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Deerfield resident says drainage from Briarwood Country Club floods her yard; asks village for action
Summary
Susan O'Malley told the Village Board that drain tiles beneath Briarwood Country Club funnel stormwater into an open stream on her property, causing repeated backyard flooding. She said the club requires an agreement she won't sign and that she has seen no drainage permits issued for the club in the past 30 years.
Susan O'Malley, a Deerfield resident who lives at 520 Briar Hill Road, told the Village Board on Nov. 3 that repeated flooding in her backyard is caused by drain tile beneath Briarwood Country Club that she said is routed to a manhole and then into an open stream that traverses her property.
"This is a direct result of drain tile laid beneath the golf course funneled to a storm a manhole cover and then goes into a stream that traverses my backyard," O'Malley said. "If there's too much water, the water comes up." She said the water at times reaches the edge of her porch and that her lot is roughly one acre while the golf course is about 135 acres.
O'Malley said she has tried for several years to work with Robert Phillips, the village director of public works, and described the process as "a disaster," saying the largest problem has been communication. She told trustees the Briarwood Country Club presented an agreement after a Sept. 26 meeting and that the club is "not willing to negotiate anything"; she said Phillips has demanded she sign the agreement to receive any help from the village.
"Why do we have a permitting system? Why do we have the Lake County Stormwater Commission? Why is there Illinois drainage law? The reason is so big entities don't run over a residential property like what's going on right now," O'Malley said, adding she cannot construct on-site detention for the volume she described and that the golf course needs its own detention solution.
O'Malley also said she filed a FOIA request and found no drainage permits issued to the club over the past 30 years. The board thanked her for bringing the matter to their attention; no formal action or staff report was recorded on the minutes of this meeting beyond the public comment and the board response.
The Village did not record any immediate commitments or votes related to O'Malley's requests during the Nov. 3 meeting. The transcript records the village thanking O'Malley and acknowledging her concerns.
