Oakview residents and callers urge village action on private water service, cite breaks and high rates

Two residents used public comment at the Village of Lisle board meeting on Aug. 18 to press the board to address water service problems in the Oakview subdivision and to challenge the village’s relationship with its private supplier, Illinois American Water.

The comments matter because residents said fire protection, water-main maintenance and customer costs are affected and they asked the village to act on authority they said it has over local infrastructure and agreements.

“There's no need to discuss anything with Illinois American Water. What you need to do is just tell them to collect their meters and get out of the village of Lisle,” resident Susan Sorel said during public comment. Sorel said she finds offensive the board’s characterization of the situation and asked the village to move Oakview to village water.

Another commenter, Dean Brecco of 5494 Burr Oak, described what he called “less than a safe” water system in Oakview, saying hydrant flushing notices ran for months, that maintenance is reactive and that a Maple Avenue water-main break this past winter has not been fully repaired. “That patch is still unresolved on Maple Avenue,” Brecco said, adding that he filed a complaint with the DuPage County Highway Department and had not received a response.

Brecco also raised concerns about high rates and limited leak-detection or preventive maintenance, saying “they charge an absorbent rate” and describing the utility’s approach as “very reactive and very expensive.” He cited repeated hydrant flushing notices posted around the subdivision and said those notices felt punitive to residents.

The board did not take formal action on water service during the meeting. Comments from residents were made during the public-comment portion of the Aug. 18 meeting; no village motion or vote directing staff to pursue a change in water service was recorded in the minutes for this session.

Village staff and trustees did not announce a specific plan or timetable in response to these comments during the meeting. Residents who testified requested immediate action, including an apology in one case and faster remediation of infrastructure problems in another.

The speakers’ remarks included calls for the village to enforce local codes on private owners and to consider municipal service as an alternative. The transcript does not record any follow-up directive from the board at that meeting.