Des Plaines is one step closer to saving thousands of dollars per day on the city’s water bill.
The Des Plaines city council approved a 20-year agreement to purchase water from the Northwest Water Commission, which is based within city limits at 1525 N. Wolf Road, at a recent meeting.
But before NWC water can be pumped into Des Plaines businesses and residences, the commission’s member communities, which include Buffalo Grove, Arlington Heights, Wheeling and Palatine, must first approve the deal.
Des Plaines will be the commission’s first customer as opposed to a member community.
City manager Michael Bartholomew expects each community to approve the agreement sometime in October.
Once final approval is received, design of a 6,500-foot-long pipeline from the NWC facility to the city’s pumping station on Central Road will begin, Bartholomew said.
The project is expected to cost between $6 million and $7 million, and Des Plaines will foot the bill with money already budgeted for the capital investment, he said.
Bartholomew said the city will receive roughly 75 percent of its water from the commission.
“With that we are projecting anywhere from $7,000 to $10,000 a day in savings,” he said. “And that’s a day.”
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The city currently receives its water from Chicago, and significant rate hikes have driven Des Plaines officials to locate a cheaper source.
Bartholomew expects the city to recoup its capital investment costs in two years once the water service from the NWC begins. Savings will then go to restore the current $1.5 million deficit in the city’s water fund, and once that has been done, residents can expect to see some reduction on their own water bills, he said.
Even with the savings, the city will still pay about 60 cents more per thousand gallons of water than each of the four member communities.
Bartholomew said the deal was a “fair” one given the other communities made the initial capital investment in the facility.
Additionally, if a dispute between the city and the commission were to void the agreement in the first year, the city is guaranteed 90 percent reimbursement for its capital costs, and 80 percent reimbursement in the following year, Bartholomew said.
Mayor Matthew Bogusz said the new water deal reflected one of the items in the city’s strategic plan and represented a “great deal of intergovernmental coordination.”
Ald. Michael Charewicz, 8th, said the new pipeline also gives the city a strategic advantage. If for some reason the NWC’s rates were to increase over that of what Chicago charges, Des Plaines would always have the option to get more of its water from the city instead, he said.
Ald. James Brookman, 5th, wondered whether there is a renewal clause built into the contract.
The city’s director of public works and engineering, Tim Oakley, said there was no renewal and that the contract would have to be renegotiated after 20 years.
The reason, he said, is because the only way Des Plaines could remain a customer and not a member community, is if the term of the contract was 20 years or less.
Ald. Dick Sayad, 4th, asked whether or not its possible Des Plaines could jump on board as a fellow member community rather than just a customer.
“They have no interest in permitting us in becoming a member today,” Oakley said.
However, he added, that might change in the future as the commission investigates increasing their water capacity and adding an additional pipeline.