LaSalle holds public hearing on plan to replace about 500 lead service lines

City of LaSalle officials held a public hearing to present a proposed project to remove and replace approximately 500 lead service lines across older sections of the city.

The project representative for the City of LaSalle described the plan as a preliminary environmental impact determination submitted to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) as part of the IEPA public water supply loan (SRF) funding requirements. The representative said estimated construction would begin in December 2025, with final completion projected for June 2030, and gave a total project cost estimate of $3,332,000.

The project representative told the hearing the city proposes to finance the work with an IEPA loan described in the project documents as a 0% interest loan with a 20-year term (the representative also said the city is eligible for a 30-year term as published by the state program). The representative said the loan repayment would come from existing water-system revenues and provided a sample repayment figure of about $166,000 (rounded) annually if the city were to repay the full amount. The representative said the state’s loan-scoring and ranking process will determine any loan-forgiveness amount and that the exact forgiveness rate remains to be determined.

The presentation included household-affordability figures prepared for the IEPA review. The representative said the city’s median household income is $49,583 and that the projected annual water cost under the proposal would be about $433 per year, equal to roughly 0.87% of the median household income per the IEPA calculation used to assess financial burden.

City staff described the project area on a map as generally covering older parts of town (noted in discussion as roughly wards 1 and 2, south of Eleventh Street and extending north in places toward the Roosevelt area) and said the graphic shows where lead lines are expected but that field verification will narrow the actual addresses included. The representative said the initial proposal targets roughly 500 replacements as part of a first phase and that later phases or subsequent requests would follow to address additional locations where lead or galvanized lines are found.

The representative explained that galvanized service lines would also be replaced if encountered because galvanized piping can retain lead particles in sediment. That detail was confirmed in discussion when a resident asked whether galvanized lines were included.

The presentation noted temporary construction impacts such as noise, dust, air emissions, soil erosion and minor traffic disruptions and said those impacts would be minimized using standard contract provisions (soil erosion controls, traffic controls and restricted construction hours). The representative also advised that interior plumbing in homes should be thoroughly flushed after a service-line replacement and that flushing guidelines would be provided to affected customers.

The presentation said the IEPA review found no expected significant impacts to rare or endangered species, historical or cultural resources, primary agricultural lands, stream crossings, wetlands, flood plains or other sensitive areas based on the information in the environmental review files. Planning approval, the representative said, is conditional on further consultation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Illinois Division of Water Resources as needed.

The public hearing record shows no members of the public offered comment at the hearing. The representative closed the hearing after inviting comments and said the public comment period will remain open for 10 calendar days from the hearing date; members of the public were directed to send written comments to Fred Blandford, project manager at the Illinois EPA. The representative said printed project documents are on file at City Hall for review.

Next steps described at the hearing include the IEPA loan scoring and ranking that will determine if and how much loan forgiveness the project may receive; the exact forgiveness amount and final loan terms were not specified at the hearing.