Private Property Drainage Assistance Program

The Private Property Drainage Assistance Program allows Warrenville homeowners of single-family residential properties to apply for City assistance to help alleviate storm water and/or surface water drainage issues on private property. The following information gives a more detailed description of the program, the identifies eligible projects, how project applications are evaluated, application information and form, and examples of solutions. 

Program Description

The City of Warrenville has established a program to assist owners of single-family residential properties in the City that have experienced storm water and/or surface water drainage issues on private property. Proper yard drainage of storm water and/or surface water on private property is important to protect the public health, safety and welfare, as well as for protection of important aesthetic and quality of life issues. Over time, a variety of events and activities could create water drainage issues in these areas, including, without limitation, ground settling, filling or other changes of grade, and changes in or the addition of landscaping, fences and sheds. Also, yard areas that once were able to absorb water, may not be able to do so due to the increases in impervious areas. This problem can also be exacerbated by more significant private property improvements, including, without limitation, building additions, patios, pool decks, sidewalks and accessory buildings. 

Participation in this program is based on a first come first serve basis. Availability of funds for each fiscal year and proposed projects will be considered in accordance with the City’s fiscal year budget (May 1 to April 30). Any funds provided under this policy shall be subject to such budget limitations and other restrictions, as set by the City. 

The City will maintain a rolling list of projects that will be considered for funding, and reserves the right to require applicants to update their application materials from time to time. 

Eligible Projects 

Any application for projects for participation in the Private Property Drainage Assistance Program shall meet the following requirements: 

• The proposed project shall involve at least four single-family residential homes located within the corporate limits of the City of Warrenville.
• The proposed project shall demonstrate a need to address standing water issues with a documented duration of at least 48 hours or more.

Projects not meeting the above requirements shall not be eligible for the Program; however, the City Council reserves the right to consider other private property drainage projects in the event that City staff presents a recommendation for discussion and City Council consideration at a Committee of the Whole meeting. For those projects not eligible for the program and not approved, City staff will be available to provide more general input and suggestions for drainage solutions to the property owner.

Project Evaluation

City staff will consider the following five factors as primary criteria when evaluating project(s) each year of the Program:

• Locations where flooding also occurs in the public right-of-way, including the degree (in both area and duration, and type of damage, if any) to which the public roadway must be closed to traffic or public use of the roadway is adversely affected; however, properties where structures are adversely affected will not be considered as these raise more substantial concerns than can be addressed by this Program.
• Flooding conditions where flooding is limited to private property on the properties of at least four contiguous, single family residential homes, including the degree (in both area and duration, and type of damage, if any) to which the properties are affected; however, properties where structures are adversely affected will not be considered as these raise more substantial concerns than can be addressed by this Program.
• Located in a development constructed before the modern Countywide Stormwater Ordinance was adopted in 1992. These developments would not have been subject to the same level of regulation or City inspection as developments constructed after 1992 and are more likely to have a greater adverse impact.
• Number of sump pumps connected to the sanitary sewer. These connections are illegal and the City is seeking opportunities to eliminate these connections and provide a storm sewer to receive the sump pump flows instead.
• Cost-benefit of a project will be calculated simply by dividing the total cost of the project by the number of benefited properties.

City staff will rank the proposed projects utilizing a consistent ranking system to ultimately decide which projects will be considered for funding during any individual funding year. The number of proposed projects and available funding for the Program will also affect the ranking.

Application Information

Application Fee

Each application will be charged a fee of $500. The purpose of this fee is to cover the initial cost for staff to visit the proposed site, develop a scope of work, and a conceptual plan and estimate of design and construction cost for each application, for purposes of calculating cost-benefit and evaluating the budget implications.

Application Instructions

1. The property owner(s) shall submit a Private Property Drainage Assistance Program Application, with the $500 application fee and separate signed Access Agreement for each property by its owner(s). 
   • Submit all required forms to: 

     City of Warrenville Public Works Department 3S258 Manning Avenue Warrenville, Illinois 60555

2. City staff will perform an initial review of the application for eligibility. In other words, does the application include the required minimum of four (4) affected contiguous properties? Is there standing water for the required minimum of forty-eight (48) hours? 
3. If the application is eligible for the program, City staff will develop a scope of work for the project, with a conceptual plan and cost estimate. The cost estimate will be developed with the assumption that the City will hire outside consultants and contractors to perform the design and construction. The City reserves the right to determine who will complete the project, as there will occasionally be projects that City staff can design and construct without outside assistance. 
4. Staff will use the application and conceptual cost estimate to rank the project among other eligible projects. Ranked projects will remain on the list until the project is constructed or the applicants request it be removed. In other words, the applicants only need to submit an application one time. 
5. When a project is selected for construction, all property owners will be required to execute an Easement Agreement and Maintenance Covenant, and a Stormwater Certification Application for the project. There are no additional fees associated with these documents. The Maintenance Covenant Agreement will be recorded with each property at the conclusion of construction, after the as-built record drawings are created.

Applications may be submitted at any time, however the deadline for submittal of an application to be considered for next fiscal year construction is March 1 each year.

Application Form

Application and Access Agreement (PDF)

Examples of Possible Solutions

Below are descriptions of two common solutions to storm water and surface water drainage issues that might be proposed. The listing of these options is not intended to suggest that they will be appropriate in each case, but they are representative of the type of program that could be funded given the size and scope of the Program.

Option 1: Re-grading yard(s) to reestablish proper pitch.

This type of project improvement should minimize future maintenance requirements. Regrading the yard(s) by utilizing a combination of filling low areas with soil and removing high points along the drainage profile where appropriate requires less future maintenance than other improvements such as the installation of storm sewers.

Option 2: Private gravity storm sewer installation.

In instances where Option 1 is not viable, installation of a storm sewer to drain a low area may be the appropriate option. This option also requires that a receiving storm sewer is available in the vicinity of the problem area. This might be an existing rear yard storm sewer system in close proximity to the problem area or a storm sewer system in a near street the subject property that can be accessed by extending a storm sewer/drain to the street via a side or rear property line. A gravity system is one that maintains a positive pitch and drains via gravity to the receiving storm sewer system without the aid of a sump pump.

The City will be responsible for maintaining only the storm sewer main and connections. Property owners will be responsible for the maintenance of landscaping as well as any pipe from the connection point to their sump pump or other individual facility on their property.

Disclaimer

The policy information contained in this document has been presented to and endorsed by the Warrenville City Council to protect the public health, safety and welfare through the improvement of water drainage in the community, reduction of opportunities for the spread of diseases such as the West Nile virus, enhancing the functioning of the storm sewer and sanitary sewer systems of the City by reducing illegal interconnections between those systems, and reducing infiltration and inflow of storm water into sanitary sewers. In addition, the City wishes to support residents with financial assistance for private property storm water and surface water drainage problems. This Program is not intended to establish a commitment or guarantee of the type, form, or level of assistance the City may provide for a specific private drainage improvement project. Applications for assistance received by the City will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis and ranked relative to all active applications on file. Each request will be evaluated with a consistent set of criteria with other active applications. The City reserves the right to deviate from the policy guidance provided in this document when it determines it is necessary or appropriate for the best interests of the overall community and protect the public health, safety and welfare.