Plans for a $14 million road reconstruction project in Franklin Park ‘s Reuter subdivision are set to move forward, as soon as the village of Franklin Park can get approval for two low-interest loans from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency .
Also, officials are studying whether raising water and sewer rates will be necessary.
Rebuilding the roads is only one phase of the project. Improvements to the water mains, as well as the sanitary and storm sewers, are also to be expected, village engineer David Talbott said.
“This is such a monumental project that you can’t do it in one year,” Village President Barrett Pedersen told the board of trustees at a special meeting held Feb. 2. “You can’t do it in two years. You can’t do it in even three years. … You can’t resurface the streets. You have to rebuild them — a complete rebuild.”
The costs for all of the improvements are factored into that estimated $14 million price tag.
“The water mains in this area are small,” Pedersen explained. “They’re four-inch, and four-inch water mains break often. And that means a lot of money, because you have to send people out at 2 o’clock in the morning and so, when people wake up in the morning, the water is fixed.”
The project is expected to take place over a seven-year period, and streets affected include a portion of Calwagner Street, Reuter Avenue, Johanna Avenue, Atlantic Street, Leona Street, Richard Avenue, Sonia Lane, Nona Street, Sheila Street, Nevada Avenue and Shirley Lane.
The IEPA offers two types of loan programs, both of which focus on helping municipalities improve their wastewater/stormwater or drinking water systems. These programs are distributed by the State Revolving Fund. In order to qualify for a loan, municipalities have to show revenues from their operating and maintenance funds, as well as have the ability to pay their debt service costs, including any existing debts or new loans, said Kim Diggs, a spokeswoman for IEPA.
Plans to repair the Reuter subdivision’s roads have had to be pushed back because the village is not generating enough revenue from the water and sewer sales, which means the village is not eligible for the loans. Talbott said sales have gone down approximately 20 percent.
Talbott said industrial use has gone down, which is the greatest impact.
“Obviously, they’re a for-profit, so if they can make in an investment in a different process and not use more water, they can make that investment,” Talbott said. “Most residential usage is down some, but it’s mostly the industrial.”
Talbott plans to continue working with a comptroller to re-evaluate the model and understand whether raising the water and sewer rates would be necessary. Talbott added he “doesn’t know that number yet,” nor is he able to give a time table of when that evaluation will be completed. Recommendations to the board will be made once those issues have been resolved.
“We can make a commitment today that we would raise our rates to match the required coverage,” he said. “We just want to make sure [we] do this only one time. We don’t want to raise rates to make some commitment and then find out we need to do it again.”
The village’s effort to continue tending to its water systems will continue with a water loss service audit. At an additional meeting held Feb. 5, the board of trustees approved the proposal from M.E. Simpson, an Indiana-based operation that studies wastewater collection systems and water distribution, and the cost of the audit, which will not exceed $19,500.
The purpose of the audit is to detect any metering inaccuracies, administrative or data handling errors, and measure any water loss that may be unaccounted for during leaks, water main breaks or hydrant flushing. Last year, M.E. Simpson surveyed a portion of Franklin Park to determine sources of water loss that may have affected residential and commercial users.
Utilities commissioner Joe Lauro said the audit typically takes a month to complete, and he plans to contact M.E. Simpson soon, so its staff can come to Franklin Park and start the inspection.
