Sandwich OKs water rate hike to help fund improvements to water system

Sandwich residents will to see a jump in their water bills to help pay for an estimated $72.6 million in improvements to its aging water system.

By a vote of 4-3, the Sandwich City Council approved the increase at its March 4 City Council meeting. The increase will go into effect May 1.

Voting “yes” were council members Rebecca Johnson, Richard Robinson, Rick Whitecotton and Karsta Erickson. Voting “no” were members Bill Fritsch, Adam Arnett and Fred Kreinbrink.

First Ward Alderman Bill Littlebrant was absent from the meeting.

The water service charge per quarter for Sandwich water users will increase from $3.02 per 1,000 gallons of water to $7.40 per 1,000 gallons of water.

“We have no other way to pay for this. If we don’t do it now, it’s going to be more costly down the road.”

—  Sandwich Mayor Todd Latham

The minimum charge for water service only will increase from $5 per quarter to $20 per quarter. In addition, the rate for all water service by the city will increase by 4% for the billing period beginning May 1, 2025, and each subsequent May 1 unless altered by the City Council before April 1 of the same year.

“I just don’t see how we can avoid doing something at this point,” Johnson said before voting for the increase. “I’m happy with the $7.40. I don’t want to go any higher, that’s for sure. But I also don’t want to go back and ask the public for more money when we’re win a deficit again, two years from now.”

Arnett had voiced concerns that newer housing developments in the city aren’t paying their fair share given the impact they have. Kreinbrink shared similar concerns.

“I could not vote in favor of this knowing that something that had historically been paid for by the developers is going to be on the onus of the city,” he said after the meeting. “And I’m in the same boat as Adam Arnett saying that it should be the developers fronting costs. If they want to come to town, they should have to pay for the infrastructure, for the sewers, for the water, for the streets.”

City Council members had been looking at how much water rates would have to be adjusted to pay for the project. Engineering Enterprises did a water rate study for the village.

Sandwich Mayor Todd Latham said the increase is needed to pay for the improvements to the water system.

“We have no other way to pay for this,” he said. “If we don’t do it now, it’s going to be more costly down the road.”

Latham said the water rate increase is similar to what the city did in recent years in adjusting its sewer rates to help pay for improvements to the city’s waste water treatment plant.

“It allowed us to have a positive balance and a positive reserve,” he said. “This does the same thing for our water rate.”

An aging system

During the Dec. 18 Sandwich Committee of the Whole meeting, Engineering Enterprises Vice President Steve Dennison talked to City Council members about the improvements that need to be made to the system.

He told them the city’s water treatment plant on Railroad Street, which was constructed in 1939, is significantly past the date of its useful life, Dennison said.

“This is one of the older plants I’ve seen in northeast Illinois,” he said. “The ceiling is collapsing.”

In addition, he said the plant uses obsolete technology for the aeration of the water.

“It works, but only for a period of time,” Dennison said.

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has recommended replacing the facility, he said. Dennison said the city’s second water treatment plant on Clark Street – which has been operational since 1993 – can be modified and expanded to accommodate the decommissioning of the Railroad Street plant.

Low water pressure on the city’s northwest side also is a concern. In addition, water mains have to be replaced.

Since 2016, the city has experienced more than 65 water main breaks, Dennison said.

Lead service pipes also need to be replaced. The city recently received a $40,000 grant to start identifying properties that have lead pipes.

The city’s two active sandstone wells also are in need of replacement because of their age. They were constructed between 1911 and 1939.

“So you have one that’s over 100 years old and one that’s approaching 100 years old,” Dennison told City Council members. “That is extremely old when it comes to wells. There’s no way around it. I don’t see wells that age very often that are still operable. … As you pump wells for a long period of time, you create situations where they will fail. That will happen at some point, we just don’t know when it will happen.”

The city’s third well is an emergency backup well that was constructed in 1946. The radium level from the well is above the maximum contaminant level, which is 5 picoCuries per liter.

”It’s over the regulatory limit, so it requires treatment,” Dennison said. “It can be turned on for short periods of time, but for consistent use, it will require treatment.”

City officials also are trying to make sure the water system is keeping up with the city’s growth. Sandwich is expected to grow from its current population of about 7,200 to about 13,000 by the year 2050.

Latham noted the city has $1.6 million in a reserve account, which won’t go far in funding the project.

“We can’t do a whole lot with that based on what we need,” he said. “So we’re going to have to be strategic about how we spend our money.”

The city also plans to apply for federal funding to help pay for the project.