Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Stormwater Policy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Commissioner raises stormwater-fee question and recounts past retaliatory litigation
Summary
Commissioner Schaible asked whether the stormwater charge on water bills should be removed now that a detention pond is complete and said he has been the target of retaliatory litigation, for which he filed a complaint with the Illinois Department of Human Rights.
Commissioner Schaible used his report to ask whether the stormwater portion of the water bill — a charge he said has been on bills since about 2017 and is roughly $6 per month — should be removed now that a detention pond project is finished.
Staff described recent stormwater-funded projects, including a detention pond on Philomile Street, culvert repairs on Oakdale and pipeline work. The explanation noted staff sometimes schedule and split storm-sewer work to preserve motor fuel tax funds for street work.
Schaible also said he previously experienced what he described as frivolous and retaliatory litigation and that he has filed a complaint with the Illinois Department of Human Rights. He said fear of retaliation had inhibited his participation in prior consensus-building; Mayor Hollenbeck agreed in part when asked whether that perception existed.
Separately, Schaible said the city is targeting May 1 as the start date for planned street work on Lincoln Street and thanked crews for addressing a recent water leak.
The council did not take formal action on the stormwater-fee question during the meeting; Schaible asked staff to check historical billing records and follow up.
