Charlie Lloyd , who lives in the 2700 block of south 58th Court in Cicero, points out the consequences of flooding in his basement, including a raised water heater, Dec. 8, 2021. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
When heavy rains fall in Cicero, it floods, and those who live near the BNSF Railway tracks are hit the worst, town officials say.
Some residents say their basements and streets have flooded since they moved into their homes decades ago — one told the Tribune as long as 40 years.
The town’s officials and local state legislators have blamed the railway company, which owns 7% of the land in Cicero, for causing excessive runoff by paving over soil, raising the elevation of its property by several feet and not creating detention ponds to catch the water, town spokesman Ray Hanania said.
Earlier this month, state Rep. Mike Zalewski spoke at a news conference at Cicero’s Town Hall about a house bill that he introduced this fall that, if made law, would require the railway company to conform to the regulations of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District.
“It’s a very simple piece of legislation,” said Zalewski, a Riverside Democrat. “It says that parcel property owned by the railway has to conform with the state, and the county, and the water reclamation district’s drainage law. ... We just simply want the town of Cicero and the residents affected by this flooding to be protected by this ordinance.”
In an email, a BNSF representative said the company has two ongoing legal matters with Cicero and that a judge recently ruled in the company’s favor, issuing a temporary restraining order to prevent Cicero from enforcing a discriminatory sewer charge against BNSF.
“Normally we would not comment on pending legal matters, but BNSF felt compelled to provide this statement in order to respond to the false allegations made by Cicero,” the company said.
In February, the company received a sewer bill 1,250% greater than its previous bills, with its rates going up from $6,643 to $90,300 per month without any notice, the company said.
“BNSF tried numerous times to discuss this large rate increase with Cicero to no avail,” the company said. “Cicero’s response was to send BNSF a 60-day notice threatening to shut down our water service and tear up our railyard’s pipes if we did not pay. Faced with these threats, in June, BNSF was forced to file a suit against the unlawful rate increase.”
A month later, the town then filed its own lawsuit with concerns about flooding, the company said.
“To date, Cicero has not provided BNSF with any proof of its allegations; no pictures, dates/times, or evidence of any kind. Cicero only recently filed an amended complaint where it identified several locations of concern,” the company said. “BNSF has filed a motion to dismiss Cicero’s complaint and believes its allegations are without merit.”
Hanania said it was true that the town increased BNSF’s sewer bill because the town believed the company should be financially responsible to the Cicero residents for the amount of water it’s added to the town as a result of the resurfacing it has done over the years. Hanania added that the town has tried to communicate with BNSF but the company has been unresponsive.
“I think the railroad has an attitude that they don’t care about anybody,” Hanania said. “But they have to be good neighbors, and we don’t believe they have been.”
Some of the residents who have been affected the most live on the east side of the 2700 block of South 58th Court, where they can see the railroad tracks from their backyards, Hanania said.
Jean Laisa Guardado, 36, said her father has owned a home in the block since 1993, and the family has experienced flooding during heavy rains since living there. The worst one in recent memory was in June of last year, she said.
Jean Laisa Guardado points out flooding has occurred along the railroad tracks. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Guardado walked outside to rainwater hitting her ankles on the sidewalk and hitting the bumper of her vehicle, parked on the street, she said.
She brought out a cooler with Modelos for her and her next-door neighbor to share because she knew they would have to wait a while for the water to drain.
Her family is looking to move to Texas because they’re tired of the town’s floods and traffic, she said.
“It’s getting too expensive,” she said.
They’ve lost a washer, dryer, water heaters, clothes, bedroom furniture and countless things that were stored in their basement and damaged from the rainwater, she said. During heavy rains, they’ve used up to seven pumps to get water out of the basement and they are now on their second wet vacuum.
Whenever it rains, the family has anxiety, Guardado said. Even in the middle of the night, someone has to get up to check the basement or grab a bucket to start taking out the water. Afterward, they have to thoroughly clean with bleach in hopes of preventing mold.
“It’s an ongoing problem,” she said. “It is a pain to be getting the water out. ... We can’t even sleep because someone has to be checking.”
Guardado said she has tried to complain to the town but she’s defeated. The family has only received help once from the Federal Emergency Management Agency years ago, which was around $3,000 to $4,000.
“They don’t do anything about it, so what’s the point? ... The town never says, ‘You know what, we apologize,’” she said. “You lost what you lost and you’re screwed.”
Hanania said some Cicero residents received payments from FEMA about a decade ago after the town and other nearby communities were declared a disaster area due to flooding.
Charlie Lloyd, 77, who has lived in his home on the same block as Guardado for 41 years, said that every time the street floods, he knows that his basement will flood.
Charlie Lloyd in his house on south 58th Court in Cicero. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
“If that street don’t flood, we’re good,” he said.
It has flooded at least once or twice a year every year he’s lived there. He has lost two water heaters, two furnaces, Christmas decorations, rugs and other items stored in the basement. His new furnace was installed on top of cinder blocks to elevate it, and he has shelves to keep everything off the floor.
Lloyd said he bought sewer insurance, but it hasn’t seemed to help.
Lloyd’s next-door neighbor, 63-year-old Irma Valentin, said she has lived in her home for about 20 years and has lost three furnaces and three water heaters during that time.
“When I first bought the house, I told the lady, ‘Do you get flooding?’ and she told me, ‘No.’ That’s why I bought it. If she told me yes, I wouldn’t have bought it,” she said.
She learned that her basement does flood a month after she moved in — one day after her final chance to terminate the contract.
Irma Valentin, of the 2700 block of south 58th Court in Cicero, points out the effects of flooding in her basement. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
While Lloyd and Valentin said they weren’t sure who was at fault for the flooding, Guardado said she doesn’t believe the railway is to blame, because she knows of other Cicero residents and even relatives in Berwyn who don’t live by the railway who also experience flooding. She believed it is due to nearby floodgates being closed.
Hanania said the town closing the floodgates is a myth. The town does not have control over nearby floodgates, he said.
In addition to the issues caused by the railway, flooding is caused by people raking their leaves onto the streets, covering maintenance holes, Hanania said. So the town sends out water crews to uncover the maintenance holes during rain.
The town can also only do so much to help residents who have lost property in floods, Hanania said. The town does offer to help vacuum water out of residents’ property and has a program that splits costs 50/50 with a homeowner to install a backup valve in their sewer pipe to alleviate flooding.
“It’s things like that we try to do,” he said. “We can’t cover the damage, unfortunately, to a home that’s been damaged by fire, that’s been damaged by floodwater.”
Guardado said the city did put in a row of rocks along part of their alley next to the railway, to try to catch some of the water. That has helped some, but she said she sees neighborhood kids picking up the rocks and throwing them.
“When we complained, that’s what we got,” she said. “This is their solution: rocks.”
Tribune reporter Sylvia Goodman contributed.
pfry@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @paigexfry
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