Engineering report recommends second 1,000,000-gallon elevated tank; board hears timeline and cost range

Village engineering consultants presented a draft sizing and planning report recommending an additional 1,000,000-gallon elevated water storage tank, saying design could begin in 2025 and construction could be complete by spring 2028 if IEPA funding is reserved on the projected schedule.

Alisa Vonkowski, the project manager for the water-tower study, said the village’s current one-million-gallon elevated tank is close to its recommended operating limit given recent and projected growth. The consultant’s modeling used current system demands, recent production data and build-out assumptions for Cambridge Lakes North; the report recommended an additional 1,000,000 gallons of elevated storage to meet future fire-flow and pressure needs.

The consultants laid out an implementation timeline that assumed IEPA reservation of funds: begin design in 2025, reserve funding in July 2026, advertise in October 2026, open bids in November 2026, start construction in spring 2027 and complete by spring 2028. Staff gave construction-cost placeholders ranging from about $5,000,000 (recent spheroid tank comparables) to the earlier $8,000,000 planning placeholder that had included a well. Consultants warned that construction-cost estimates should account for inflationary pressures and new “Buy America/Build America” requirements.

Trustees and staff discussed operational details and risks if construction is deferred. Staff noted the village is approaching days when daily production approaches the tank capacity: “we’ve done almost a million gallons of water production every day this month,” Pat said. The board asked whether running both water-treatment plants concurrently or other SCADA changes could delay the need; staff said running both plants more frequently could help but would not eliminate the longer-term need.

Trustees pressed on the budget and rate impacts. One trustee said recent conversations with state representatives indicated “we don’t have anybody in the Democratic party right now, so that means we’re not getting any funding” and expressed concern that the village would have to borrow the full project cost. Staff offered to run debt-service and water-rate scenarios showing the impact of different construction costs and financing terms; consultants and staff said they would refine cost estimates during design.

No formal action was taken. The board asked staff to refine cost estimates and present financing scenarios for future consideration.