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Saturday, March 14, 2009

A5

NORTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS

Family fights village hall over frequent floods
Clarks caught in watery trap
By Lindsay Welbers Princeton Reporter Village crews brings a pump out frequently to try to relieve the flooding in the Clark family yard, but water frequently backs up and winds up back in the yard.
NT photo/ Lindsay Welbers

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LAMOILLE When the Clark family first moved into their newly-built home in LaMoille in 1997 they were young, happy and life was good. The family had three children, and they had just invested in a home they expected would last the rest of their lives. But after 12 years of living in the home they built, times are very different. The family says they feel angry and ignored by the response the village has given to their problem. They built their single-story home on a 1.3-acre lot that they say has flooded every three to four months for the past nine years, filling the yard and trapping the family inside their home, bringing with it dirt, chemicals and fecal matter. It was a beautiful piece of land, said Julia Clark. In the summertime its gorgeous here. At least it was. The family moved from Aurora to LaMoille to be closer to their family and bought the plot of land next to Bill Clarks mother. Were civil, were cordial, were polite in public, we acknowledge people and say hello, we wave, Julia said. We were never socially accepted within this community. Bill and Julia are celebrating their 22nd wedding anniversary this year and have had four children, Brianna, Jesse, Sabrina and Trace. When they moved in here and the property starting doing this, it wasnt this bad, said Bills mother, Tanya Butler. Heavy rains this month caused the floodwaters around the family home to rise nearly to their front porch, causing them to be unable to use their garage, yard or decks. (The village) always said this isnt our problem, Julia said. Julia and Bill say they dont know exactly what causes the waters to rise so drastically, but LaMoille mayor Mike Pinter says that it is caused by a damaged catch basin that is causing at least part of the problem. Part of the thing is that catch basin is broken, so it was just a matter of getting the money and the time to put it in. These rains arent normal anyway, Pinter said. A catch basin gathers surface water and funnels it into a drainage system. But fixing the catch basin would likely only relieve part of the problem. Potentially broken drainage tile underneath the road in front of the family home could be preventing the storm waters from draining away and potentially even causing wastewater to mix in as well. Pinter said he had no knowledge of any broken drainage tiles and blamed the problem on the broken catch basin and he says the family built the home too low. When it dries out we will remedy it. At least our part of it anyway, Pinter said. The villages sewer system was installed in the early 1980s Pinter said. We put in for a $50,000 grant that hopefully we can get. So we can do some storm-water stuff and work on our sewer plant. Were like most other towns; were looking everywhere for money, Pinter

said. But we do the best we can. This system cost like $1.5 million when it was installed. Now it would probably be $5 or 6 million (to redo) and theres no way a small town could get that kind of money right now. Julia says the village has known for years that the catch basin has been broken; Pinter says he has only known about it during the past year. Pinter says village employees will go to the Clark property at the end of the month, when they expect the catch basin to dry out. They can repair it then. The crawlspace underneath the home has flooded at times as high as 37 inches deep. The garage is unusable and an antique Camaro housed inside it has been damaged. Because the house is essentially an island when the floods come, Bill carries his children through the water wearing galoshes just so they can get to the road to go to school. And the house isnt the only thing that has become negatively affected. The Clarks say they experience myriad health problems that they attribute to the flooding. Family members have found benign tumors, bones that break easily, stunted growth and neurological problems that they believe can be attributed to mold, mildew, dirty tap water, and the chemicals that pool around their home. Julia worries that if an emergency were to happen in the home, paramedics would have difficulty getting a gurney through the water and mud. For drinking and cooking, they use bottled water exclusively. In the past year alone, the family has had four claims on flood insurance. And financially, who can afford that kind of insurance? Julia said. The family is concerned about the chemicals that have been sprayed on the neighboring field and claim that the water that

Submitted photo

Bill Clark carries son Trace, 8, through the yard so he can get to school.

comes from their tap tastes like dirt. When this goes away it leaves a fine powder thats left all over, theres dead worms and everything else comes up from the water; when it dries the smell is just not to be believed and the mosquitoes are terrible and theres all that and now were just realizing how much chemicals the farmers put on their property, Bills mother, Tanya Butler said. The family has had the house up for sale three times, but it is simply unmarketable, Julia said. The family spent $67,000 to build the house and the Clarks say they have even considered abandoning it. But because so much of the familys money is tied up in payments, they would have nowhere else to go. The town wont even put anything out here so they can get through, they have to carry their kids across so the kids can go to school and go to work, Butler said. During a flood, galoshes are needed to get to and from the house and from the front door the water can get as high as their knees, Julia said. They only own two pairs of galoshes. Our insurance agent even said

I dont know how you live like this, you merely exist here, Julia said. Julia said she worries for not only the safety and health of her family but for her neighbors and any area pets. If someone slips on the ice, Im liable, Julia said. If somebody comes in the water and drowns or falls or gets sick from any contamination, were liable. This is not a safe place. Thankfully nobody has been injured yet, though it is a scary possibility, Julia said. You see that weather forecast and you know whats coming and youre standing at your window and youre staring as the rain is starting to fall and you know that at any moment its going to build up, its just going to wash you right out, and theres nothing you can do, Julia said. Times are different for everyone in the Clark family than they were when they moved into the house. Even a few simple pleasures are gone for them. I remember when I liked it when it rained, Bill said. Lindsay Welbers can be reached at (815) 872-1069 Ext. 13 or ntprinceton@ivnet.com.

New Tribune photo/Lindsay Welbers

The Clark familys home is surrounded by flood waters and field runoff three to four times a year. The water can measure feet deep and, the family members say, carries with it health and contamination hazards that the family says are dangerous to them, the neighbors and area pets and are a neighborhood nuisance.

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