While as much as three inches of rain washed Forest Park night, the village hall wasn’t spared.

Just before the regularly scheduled commission meeting — around 5 p.m. — Forest Park Director of Public Works Sal Stella discovered that the building roof was leaking. 

By the time the Review arrived roughly two hours later to report on the meeting, water made it down to the basement, where the council chambers and some department offices are located.

The elevator shaft was flooded, and water dripped from the ceiling near the entrance to the council chambers. Garbage bins lined the section where the department heads sit, and the water displaced them to the other side of the chamber.

Forest Park Health & Safety Director Steve Glinke told the Review that the flooding itself wasn’t unusual – leaking roof has been an ongoing issue, and groundwater has been known to get into the basement. And usually, the pump in the elevator shaft could get the water out. But last night happened to be one of the days when there was simply too much water for it to process.

Staff kicked into gear to hose water from the elevator to toilets in the women’s restroom at the other end of the basement. They also used the hose to pump the water out into one of the toilets. It wasn’t an entirely smooth process — as the water started moving, Rachell Entler, Mayor Rory Hoskins’ executive assistant, noticed that some of the water was leaking from the hose. Glinke scrambled to get towels.

Despite the chaos, Glinke, Stella and other village employees were able to pump most of the water out of the shaft, and Glinke said that he was reasonably certain that the flooding would be taken care of by morning.

The show — or, rather meeting — went on.

Emily Ramirez and her husband attended the meeting seeking zoning approvals for her BABS comedy club. The couple also happens to do home renovations on the side.

“I wish I could help, but I don’t want to get in the way,” she said. 

Village Administrator Moses Amidei told the Review that the village was still trying to figure out exactly where the chamber leak was coming from. 

Glinke and Stella spent much of the meeting trying to get take care of the flooding, and several commissioners gave them a shout out. By the time the meeting ended a little after 8 p.m., the elevator shaft was mostly drained, and they set up fans. 

“I think we’re in good shape,” Glinke said “We’re going to have fans on overnight.”