understand that it would need credible testimony that: (a) the property owner violated the Building Code in specific ways; and (b) the property owner knew or reasonably should have known that he wasn’t entitled to the permits – including the occupancy permit – that he received from the City.

Unfortunately, based on available information, the City Attorney determined that that Messrs. Cutaia and Bono would be the only competent witnesses on those points, but would not be credible witnesses as to the facts necessary for the City to prevail. And as we understand it, the City is not legally “responsible” for the mistakes made in that permitting process because of governmental immunity.

So the only relief that might still be available to the neighbors of 322 Vine would be against the property owner directly, and would require those homeowners to sue the property owner.

Y’all don’t understand the Puritan underpinnings of 11:44: If you’re having ANY kind of a problem, it’s because you are unchosen by God. You got yourself knocked up, you got yourself fired at 50, you musta done sumpin’ or your house wouldn’t be in one of those mysterious wrong zones where flooding occurs. Once you realize that all victims are, in fact, the guilty, it becomes very easy to say something is not a problem.
On you it’s minor surgery, on me it’s major surgery.
Capisce?

I have spoken with a contractor who did faulty work in PR and stated he knew Cutaia would not do a thing. I wish I would of asked him to elaborate. He also stated he was only a journeyman plumber before being hired in PR. In over his head I guess.

EDITOR’S NOTE: We’ve had a lot of City employees over their heads, including some who are still there.