The leadership of Oak Lawn-based High School District 218 has stepped up to help Robbins residents affected by recurring outages in the public water supply.
Teachers and other employees have answered Superintendent Josh Barron’s appeal for donations of bottled water to help people whose water service has been disrupted.
“The great community of Robbins needs our help,” Barron wrote in a recent message to District 218 staff. “The water main issues continue to leave families without running water.”
The district collected and distributed about 100 cases of bottled water as of Friday, Barron said.
Residents affected by recent water main breaks appreciated the help, Robbins Mayor Darren Bryant said.
“I can’t tell you the last time District 218 responded to the needs of Robbins,” Bryant told me Friday. “This is the first time that I can recall something of this nature.”
District 218 collected donated water at each of its three high schools: Dwight D. Eisenhower in Blue Island, Harold L. Richards in Oak Lawn and Alan B. Shepard in Palos Heights.
About 70% of the district’s 5,341 students are low income, according to Illinois Report Card data. Bryant teaches health and physical education at Eisenhower, his alma mater.
The donated water is making a difference, he said.
“We have students in Robbins this is impacting, who are waking up and getting ready for school, and this helps make sure they are on time for the first period of class,” Bryant said.
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Robbins, a community of 4,627 residents, is saddled with aging infrastructure. Founded in 1917, Robbins has been described by the African American Registry as the oldest Black suburb in the Chicago area and among the oldest incorporated Black communities in the United States.
But like in nearby Dixmoor and other towns, century old water pipes in Robbins burst with frustrating frequency. Workers repair water main breaks as quickly as they can. But once a break is fixed, the aging pressurized system seems to target the next weakest point.
A water main break often means the entire community loses water for hours at a time, Bryant said.
“We don’t have enough valves in the village to separate, or cut off one side of town,” Bryant said. “In order to fix that part we have to shut off the entire system. It’s ridiculous.”
The village needs an estimated $40 million to replace its entire water system, including a water tower, mains and pumps, Bryant said. The village cannot afford to fix the system on its own and must seek state or federal funding, he said.
“I’m waiting for the governor, I’m waiting for the president,” Bryant said. “I’m hoping we can get some water infrastructure dollars as initiatives from our state and from our nation instead of piecing a project together with $2 million here or $3 million there. Where is the money?”
The Village Board on Tuesday will be asked to approve hiring a grant writer to help the village obtain funding, he said.
Two water main breaks near 135th Street and Pulaski Road disrupted water service to about 100 homes in the days before Thanksgiving, Bryant said. The mayor’s residence was among the homes affected.
Bryant said he was scheduled to meet late Friday afternoon with representatives of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to discuss the village’s water issues. Village representatives plan to meet Dec. 14 with retiring U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Chicago, to discuss how to access federal resources.
Bryant was among several south suburban mayors who appealed for help paying for infrastructure improvements during an Illinois Legislative Black Caucus listening tour event in late September in Hazel Crest.
Harvey has identified more than $300 million in needed infrastructure improvements, Timothy Williams, city administrator, said at the time.
Water supply issues are likely to become more difficult to deal with in coming months as subfreezing temperatures strain crumbling systems and slow the response times of crews tasked with making repairs.
Robbins will definitely pursue its share of funding expected to be allocated through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that President Joe Biden signed into law a year ago, Bryant said.
The village, however, was disappointed by its share of federal dollars dispersed through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
“Robbins only got about $700,000 in two installments,” Bryant said. “That money was used to approve a new contract with police officers and get a new ambulance. That money was just to stay afloat, not enough to tackle any type of infrastructure.”
Another reason Robbins is newsworthy at the moment is because Robbins native Keke Palmer is set to host the Dec. 3 episode of “Saturday Night Live” with musical guest SZA.
Palmer, 29, starred in this year’s films “Lightyear” about “Toy Story” character Buzz Lightyear and “Nope” by producer Jordan Peele. Her breakout role was playing the title character in the 2006 film, “Akeelah and the Bee.” She graduated from a home-school high school program in 2010 at age 16.
Ted Slowik is a columnist for the Daily Southtown.