Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Infrastructure Cip topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee discusses accelerating asbestos-cement main replacement and reviews 2026 public works budgets
Summary
Committee reviewed the 2026 public works and utilities budget and discussed accelerating replacement of remaining asbestos-cement water mains (about 9.78 miles remaining), weighing costs, funding sources, and scheduling; staff will prepare more detailed cost estimates and revisit rate implications at future meetings.
Committee members reviewed the 2026 draft budgets for public works and the water, sanitary sewer, and stormwater utilities and discussed the capital-improvement need to replace remaining asbestos-cement (AC) water mains.
Speaker 3 presented the budget snapshot (noting modest changes from 2025, a slight projected decrease, and salt budget reductions) and an AC-main inventory: 9.78 miles of AC main remain compared with 12.17 miles in the 2019 master plan. Current replacement pacing (about 0.4–0.5 miles/year under the proposed plan) would take decades to finish; trustees asked whether the village should target 1–1.8 miles per year to meet replacement cycles closer to engineering recommendations.
Members discussed funding tradeoffs: water-utility user fees, potential rate cases (simplified versus full PSC process), PFAS settlement revenue included in other water income, and constraints on charging street reconstruction costs to the utility. Speaker 3 noted a mile of water main replacement (water portion only) is roughly $800,000, excluding street reconstruction costs, and cautioned that trenchless or lining options should be investigated for cost efficiency.
The committee asked staff to prepare more detailed cost estimates, mapping of priority streets with AC mains, and an implementation plan including funding options and potential rate implications for discussion at a future meeting (December or January recommended).
