The Village Board approved a change to its lead service line replacement program on Dec. 1 that allows residential property owners to self-select into the village's annual replacement queue up to the budgeted cap of 688 replacements per year beginning May 1, subject to budget and schedule.

Village Manager John Lockerbie told trustees the private-side replacement cost for homeowners is capped at $3,090 and that homeowners may finance that cost over 15 years on their water bills. He said a recent outreach effort found approximately 50 property owners interested in replacement if assistance is available. Staff recommended the change because the village needs to meet mandated replacement schedules and the initial demand from the September mailing was relatively low.

"After sending letters in September to property owners within the community...there were approximately 50 addresses interested in having their lines replaced if some form of assistance from the village becomes available," Lockerbie said. Finance staff and the manager said they plan to use internal crews where possible and to incorporate the self-selecting homeowners into the prioritized list, with additional funding discussion to occur during the FY27 budget process.

Trustees asked how the program would be promoted and how oversubscription would be handled. Lockerbie said staff would begin communications if the board approved the change and that if self-selection requests exceed the 688 annual cap, those requests would be placed on the list for the following year.

The motion to revise the program passed on a roll-call vote with all trustees recorded as Aye.