Committee backs bid to expand lead service line work using state SRF funds

The Finance & Budget Committee on the evening recommended that City Council approve moving forward with a $5,100,000 bid from Millennium for the city’s prioritized lead service line replacement project, a multi-part package combining lead service-line work and related water-main replacement.

Water Production Bureau Chief Darryl King told the committee the project plan approved by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) authorized up to $5,000,000 for year one under a five‑year SRF program and that the city had been awarded more principal‑forgiveness funding than it originally budgeted. “Our project plan was approved for up to $25,000,000 — 5 million dollars each year,” King said. “When we were going through the budget season last year, we budgeted what we knew at the time… we budgeted 2,300,000 for lead service line replacements. The bids came in at 3.596 for lead service line replacements.”

King told members the combined bid for the lead service work and associated water-main work totaled $5,100,000 and that staff proposed using the full available SRF principal‑forgiveness award (about $3,027,000) plus additional SRF 0% loan funding to cover the shortfall. King told the committee the recommended split included roughly $3,027,000 in SRF principal forgiveness and an additional $569,009.13 from the SRF 0% loan program for a portion of the year‑one work.

Clayton Black (Finance) and Laura Biggs (City Engineer) answered committee questions about project scope, budgeted amounts and the timing of the award. Biggs confirmed the water‑main portion of the work was in line with budget estimates and that the lead‑service portion was higher because staff expanded the scope after IEPA increased the principal‑forgiveness allocation to the city.

Committee members pressed for detail on quantities and territory covered by the expanded scope. King said staff would provide a list of the additional replacements and quantities to the committee. Multiple members noted the SRF principal‑forgiveness and 0% loan eligibility is limited to census tracts the state designates as disadvantaged and cautioned that citywide work beyond those tracts would require different funding.

The committee voted 7–0 to recommend that City Council move forward with the Millennium bid and the proposed SRF funding approach. The committee recording lists the aye votes as: Council Member Wynne; Council Member Neussmann; Committee Member Livingston; Chair Riechus; Council Member Burns; Council Member Kelly; Committee Member McMillan.

The committee discussion also noted that staff had previously received council approval for the city’s five‑year prioritized lead service line replacement plan (up to $25 million); the recommended action is to proceed with year‑one contracting and to use the additional SRF funds rather than limit the year‑one scope to previously budgeted principal‑forgiveness amounts.

Looking ahead, members asked staff to return with the exact additional quantity of lead‑service lines covered by the expanded scope, the specific census tracts to be served in year one, and any remaining city funding obligations tied to the contract award.

Ending: The committee’s nonbinding recommendation goes next to the full City Council for formal approval of the contract authorization and associated budget adjustments.