COUNTY

New FEMA rating good news for insurance rates

A new safety rating for DuPage County will translate into a lower insurance rate for some residents.

For the first time, DuPage County earned a rating in the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Community Rating System (CRS) program that can save unincorporated residents up to 20 percent on their flood insurance.

The Community Rating System (CRS) program credits government agencies for efforts that go above and beyond standard flood protection for property owners. Following evaluation, a community receives a rating on a scale from 1 to 10, and a corresponding reduction in FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program premium is offered to the community’s residents.

DuPage County received a CRS rating of 6, meaning unincorporated residents in floodplains are eligible to receive up to a 20 percent discount on their flood insurance premiums. DuPage County officially became enrolled in the program Oct. 1.

The DuPage County Building and Zoning Division spearheaded the effort and received assistance from the Stormwater Management Department and the Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

Unincorporated residents who pay flood insurance should contact their insurance provider about how to save money due to DuPage’s new CRS rating.  For more information about Stormwater Management in DuPage, visit www.dupageco.org/swm.

Grants to finance water quality projects

The DuPage County Stormwater Management Committee is accepting grant proposals for projects aimed at improving the quality of the county’s waterbodies. 

In its 20th year, the Water Quality Improvement Program (WQIP) grant awards funding for projects exhibiting a regional water quality benefit, including restoration and green infrastructure projects.

Under the program, organizations and individuals may apply for reimbursement of up to 25 percent of construction costs for portions of projects that improve water quality. During the grant’s tenure, DuPage County has awarded more than $3.3 million to 56 projects such as permeable paver parking lots, green roofs and native vegetation.

The application deadline is Jan. 11, 2019. To learn more and download the application guide, visit www.dupageco.org/WQIPgrant. 

ELMHURST

Charitable organization celebrates 40th anniversary

The United Community Concerns Association, a group of neighbors helping neighbors, is celebrating 40 years of providing food to Elmhurst Community School District 205 children and their families. To mark the occasion, the organization is hosting an open house from 2-4 p.m. Oct. 21, at St. Peter’s United Church of Christ, 125 W. Church St., Elmhurst. In the spirit of its mission to feed neighbors in need, the organization is asking people who attend the open house to bring non-perishable food items to kick off the holiday season.

Bike donations to go to Chicago students

Gently used bicycles can be donated to Pedal Power, an upcoming charity event to be held from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. Oct. 27, at Stemples Cycle Center, 494 Spring Road, Elmhurst. The bikes will be refurbished and given to Chicago Public School students who make the honor roll.

Grant Schleiter and Lauren Schleiter are helping to organize this event for the Elmhurst community for the second time. Grant is an eighth grader at Immaculate Conception Grade School; Lauren is a sophomore at Fenwick High School. They are following the lead of their friends, Nicole Basil and Bennett Basil of Wilmette, who started Pedal Power in 2008. Over the past 10 years, more than 3,000 bikes have been donated. In 2017, Lauren and Grant collected 154 bikes in Elmhurst and the group in total collected more than 500. 

Stemples will again perform quick safety checks on all of the bikes and can perform minor repairs if necessary.

The Evanston Bike Club will supply helmets and Divvy, Chicago’s bike share program, will donate trucks and drivers to transport the collected bikes from the bike collection points to the Chicago schools.

Wendy M. Musielak

WHEATON

Woman named a leading lawyer in Illinois

Wendy M. Musielak, a Wheaton attorney who had been named an emerging lawyer for the past three years, has been chosen a Leading Lawyer in Illinois for 2018. She is a partner with Esp Kreuzer Cores LLP, which has offices in Chicago, Wheaton and Oswego.

Leading Lawyers, a division of Law Bulletin Media, selects its honorees each year based on peer recommendations and approval by an advisory board. Less than five percent of the practicing attorneys in a state receive the honor.

Musielak specializes in family law. She obtained her law degree from DePaul University College of Law.

Musielak has earned a number of other honors. She was selected for the Super Lawyers list of outstanding Illinois attorneys in 2018, after being on the Rising Stars list from 2014 to 2017. The DuPage County Bar Association named her Lawyer of the Year in 2013.

Musielak is the second vice president of the DuPage County Bar Association’s Board of Directors and is on the path to becoming its president in two years. She is a fellow for the Collaborative Law Institute of Illinois and a member of the Kane County Bar Association, Illinois State Bar Association, and the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals. She also is a member and former director of the DuPage Association of Women Lawyers.

–DuPage County News Briefs–