The newly-formed Morton Grove-Niles Water Commission recently took major steps forward in the process of getting both municipalities ready to transfer their source for receiving water from Chicago to Evanston.
The Morton Grove Village Board approved purchasing a one-acre site at 7900 Nagle Ave. to accommodate building a pumping station and water facility that officials say is necessary for the water transfer.
The Niles Village Board approved a similar measure, officials said.
The resolution adopted by both municipalities lists the purchase price of the property at $795,000 to be shared evenly between Morton Grove and Niles.
“Staff has determined that a site currently for sale located at 7900 Nagle, Morton Grove, meets the commission’s needs,” Morton Grove Village Administrator Ralph Czerwinski said. “As part of the cost sharing agreement between Niles and Morton Grove, each municipality will pay 50 percent of the costs to acquire the property.”
Czerwinski said the municipalities will be reimbursed through bond proceeds or water revenue.
The Morton Grove and Niles Village Boards earlier this year approved creating the joint water commission since both municipalities are changing long-standing practices of getting their source of water from Chicago to Evanston.
“This is the next step in our process to change our water supply from the city of Chicago to the city of Evanston and also to enhance the cooperation that we have with the village of Niles,” Czerwinski said when the commission was formed.
One function of the joint commission, Czerwinski said, is to apply for state and federal grants and low-interest loans for infrastructure work to enable delivery of Evanston’s Lake Michigan water.
Czerwinski said the two villages through the commission have also been able to study and analyze finances for the project and negotiate engineering and construction contracts — the purchase of the property on Nagle Avenue being one of them.
Another recent contract approved by both boards calls for a professional service agreement with HNTB Corporation to conduct an independent review of the design engineering services for the infrastructure project that will enable water to come from Evanston.
The contract is listed as $75,000 to be split evenly between both municipalities, officials said.
When the Morton Grove Village Board voted Sept. 25, Czerwinski said any recommended purchase by the commission of more than $45,000 must be approved by both village boards under the intergovernmental agreement.
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Evanston officials have said becoming the water supplier for Morton Grove and Niles could begin happening as soon as late 2018.
Morton Grove and Niles officials have estimated they will pay about $90 million for a new water transmission main at McCormick Boulevard and Emerson Street in Evanston and other infrastructure upgrades. But they also said that their villages could save as much as $100 million over the life of the 40-year contract.
The deal calls for increasing the number of suburban customers using Evanston water from 400,000 now to about 450,000, according to Evanston figures. Morton Grove and Niles users are expected to make up about 13 percent of those using Evanston-supplied water, city officials said.
The change is expected to generate an additional $735,000 in revenue for Evanston next year, rising to $1.2 million in 2022, according to city reports.
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