West Chicago staff outline $15M five‑year water and sewer capital gap; council asks for rate‑split scenarios

Mehul Patel, the city’s public risk director and the staff presenter for the evening, laid out a five‑year plan showing aging water and sewer infrastructure and a multi‑million‑dollar shortfall that will require capital investment and possible rate increases. Patel said the water enterprise projects roughly $41 million in service revenue and the sewer fund about $36.35 million over five years, while capital needs including an elevated storage tower and a lead service line replacement program produce an estimated $15 million net deficit over that period.

Patel told the council the city has about 147 miles of distribution pipe, a 9‑million‑gallon lime‑softening treatment plant and roughly 7,300 metered services; about 800 of those are lead service lines. “About 35% of our water distribution pipe network is over 50 years old,” Patel said, adding that the city currently has only about 1.75 million gallons of storage versus a 12‑month average demand of approximately…