Lincolnwood has become one of the latest towns in the area that will switch its water supply vendor from Chicago to Evanston, with the village reaching an agreement recently with its neighbor to the east.
The village began searching for an alternative water supplier after multiple rate increases were handed down from Chicago, the village’s current potable water supplier, according to a Lincolnwood news release announcing the agreement with Evanston.
“The village has worked hard over the last couple of years to find an alternative water supplier that will provide the same quality of water to the residents at a lower cost,” said mayor Barry Bass. “We look forward to our partnership with the city of Evanston.”
According to the release, Lincolnwood officials considered rates that Skokie, Wilmette and Evanston charge and “concluded that the city of Evanston would be the most feasible alternative supplier with the lowest long-term cost.”
The Lincolnwood-Evanston agreement includes an initial term of 39 years, which could be extended by additional 10-year terms, officials said.
The village is expected to save about $57 million throughout the initial 39-year agreement, compared to the cost of buying water from Chicago, according to the release.
Officials expect that the city of Evanston will begin providing water to the village in 2020, after construction of a water main to deliver the water supply into Lincolnwood.
Lincolnwood is expected to pay a wholesale rate of $1.60 per 1,000 gallons of water from 2020 to 2022, according to terms of the agreement. After the initial two years, the rate is expected to increase 2 percent — but not more than 4 percent.
The village currently pays Chicago $3.94 per 1,000 gallons of water, officials said in the release.
Village trustees have endorsed an infrastructure plan that will allow the village to fund the costs to build the new transmission main to receive the Evanston-provided water supply as well as to fund the phased replacement of Lincolnwood’s oldest water mains — some of which are 100 years old, officials said.
At the July 17 Village Board meeting, trustees also approved an ordinance that waives the requirement for competitive bidding and awarded a $576,760 contract to Rosemont-based Christopher B. Burke Engineering LLC for engineering and design work related to the village’s water transmission main project.
Public Works Director Andrew Letson explained that the scope of the engineering services contract for the project is quite large.
The engineering company will be required to coordinate with various agencies for utilities, complete a full survey of the sites involved in the project and develop the design and bidding documents needed to progress the project, he said, among other things.
“The reason we are seeking a waiver for competitive bidding is because, first off, the timing on the project,” Letson said. “In order to move forward and to get the village the savings that it would from purchasing an alternative supplier, time is of the essence.”
Secondly, Letson said Burke Engineering is uniquely qualified to do the work because of the firm’s knowledge of the village’s water system.
“It is my professional opinion that there is no other firm that is as knowledgeable about this project as Christopher Burke,” Letson said. “I’m not saying that we would necessarily not find a new firm, but in my professional opinion they are the most intimately knowledgeable of this project.”
Letson explained that there are two other similar projects being carried out in the greater Chicago area at this time: one by the Morton Grove-Niles Water Commission and another in the village of Shorewood.
The nearby villages of Morton Grove and Niles within the last year also switched water suppliers from Chicago to Evanston. The two towns formed a commission, which is also overseeing infrastructure needs.
For the Morton Grove-Niles Water Commission’s transmission water main, the total cost of construction alone is about $65 million to $70 million, Letson said, adding that it is a complex project. The Shorewood project is more similar to that of the planned work in Lincolnwood, he said, noting it carries a $35 million price tag for construction.
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Lincolnwood’s anticipated water main construction cost is estimated at about $8.8 million, officials said.
“We believe the pricing that has been provided by the village engineer is competitive with what is available in the market and we believe the effort they are providing is reasonable,” Letson added.
Though other engineering firms could potentially have carried out this phase of the project, Letson said the village has typically sought to use the same engineer from the beginning to the end of a project, for continuity.
The village has budgeted about $700,000 for engineering costs, which have gone up due to the rising construction pricing, Letson noted after trustees Ronald Cope and Jesal Patel questioned some of the costs related to the project.