LaSalle council approves $3.78 million bid for lead service-line replacement, contingent on IEPA loan

LaSalle City Council voted to accept a recommendation to award the lead service-line replacement contract to the low bidder, identified in the meeting record as Sewell, for $3,784,000 and a transcript-listed figure of $22.56 related to the lead service plan. The award was made conditional on the city obtaining a low-interest loan through the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency public water supply loan program.

Staff described the construction approach and said crews would use existing conduit where available and pothole at connection points. "I just wanna make sure that every utility such as our storm and sanitary sewer will be potholed to that depth of that bore line just to make sure there's nothing that got damaged by mistake," said Lawmaker (Speaker 3), expressing concern about accidental utility damage from directional boring. Staff (Speaker 1) replied that the contractor would use existing conduit "kind of like you would do a fish tape" and that the city would verify procedures at the beginning of the process.

Council members clarified project pacing and scope during debate. When a member asked whether the program required "100 a year minimum, 500 for 4 years?" staff corrected that the plan was for "500 over 5 years." Staff also said the city has identified about 1,400 total lead service lines (public and private combined) and that the first contract covers a little over one-third of the city's anticipated total lead lines. Officials discussed pursuing a later funding round to capture higher forgiveness rates on additional loan funds if the work progressed quickly.

The motion to approve the recommendation, subject to required documentation and the IEPA loan, passed on recorded roll call with all voting members recorded as "aye." The council directed staff to proceed with contract execution only after the loan contingency is satisfied. The council also asked staff to coordinate outreach to residents on private-side replacement options and to confirm exactly which segments of service (main-to-meter) the contract covers.

The council's action establishes the city's immediate replacement program and leaves follow-up funding and additional rounds of work to future council consideration based on project progress and financing options.