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Village discusses ordinance to seek up to $13 million in Illinois EPA loan for lead-service-line replacements
Summary
Trustees discussed an ordinance that would allow the Village to begin the Illinois EPA loan application process — potentially up to $13 million — to replace lead service lines; the board was told a March 31 application deadline requires prompt action and a 30-day petition period could trigger a referendum.
Village President Richard Samples and the board heard detailed legal and funding guidance on Jan. 8 about a proposed ordinance that would let the Village begin the process of borrowing up to $13,000,000 to finance waterworks improvements focused on replacing lead service lines.
Attorney Roland Cross introduced the ordinance and said passing a brief ordinance and publishing notice is the first step required by Illinois law for non-home-rule municipalities so the Village can meet the Illinois EPA (IEPA) application deadline. Bond counsel Mike Southworth told trustees that "the IL EPA has a program where they will loan and forgive some of the money to the Village for the purpose of replacing lead lines," and outlined a statutory 30-day petition period following publication; a petition would need signatures equal to 10% of the previous election vote total (238 signatures in this case) to force a referendum.
Ben Spreen summarized the Village's draft plan for the replacements and said, "Currently the estimate is about $11,000,000 that is broken into 5 different phases." He explained the work is phased because annual principal-forgiveness funding in recent years has been roughly $2.5 million. President Samples and Treasurer Mindy Olson emphasized that the IEPA process effectively mandates this work for municipalities and that adopting the simple ordinance now would preserve the Village's eligibility to apply by the March 31, 2026 deadline; Southworth and Cross said further, more detailed borrowing ordinances and project descriptions would come later if no petition is filed.
The board discussed timing and publication logistics and President Samples suggested scheduling a special meeting on Jan. 22 to take subsequent steps if needed. Attorney Cross and bond counsel said that if the Village is selected by the IEPA (decisions are typically made in July), the project would be bid and loan documents would be executed.
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