Public Works Administration has overall responsibility for the effective operation of the Public Works Department. This includes allocating resources, establishing priorities, and providing direction for the Divisions of Water Production, Water Distribution, Storm and Sanitary Sewers, Streets, Transit & Parking, Equipment Maintenance, Engineering, Forestry and maintain the infrastructure of the City, including streets, sidewalks, street lights, storm sewers and all City buildings.

The purpose of the Master Plan is to develop a comprehensive approach to operating, maintaining and improving the City’s storm and sanitary sewer systems. The City Council established the following priorities for the protection of residents and all property in Highland Park:

• Protect buildings from flooding
• Protect yards from flooding
• Protect streets and public rights-of-way from flooding

To that end, City Council adopted the following standards for the storm and sanitary sewer systems:

• Storm sewers should be designed to handle the ten year storm event
• Sanitary sewers should have a maximum peaking factor of 6 (i.e., sanitary sewers would handle six times the load)

In developing the Master Plan report, previous storm and sanitary sewer studies and reports developed over the past 30 years were reviewed. The engineering consultant considered recommendations from previous studies to determine what issues were still relevant for Highland Park; identified the list of projects recommended from those studies, and which projects have been completed; updated the studies to cover events since the studies have been completed; and evaluated the operating, maintenance and improvement schedules for storm and sanitary sewer systems in the Department of Public Works.

The Master Plan also reviews the City’s funding of sewer operating and capital programs, the new storm water utility and other fees, and available resources for grants and loans to supplement City fund sources.

The full Storm and Sanitary Sewers Master Plan Report is available for viewing through the link provided. Since the report is approximately 80-pages long, please allow sufficient time to download. Click here to view the report.

Neighborhood Infrastructure Improvements Program

On Wednesday, March 21, 2007 the City of Highland Park welcomed residents to a Neighborhood Infrastructure Improvements Program Open House. The purpose of the event was to present the findings and recommendations of engineering consultants who have investigated the condition of the City’s storm and sanitary sewer systems. Utilizing these findings and recommendations, a 10-year long-range Infrastructure Improvement Program was developed to achieve performance targets approved by the City Council. The performance targets are to reduce and/or eliminate stormwater and sanitary sewage within the City infrastructure system from infiltrating:

1. private residences;
2. private yards; and
3. public streets.

Reducing infiltration is a large undertaking and the City began efforts to meet the performance targets over the course of the last five years. Since then, the City has completed updates to the Storm Sewer and Sanitary Sewer Master Plans. Over the last ten years, the City has completed improvements to 27 miles (150,000 lineal feet) of the City storm and sanitary sewer systems, and developed a long-term Annual Capital Improvements Program for the city storm and sanitary sewer infrastructure.

To ensure that best practices were being followed, the storm and sanitary sewer infrastructure system and operational plan was analyzed by the professional engineering firm of Earth Tech, Inc. Earth Tech, Inc. examined the City’s policies and procedures for sewer system maintenance and improvement in accordance with nationally accepted industry standards and best practices. The results of the analysis confirmed that the City has focused efforts in the proper areas. However, a key component of reducing infiltration into the City storm and sanitary sewer system still needed to be initiated. The key component was reducing the amount of infiltration from the residential portion of the infrastructure system. To accomplish this, the City is announcing a new program to assist residents with the repair of damaged sanitary service lines.

The City of Highland Park is launching a new program to help residents repair their deteriorated or damaged sanitary service lines. The sanitary service line, (also referred to as a ‘house lateral’), is the pipe that carries wastewater from the residence to the City sanitary sewer main. With the new sanitary service line repair program, the City of Highland Park will approve and hire contractors, manage the repair work, offer a financing option to residents, and even pay 20 percent of the total repair cost! This program offers residents a low-cost, less-stress option to repair their failed sanitary lines, reduce the chance of sewer backups, and protect against property damage.
For the past several years, the City of Highland Park has been implementing measures to improve both the storm and sanitary sewer systems by repairing, lining, and rebuilding sewer mains. Since 2001, the Department of Public Works has utilized state-of-the-art sewer television cameras to assess and record the condition of residential service lines and the City sanitary sewer mains. In addition to the use of new technology, the Department of Public Works and Earth Tech Inc. recently developed a 10-year master plan for the City’s storm and sanitary systems. One of the most important findings presented by the engineering consultant is that repairing residential sanitary service lines will help reduce as much as 80 percent of the rain water (known as infiltration) from entering the City’s sewer mains during wet weather events. This reduction in infiltration reduces the possibility of the sanitary main surcharging, thereby reducing the possibility of backups in residential service lines.

According to City Code, property owners are responsible for maintaining sanitary service lines and ensuring that the services are in good repair, thus minimizing the possibility of infiltration. Over time, sanitary service lines may become damaged, develop leaks, or become blocked with tree roots or debris. This may result in sanitary sewer back-ups affecting that property and other properties downstream.

Residents who have been required to repair damaged or leaky lines have indicated that finding good, knowledgeable contractors to perform the work is difficult. Therefore, the City is embarking on an innovative approach to address the concern and facilitate the repair of sanitary service lines. The City will provide all necessary inspections of the contractor’s work.

For more information regarding this program, please click here to open the brochure.

Highlands Neighborhood

Contact Information
1150 Half Day Road
Highland Park, Illinois 60035
Hours: 7:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Phone: (847) 432-0807
Fax: (847) 432-9907
Email Public Works