TRANSMITTAL LETTER FOR BOARD MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 4, 2014
COMMITTEE ON STORMWATER MANAGEMENT
Mr. David St. Pierre, Executive Director
Title
Authority to enter into an Intergovernmental Agreement with Cook County to review opportunities for joint funding of flood-relief management projects and stormwater management planning studies, and establishment of a joint program for the acquisition of flood-prone properties located in Cook County
Body
Dear Sir:
Authorization is requested to enter into an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with Cook County to review opportunities for joint funding of flood-relief management projects and stormwater management planning studies, and establishment of a joint program for the acquisition of flood-prone properties located in Cook County.
On February 18, 2010 and March 17, 2011, the Board of Commissioners granted its approval to pursue flood control projects identified under the Detailed Watershed Plans (DWPs) developed by the District. On September 19, 2013, the Board of Commissioners authorized the District to assist local communities and agencies with various projects to address flooding problems through the District's Phase II Stormwater Management program. Additionally, the Board recently adopted a policy on the selection and prioritization of projects for acquiring flood-prone property at its August 7, 2014 meeting.
As a result of Cook County being designated as a disaster area based on the severe flooding that occurred in April 2013, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) granted funding to Cook County under the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program. The purpose of the CDBG-DR program is to provide assistance for necessary expenses related to disaster relief, long-term recovery, restoration of infrastructure and housing, and economic revitalization in the most impacted and distressed areas resulting from a major disaster. Cook County then reached out to the District to identify potential flood relief projects which may be eligible for funding under the CDBG-DR program. Information on the projects identified by the District in its DWPs and the Phase II program were provided to Cook County for its review. On June 5, 2014, the Board of Commissioners authorized the District to negotiate an IGA with Cook County to allow for partnering opportunities with Cook County on stormwater management projects. Upon execution of the IGA, the two parties will determine which, if any, stormwater management projects may be eligible for joint funding by the District and Cook County through their CDGB-DR grant. Further consideration for potential jointly-funded stormwater management planning studies will also be performed under the IGA to support the identification and development of additional stormwater management projects where preliminary engineering analysis has not already been performed.
In order to access additional funds that may be available through related HUD grant funding sources, the District will work with Cook County in the preparation of an application to the National Disaster Resilience Competition for eligible flood relief activities.
Under the IGA, the District and Cook County will also review areas of repetitive flood damage to identify areas where acquisition and removal of flood-prone structures are the only feasible solution to eliminate flood damages. The framework for such a program will consider the criteria for property selection in accordance with the District's aforementioned flood-prone property acquisition policy and CDGB-DR regulations.
Based on the foregoing, it is requested that the Board of Commissioners grant authority to enter into an Intergovernmental Agreement with Cook County to identify potential projects in which the final design and construction of the project could be accomplished more economically by sharing the related expenses between the District and Cook County. After potential projects are reviewed, further agreements between the two parties to establish obligations related to the implementation of specific projects will be drafted and additional requests to the Board of Commissioners for authority to negotiate and enter into individual project IGAs will be submitted for approval.
It is further requested that the Chairman of the Committee on Finance, the Executive Director, and the Clerk be authorized to execute the above captioned agreement on behalf of the District, as well as any documents necessary to effectuate the agreement, upon approval by the Director of Engineering as to technical matters and by the General Counsel as to form and legality.
Requested, Catherine A. O'Connor, Director of Engineering, WSS:JPM
Recommended, David St. Pierre, Executive Director
Respectfully Submitted, Michael A. Alvarez, Chairman Committee on Stormwater Management
Disposition of this agenda item will be documented in the official Regular Board Meeting Minutes of the Board of Commissioners for September 4, 2014