The Waterloo City Council is taking steps to alleviate drainage issues on Mockingbird Lane in the Westview Acres subdivision.

During its March 2 meeting, the council approved a professional services agreement at a cost not to exceed $44,000 with HMG Engineers to draw up plans for the creation of a detention basin near the subdivision.

Money for the project is included in the proposed upcoming fiscal year budget. If all goes as planned, the project could get started by this summer.

The hope is that the detention basin will eliminate flooding on Mockingbird Lane, which tends to occur during heavy rains.>>>

Jim Duckwitz, who resides at 318 Mockingbird Lane, has pressed the council to take action due to drainage issues encountered at and near his home over the past few years. The proposed detention basin will be located directly north of his home.

An engineering study conducted in 2011 recommended a new drainage system be installed from the field behind his house to a lake in the subdivision.

‘The council’s approval of engineering work to alleviate the flooding in Westview Acres is an encouraging sign for my neighbors and I,” Duckwitz told the Republic-Times. “We thank the council for realizing the safety issues that occur when the street floods and for taking this important step forward.”

In other news, the council on Monday night approved the procedure and schedule related to the adoption of its annual budget for the fiscal year of May 1, 2015 to April 30, 2016.

A copy of the proposed budget will be posted for public viewing at City Hall beginning March 27, and a public hearing has been set for 7:15 p.m. Monday, April 20 at City Hall.

Lastly, a $150 million federal fraud charge filed against a Florida businessman has hit investments made by municipalities across Illinois, including Belleville, Collinsville and Wood River in this region.

Fortunately, Waterloo’s investment in the Illinois Metropolitan Investment Fund is not affected by the alleged fraud.

Waterloo has $11.3 million invested in the IMET’s “1 to 3 Year Fund,” city collector and budget officer Shawn Kennedy explained.

“The problem they had was with the ‘Convenience Fund,'” she said.  “The City of Waterloo does not have any investments in this fund, and therefore we were not out anything financially.”