Sycamore city officials propose $1K utility bill credits for private water main replacement

SYCAMORE – Amid Sycamore city budget discussions for the upcoming fiscal year, city officials said they are looking to propose a separate program that would provide a $1,000 utility bill credit for homeowners that replace their lead water service lines.

Sycamore City Manager Brian Gregory said during the City Council meeting on Monday what staff is looking to do conceptually is that residents would apply for what is essentially a partial refund for the private service line replacement. Once the application would be approved, he said, residents would replace the service line and the credit, which would be given over a series of billing periods, would be used to help offset those costs.

“So hopefully it’s just a way to help continue that process and that momentum that we’re hopeful that [Illinois Environmental Protection Agency] grant will help us with,” Gregory said.

The city previously applied for a grant program through the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency that would help residents replace lead service lines. Though the city has maintained the line from the main to the home is the resident’s responsibility, city officials wanted people to know they were trying to address those concerns as well by applying for that competitive program back in February.

The City Council approved in November a $6.90 water bill base fee that would go toward city funds for water system improvements, following related previous city official discussion during the council’s Oct. 19 meeting. The city created a water master plan in 2019 addressing city underground water main improvements – including main breaks, water quality and fire flows – totaling $11.25 million. The base fee was meant to be a funding source for those master plan projects.

Gregory’s comments came during city budget discussions for the water and sewer funds, with the entire budget for fiscal 2022, which goes from May 1 through April 30. The proposed whole budget is set to be up for vote in the coming months.

Gregory said the bottom line for the proposed water and sewer funds for the city’s fiscal 2022 budget is that they are balanced and include capital improvements that have been discussed for the last few years, including the near completion of the city’s wastewater treatment project.

“We’re not proposing any increases in user fees, any increases in meter fees, radium fees, anything,” Gregory said. “Nothing’s planned to change for May 1.”

The Monday discussion followed residents Jennifer Campbell, of the 400 block of Edward Street, and Jeremy Pennington, of the 600 block of Park Avenue, filed a class action lawsuit against the city back in October after months of public outcry over concerns about water quality. The suit was filed on several counts, including fraud, deceptive business, negligence and public nuisance.

Campbell, who previously alleged the water in her home had a “horrific smell” following the replacement of the Park Avenue water main about three to four years ago, is part of a group of residents calling themselves Citizens for Clean Water Sycamore.

The group has said it identified two major problems involving city water: a foul-smelling odor that prohibits them from using it, and concerning amounts of lead in the water. It’s unclear whether the two issues are related, as officials still are working to identify the source of the odor and, thus far, maintain that lead levels within city water are safe.

Sycamore Public Works Director Matt Anderson said, while unknown service material is the vast majority of the city’s service lines, city staff believes there are more than 200 private lead service lines in the city.

“And as we’re changing these meters out, we’re identifying more and more each day,” Anderson said.

When asked by Sycamore First Ward Alderman Alan Bauer, Gregory said the total amount the city applied for the IEPA loan was less than $1 million.

“So at $1,000 apiece, and 200 of them, would be a couple hundred thousand,” Bauer said. “So there’s potential for many more that we find, once we figure out what’s known that we don’t know now.”

City officials said more details about the proposed $1,000 utility bill credit program will come in April as the city budget approval vote draws nearer.