Council hears update on lead service-line inventory; city pursuing federal grant to replace lines

City staff updated the LaSalle City Council on work to locate and replace lead water service lines, saying the city is midway through a meter-replacement program that has identified roughly half of private-side connections and that the city has applied for federal funding to replace an initial 350–500 known lines.

Details from staff The city said it has engaged a vendor to maintain a database of known and suspected lead service lines and to help with surveys; that vendor performed the initial inventory and will continue to assist in tracking and mapping the lines. Staff said the city has been replacing meters and that the meter work helps identify private-side service-line materials. The city described a federal grant program—supported at the application stage by U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth’s office—that could fund replacement of several hundred lines; staff said the next decision round is expected in March and, if approved, construction would follow.

Why it matters: replacing lead service lines is part of public-health compliance and can qualify the city for low-interest or forgivable EPA loans and grants; the work affects homeowners whose private side service piping may need replacement as well as public-side work the city must coordinate.

What remains to be done Staff said they are still investigating unknown connections and are asking residents to volunteer information or to contact the city to request testing of their service line. They reported there are roughly 4,000 service locations to check and that the city is about halfway through the meter replacement program. The city said no large-scale construction has begun; current work is investigatory and preparatory until grant approval and funding are secured.

Provenance: discussion occurred during old-business updates; staff described the inventory, grant submission and the ongoing meter replacement program.