East Dundee officials have reached a compromise with the developer of River Haven Place and Gardiner Place to deal with the detention pond on the property that will not drain.

In November, trustees gave Jim Bergman two weeks to establish a timeline setting estimated completion dates for several lingering items needing completion at the affordable senior housing campus, located at the northwest corner of Routes 25 and 72.

Among the issues, and the one of most concern to village officials, was a stormwater detention pond in front of the site that had more than 10 feet of standing water. The development was to have two “dry bottom” detention ponds in which water is filtered away through a layer of sand and gravel.

Bergman, who spoke about the situation at the Monday village board meeting, said his team dug down 20 feet and still could not get the water to drain.

To resolve the problem, he and village staff came up with an alternative plan in which the pond would be partially filled and a 10-foot-wide safety ledge created that is no more than 18 inches below the expected normal water level.

“They're bringing the bottom of the pond up so it won't be as deep as before,” village engineer Joe Heinz said.

Village President Lael Miller said the concept addresses safety concerns.

“We're not here to design somebody's water structure,” Miller said. “At this point we need to settle on (the question of) does this meet county requirements? Sounds like yes.”

Trustee Allen Skillicorn agreed.

“If the engineer and building inspector are satisfied, I can accept their judgment,” he said. “We don't need to micromanage every detail.”

The pond is expected to be corrected in the spring.

Bergman told trustees he was frustrated by how the village handled the situation.

“I was told I had to make the pond bigger. I changed the pond at your direction and did what you guys told me to do to try and hit that gravelly layer that's supposed to be there and it's not there,” he said.

“I'll do whatever you want me to do but (don't) ask for something that's physically impossible, like getting it to drain.”

He also took issue with accusations he said trustees have made.

“When I hear people sitting at this table say that I'm not doing what I said I was going to do or I'm not listening, that's just not true,” he said. “Every time I've gotten a letter, I've sent someone immediately. I'm extremely frustrated because I think I've done everything I said I was going to do and I want to get this done once and for all.”

Miller agreed.

“I also want to see this punch list done,” he said.

Village staff said besides the detention pond, only a few minor tasks now remain.

Erin Sauder is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.