Sycamore City Council to get status update on IEPA loan for replacing lead service lines during Monday meeting

SYCAMORE – The Sycamore City Council is expected to vote on authorizing the city’s public works director to sign Illinois Environmental Protection Agency loan documents, should the city’s application for the funds to replace lead water lines be approved.

According to the agenda for the Monday meeting, the IEPA requires that a resolution be passed to authorize an official signer of the loan documents and related information for the city’s application to the IEPA for a low interest loan and debt forgiveness. The resolution, which is recommended for council approval by city staff, would authorize the public works director to execute the loan on behalf of the city.

Sycamore Acting City Manager Maggie Peck said the city is still in the process of getting the loan from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency meant to help replace the city’s lead water service lines. She said the city got the application in very early with the state, before most municipalities submitted theirs – so she knows the city’s application is in the queue.

“We’re hoping to hear soon,” Peck said. “But we haven’t heard anything.”

Peck said city officials has been keeping tabs on the status of the application every step of the way. She said officials are tentatively expecting to hear one way or the other sometime this spring.

“My guess is, in the next month or two, we’ll have better handle on it,” Peck said.

The update comes as Sycamore residents continue to express concerns over the possibility of lead in their water following conflicting water test results, and poor quality of the taps in their homes. During a months-long renewed effort taken to the city to address, a number of residents also got together and filed a class action lawsuit against the city in October of 2020, which remains ongoing. City officials have continued to deny the water is unsafe to drink.

Meanwhile, the full preliminary fiscal year 2022 budget also is set to be presented to the City Council during their meeting on Monday. The preliminary city budget document is available for public viewing on the city’s website, www.cityofsycamore.com.

The first reading and public hearing for the preliminary budget is scheduled for the April 5 regular City Council meeting, according to city documents. The second reading and expected action on the budget is set for April 19.

The meeting is scheduled in person only for 7 p.m. Monday within City Council chambers at Sycamore Center on West State Street in Sycamore. There will be no Zoom link provided for remote viewing, according to city officials.