VILLA PARK : Federal Drainage Guidelines Approved

The City Council, to comply with federal requirements, has approved a sweeping ordinance that governs water-runoff drainage.

Federal law requires all local governments to adopt controls over drainage if runoff endangers federally controlled bodies of water, such as the Pacific Ocean.

Villa Park officials have publicly and privately muttered in recent months that their small city, with a population of 6,400, hardly has any pollutants for the federal government to be worried about. Villa Park is almost entirely residential and has no industries.

Nonetheless, the City Council on Tuesday scrutinized a 23-page model ordinance on drainage control and then, without debate, unanimously approved it. No one showed up for a public hearing scheduled prior to the vote.