Oswego’s plan to bring Lake Michigan drinking water to the community will be featured during Village President Troy Parlier’s State of the Village address Thursday.
Parlier will give his address at 4 p.m. Thursday at the Kendall 11 theater at 95 Fifth. St. in Oswego. The village president’s address will be streamed live on Facebook as well.
Parlier said he intends to place the spotlight on several things, including the big decision on the region’s future water source.
After years of studies and analysis, Oswego, Yorkville and Montgomery in December agreed to select Lake Michigan water with a connection through the DuPage Water Commission as the preferred option for the future water supply for the towns.
“It’s been fantastic that we have been able to work with Yorkville and Montgomery to bring costs down and provide a steady source of water for decades,” Parlier said.
The Illinois State Water Survey has projections showing the region could run out of ground water from the aquifer in the next 20 to 40 years.
Some options to solve the problem included bringing in Lake Michigan water with a connection to the DuPage Water Commission line, like many towns in the Chicago area do, or going together with other towns in the region on a treatment plant to use Fox River water.
Parlier said he’s been upfront with residents that water rates will naturally increase when the village switches over to Lake Michigan water. Water rates are something he plans to talk about during his address.
“People know we need a reliable source of water. We will unveil a couple of surprises of how the village is going to fund the project,” Parlier said.
“We need to have a safety net for seniors,” he said. “We have talked about water rates doubling. I want to make sure we have a safety net for seniors. Secondly, as with any project, we need to find a way for residents of the future to contribute to the cost as much as residents of today.”
The three communities will be looking to Springfield to approve legislation to allow them to join the DuPage Water Commission and to get an approved water allotment through the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Parlier said.
Parlier, who was elected village president in 2019, is an eighth-grade math teacher at Thompson Junior High School in Oswego. He previously worked in the financial profession.
“There have been so many good things going on in Oswego,” Parlier said of the village.
Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.