CROWN POINT | Lake County Surveyor George Van Til renewed his call Monday for transforming some of the county's public parks and private recreation areas into large-scale water retention areas in the wake of the weekend flood scare.
"We need to figure out what is happening in the whole county and get an expert to do a comprehensive assessment," Van Til said. "But there is no reason to do it if we don't have a money source because we are talking tens of millions of dollars."
Lake County Councilman Larry Blanchard, R-Crown Point, said there is no money in the county's 2009 budget for the plan, but "the council is always open to new ideas and have always listened to what George has to say. It would depend on what the plan was."
A weekend downpour and melting ice prompted new fears of flooding just months after the September deluge that left hundreds homeless and caused tens of millions of dollars in damage to more than 15,200 homes and businesses in Munster, Gary, Lake Station and Hobart and other region communities.
This weekend's flooding didn't reach that level. The Little Calumet River and Kankakee River briefly surged above flood stage but were receding Monday evening.
Still, Van Til said, "we had a close call. We had less rain, and the ground was a little less frozen than we feared."
He said the county shouldn't wait for another disaster to make changes.
Van Til first proposed three months ago converting public golf courses and park land -- such as North Township's Wicker Park golf course -- for use as temporary stormwater storage and buying some private golf courses under financial strain for the same purpose.
"At some point, we are going to have to make a decision to really attack this problem," Van Til said. "If we don't do that, it really does affect the quality of life and property values and homeownership and a whole lot of things."
North Township Trustee Frank Mrvan said Monday he cannot support turning Wicker Park into a lake.
"What would be the point?" Mrvan asked. "We have construction going on in the park right now on the first improvement in 20 years. Mr. Van Til should take a quick survey of the people living here and see if that's what they want. There are a lot of dangers and negatives in a stormwater reservoir that used to be a park."
