Money for infrastructure work to come from bond sales, state agency
By Igor Studenkov | For the Bugle
As Morton Grove -Niles Water Commission prepares to build pipes, water pump station and other infrastructure necessary to deliver water from Evanston to the two villages, it still needs to secure the funding.
The commission is looking to fund the project through a combination of bond sales and State Revolving Funds from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. As part of the process, on Jan. 22 and 23, the Village of Morton Grove Board of Trustees and the Village of Niles Board of Trustees approved an agreement that established that MGNWC will be responsible for delivering the water to the two villages. The two villages will still be responsible for delivering that water to their respective residents.
During the meetings, the two village boards also got update on construction and the facility the commission would need to build to help get the water from Evanston. The commission hopes to secure the funding in February and start construction as soon as possible. As previously reported by the Bugle, all of the infrastructure must be in place before Morton Grove’s contract with Chicago expires in the end of this year.
During the Jan. 22 Morton Grove village board meeting, Morton Grove Village Administrator Ralph Czerwinski explained that the agreement with the MGNWC was necessary to allow the commission to sell bonds and get the IEPA loan. Many of the aspects of the agreement, including the formula that determines water rates, were already established in the original agreement between the two villages and Evanston. The agreement simply consolidated aspects of this and other agreements and officially established that MGNWC was the entity responsible for handling the water delivery, and that the two villages will pay for water to it, and it would pay to Evanston, rather than having Morton Grove and Niles pay Evanston directly. Czarwinski also emphasized that the two villages will still have a say in all of the major water supply related decisions.
During the Niles village board’s Informal Consideration session, which took place right before the village board meeting, Bill Balling, the managing director for WRB LLC, a company that provides management services for the water supply switch, said that the first round of bonds should be ready to issue by the early March, and the second round of bonds will be issued in August.
As for the IEPA loans, Czerwinski explained that MGNWC and the two villages are working “fevereshly” to get all the necessary paperwork ready.
Both the village administrator and Balling also touhed on what would need to be build once the funding is secured. Balling explained that, aside from the pipes, MGNWC needs to build a water storage tank and a “booster pump station” to help push the water from Evanston, through Skokie and to the two villages. Originally, the commission was looking at a site in Skokie – in fact, the application got as far as that village’s Appearance Commission – but some unspecified factor caused the village to change its mind.
With the time being of the essence, Balling said, MGNWC turned to Evanston. The current plan is to put on the city’s west boundary at 2525 Church Street, near Beck Park and North Shore Channel.
“There’s an old school that’s on property that’s part of Evanston redevelopment plan,” Balling explained. “The city of Evanston asked us to assist with development of some of the [park’s] support facilities.”
Those facilities would be built into the pump station, and they would include new public bathrooms and equipment room.
Czerwinski said that some of the other, smaller improvements that would need to be made include an emergency supply connection at Harlem Avenue and design redundant connections.
As previously reported by the Bugle, MGNWC is planning an extensive public outreach to let the residents and businesses know about how construction and other aspects of the project will affect them. Niles trustee George Alpogianis, who lives in Niles and owns a business in Morton Grove, said that she was pleased to hear that.
“I can tell you I met several people asking me how that’s gong to affect their homes, how it’s going to affect commercial properties, [asking] questions about lead,” he said. “I can’t stress enough how important communication is, especially for a project of such magnitude.”
Balling said that timing would be a major issue, since contracts would need to be signed and work would need to start as uickly as possible. But he believed that MGNC could handle it.
“I think you’ll be pleased with result,” Balling said.