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Where construction progress stands on $400M Lake Michigan water project for Kendall County communities · Kendall County News - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: Where construction progress stands on four hundred million dollars Lake
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  Speaker 1: Michigan water project for Kendall County communities. Written by Joey Weslow.
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  Speaker 1: This article is being read by an automated voice brought
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  Speaker 1: to you by Everlett. With a project as massive as
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  Speaker 1: the near four hundred million dollars Lake Michigan water sourcing project,
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  Speaker 1: stretching around thirty miles across Naperville, Oswego, Montgomery out to Yorkville,
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  Speaker 1: it can be difficult to scope the work's full extent.
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  Speaker 1: Yorkville City staff provided a closer look at the project,
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  Speaker 1: including what construction has already been started and what work
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  Speaker 1: residents of Kendall County can soon expect. The first water
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  Speaker 1: down the pipeline is expected in the Yorkville area by
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  Speaker 1: the summer of twenty twenty eight. Montgomery should receive water
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  Speaker 1: by twenty thirty. The project is a joint venture between Yorkville, Oswego,
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  Speaker 1: and Montgomery, hooking up to existing water mains near Naperville
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  Speaker 1: owned by the DuPage Water Commission. The three Kendall County
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  Speaker 1: communities are sharing costs as the region's population continues to grow.
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  Speaker 1: The cities supported the project because the long used underground
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  Speaker 1: aquifer was being depleted at an unsustainable rate. Yorkville is
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  Speaker 1: currently eyeing a tab of two hundred and twenty four
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  Speaker 1: point four million dollars for their contribution to the project.
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  Speaker 1: Shovels already in the ground. Staff associated with the Waterlink
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  Speaker 1: project provided construction and bidding updates through the end of March.
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  Speaker 1: The updates provide a glimpse into the direction of the
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  Speaker 1: multi year project. The total project is divided into twelve
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  Speaker 1: different segments, each involving its own engineering and construction work bids.
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  Speaker 1: The first segment begins on Book Road in Naperville, extending
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  Speaker 1: south and then east toward Kendall County. Construction has already
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  Speaker 1: begun on this first segment, with excavating tractors removing older
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  Speaker 1: water mains and crews replacing them with wider pipes to
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  Speaker 1: accommodate the larger water capacity flow. By the end of March,
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  Speaker 1: crews had replaced one eight hundred and fifty feet of
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  Speaker 1: water main. The total segment beneath Book Road needs sixteen
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  Speaker 1: thy three hundred feet of pipe installation. This segment is
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  Speaker 1: expected to be completed by the end of the year.
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  Speaker 1: Elsewhere along the project, Tree Clearing has begun at two
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  Speaker 1: other segments, including the mainline West segment, which is in
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  Speaker 1: Kendall County, running parallel between Oswego and Montgomery. No heavy
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  Speaker 1: construction has begun on any segments, primarily located in Kendall County.
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  Speaker 1: Out of the twelve segments, contracts still need to be
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  Speaker 1: awarded on four of them. A contract has been awarded
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  Speaker 1: for the South Branch West segment, which connects Oswego to Yorkville.
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  Speaker 1: The final leg connecting Yorkville to the rest of the project,
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  Speaker 1: the Illinois Route seventy one segment, currently has a bid
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  Speaker 1: package under development. Work along Collins Road and Route seventy
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  Speaker 1: one will fully connect Yorkville to the Oswego waters. According
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  Speaker 1: to Waterlink staff, the program schedule remains on track to
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  Speaker 1: achieve the targeted community water delivery dates. The Illinois Department
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  Speaker 1: of Natural Resources requires cities receiving the water to reduce
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  Speaker 1: non revenue water loss below ten percent to receive the
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  Speaker 1: water by twenty twenty eight. Yorkville has been aggressively replacing
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  Speaker 1: older water mains across town and installing more accurate water
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  Speaker 1: meters in homes and businesses throughout the city. The city's
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  Speaker 1: older water mains have been prone to breaks and leaks.
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  Speaker 1: The city most recently approved another five point six seven
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  Speaker 1: million dollars in watermin replacements and accompanying roadwork. In early March,
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  Speaker 1: Yorkville staff said they expect all water main work, new
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  Speaker 1: water receiving stations, and installation of storage tanks to be
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  Speaker 1: completed by twenty twenty seven. Construction is already underway on
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  Speaker 1: the North receiving station, the Northwest water tank, the South
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  Speaker 1: receiving station, the Illinois Route one six one water main,
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  Speaker 1: and the Bluestem water main. How is Yorkville paying for it?
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  Speaker 1: The waterworks began when bids for the first leg of
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  Speaker 1: the project came in around about one hundred million dollars
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  Speaker 1: higher than expected. The sticker shock had city officials concerned
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  Speaker 1: about contracts for the rest of the project. To cover
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  Speaker 1: the rising costs, the city reapplied for one hundred and
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  Speaker 1: seventy million dollar loan from the US Environmental Protection Agency,
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  Speaker 1: thirty million dollars higher than the city's initial Water Infrastructure
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  Speaker 1: Finance and Innovation Act y if I a loan, the
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  Speaker 1: remaining costs of the project are to be financed through
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  Speaker 1: the city's bond issuance and loan proceeds to help offset
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  Speaker 1: the costs, The city recently approved higher water rates for users.
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  Speaker 1: Residents will face about twenty percent annual increases for at
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  Speaker 1: least five years. City administrator bart Olsen previously said if
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  Speaker 1: contracts are continuously higher than expected, the city might need
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  Speaker 1: to revisit approving even higher water rate increases. However, after
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  Speaker 1: the first sticker shock, the subsequent contracts came in under
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  Speaker 1: or around estimates. The second segment came in at twenty
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  Speaker 1: three million dollars, less than original estimates of forty million dollars.
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  Speaker 1: Another bid came in around fifty five million dollars, with
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  Speaker 1: initial estimates eighty three million dollars. Yorkville Mayor John Purcell
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  Speaker 1: said the subsequent legs are easier. Construction and engineering complexities
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  Speaker 1: and scheduling issues likely drove up the first bid. Folson
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  Speaker 1: said once the final bids open, the city should know
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  Speaker 1: around ninety nine percent of the project's official total costs.
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  Speaker 1: The WiFi alone has a thirty five year payback from
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  Speaker 1: the time of substantial completion, which will take it through
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  Speaker 1: twenty sixty five. Yorkville must cover one hundred and forty
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  Speaker 1: five percent of the Wiffia loone debt and the three
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  Speaker 1: point five percent interest rate to meet the obligations of
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  Speaker 1: the loan