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LaSalle schedules public hearing on plan to seek EPA loan to replace lead service lines
Summary
City staff set a public hearing Thursday to meet a March 31 deadline for an EPA loan-with-forgiveness program that could fund an estimated 500 lead service line replacements; details on homeowner cost responsibility remain unresolved.
LaSalle city officials scheduled a public hearing at 4 p.m. Thursday to begin the process for seeking an Environmental Protection Agency loan-with-forgiveness to replace lead water service lines, city staff said.
City officials said the program could fund roughly 500 replacements if the loan is awarded and that the loan structure could include forgiveness for some work. The hearing was scheduled to meet a March 31 application deadline and will be led by the city’s consultant engineer, Terry Boyer.
The city and its consultant have been compiling a list of candidate replacements while crews replace meters and pothole to locate pipe materials, staff said. Officials said meter-replacement work and a survey campaign undertaken by the city’s contractor, 1 20 Water, have already identified locations for further investigation.
City staff said the usual dividing line of responsibility — where the city is responsible to the curb stop or meter and the homeowner from the curb stop into the house — may be reconsidered under the federal program, but that final decisions on homeowner cost-sharing will rest with the council and with the terms of the loan if awarded. Staff said they have not yet received full paperwork from EPA spelling out homeowner-eligibility or forgiveness details.
Officials described an on-the-ground identification process that will include potholing or excavating both the public side and the service line to the residence so the city can confirm the material for public and private portions of the service connection. Staff said they are working to pothole an additional 350 public-side locations to build the project list.
The city encouraged residents to respond to surveys and said meter-replacement crews are noting interior plumbing when present, which helps prioritize work. City staff said an outreach and documentation process will be used to determine eligibility and sequencing if the loan is awarded.
The hearing will be led by consultant engineer Terry Boyer, who spoke at the council meeting about the schedule and paperwork. City staff said final program details — including the extent to which homeowner-side replacements would be covered by forgivable loan funds — remain dependent on the EPA program rules and the city’s final application.
City staff said they plan to present the public hearing materials and technical details at Thursday’s 4 p.m. meeting and will return to the council with implementation recommendations after the application status and program rules are known.
