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player ready...The Yorkville City Council has approved an intergovernmental agreement to work with Oswego and Montgomery on a future alternative water source for the towns.
Yorkville aldermen at the March 23 City Council meeting unanimously voted to support the selection of a consultant and a financial contribution for a regional water study initiated by the village of Oswego.
“This will allow us to have one more set of eyes to select an option,” Yorkville Mayor John Purcell said.
The Oswego Village Board in 2019 selected an engineering consulting firm to do an analysis focusing on alternative sources of water for the village. The contract was awarded to Baxter and Woodman of Mokena to do the evaluation for an amount not to exceed $280,000.
The municipalities currently use well water. However, there are projections showing the aquifer that the region’s municipalities rely on for well water is depleting.
The Illinois State Water Survey has released projections showing the region could run out of ground water in the next 20 to 40 years.
Officials in Oswego said the village has three options for providing water in the future: Lake Michigan water obtained through the DuPage Water Commission; using Fox River water, which would include the construction of a treatment plant with other towns in the area; or getting Lake Michigan water through an agreement with Joliet.
An analysis by an engineering firm is needed in order to consider the three options, Oswego officials had said.
“During the scope of discussions for the Baxter and Woodman study, it became apparent to the staff of each community that the Oswego study would be of benefit to both Yorkville and Montgomery,” Yorkville City Administrator Bart Olson said in a memo to aldermen.
Staff recommended the city’s contribution to Oswego of $58,650. The contribution was approved via an intergovernmental agreement between Oswego, Yorkville and Montgomery.
“The intergovernmental agreement is general in nature and will give us an overarching process to share costs of professional services studies in the future,” Olson told aldermen.
“The concept is that each board can hear about proposals in the future and approve the contributions with a simple vote without having to draft a study-specific intergovernmental agreement each time,” he said.
Yorkville aldermen also supported Oswego’s appointment of Caminer Law LLC as legal counsel for the water project. The principal of the firm is Irene Caminer, an experienced attorney with more than 30 years of government experience including 20 years as the general counsel to the Chicago Department of Water Management.
Aldermen also approved staff’s recommendation to contribute $4,000 toward the regional water study for legal work already performed. Oswego has spent approximately $12,000 in legal fees on work that will benefit Montgomery and Yorkville, Olson said.
Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.