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Village details lead service-line inventory and moves to bond water work under tighter state timeline
Summary
Public Works Director David Moody told council the village identified 1,287 known lead service lines, 181 galvanized services and 1,126 unknowns — a worst-case estimate of 2,594 lines needing replacement; staff outlined federally prompted schedule changes that shorten the replacement window to 10 years and presented bond parameters to fund initial water work.
Village staff told the council on March 3 that state and federal regulatory changes require the village to accelerate planning for lead service line replacements and to plan for substantial capital borrowing.
Public Works Director David Moody said the village’s updated inventory counted 1,287 known lead service lines, 181 galvanized service lines requiring replacement and 1,126 service lines of unknown material. "Staff estimate 45 to 70% of those unknown service lines could be lead," Moody said, adding that the village’s worst-case total is 2,594 lines in need of replacement and that under a 10-year schedule the village would need to replace about 254 lines per year.
Moody reviewed the effect of the U.S. EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI), recently adopted by the Illinois Pollution Control Board, which shortens the compliance timeline and sets the first replacement period to Nov. 1, 2027–Dec. 31, 2028. He said staff will submit an updated inventory and replacement plan to Illinois EPA before April 15, 2026 and a final replacement plan by April 15, 2027, at which point water rates and long-range financial planning will be revisited.
Council members and staff also discussed financing options. The meeting included a first-reading presentation of an ordinance setting parameters for bond issuances that would initially authorize up to $15.925 million for water-system improvements (including lead service-line work) and up to $4.7 million to refund older debt; staff said current rate projections from the 2024–2027 rate schedule are sufficient to make estimated payments. Officials noted a minimum projected savings of $190,000 from the proposed refunding.
Council members urged outreach to residents to respond to door-hanger surveys (which help avoid expensive vacuum-excavation identification work) and underscored the scale of the program relative to village finances. Moody and other staff said further regulatory guidance and potential litigation could affect schedules and details.
