Water was on the agenda for the La Grange Park Village Board Tuesday, as trustees unanimously approved a $1.7 million contract for replacing the water main on Edgewood Avenue between Ogden and Woodlawn Avenues and Richmond Avenue between Park Road and Edgewood.
The actual total approved is $1,721,119, which will go to Brookfield-based Unique Plumbing, judged by Village staff to be the lowest responsible bidder.
“I love the fact that it’s way under the engineer’s estimate,” Trustee Mike Sheehan Public Works Committee Chair said in introducing the measure. “Unique and the Kennedy family have served the Village well and many communities for a long time.”
Sheehan noted that Unique had only last year completed the Park Road water main replacement, saying “Park Road went pretty smooth last year.”
Hancock Engineering estimated that the project for the work was $2,391,465, meaning the contract awarded was about $670,300 less than expected. The contract also comes in under the $1,9981,900 the Village had set aside for the project in its Water Fund-Capital Outlay.
Trustee Bob Lautner praised staff for the work done on the project and stressed its importance.
“This is a significant improvement in the water main provision in that area,” he said. “That was pretty critical for that area of the Village.”
In other water-related business, the Board set the stage for approval of a water and sewer rate increase beginning July 1, 2024.
The increase is one result of a 2017 study done for the Village by its consultant, Baxter and Woodman.
The plan intended to provide a 10-year plan with rate options to keep the Village’s water and sewer systems properly funded. The plan was to go into effect in 2018, but the COVID-19 pandemic prompted the Village to suspend rate increases.
The combined rate for 2023 is $15.65 per every 100 cubic feet, split between $3.25 for sewer and $12.40 for water; a quarterly bill, with a minimum of 600 square feet would be $93.90. An average user at 1,400 square feet would pay $219.10.
The new rate, beginning July 1, 2024, would be $12.95 for water, and $3.35 for sewer, for a combined rate of $16.30. A minimum (600 SF) quarterly bill would be $97.80; the average (1400 SF) would pay $228.20.
The Board agreed the formal approval of the rate increase will be an ordinance on the consent agenda for the May 28 Board Meeting.
The next La Grange Park Village Board meeting will be at 7:30 p.m., May 28 in the Village Hall Boardroom, 447 N. Catherine Ave.
Hank Beckman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
