The La Grange Village Board Monday approved a resolution putting the final touches on a $3.77 million project to replace the water main on Brainard Avenue from 47th Street to Ogden Avenue.
The measure, approved unanimously, is a lease agreement between the Village and the BNSF Railway to allow the main to be installed under the tracks.
Trustees noted the importance of maintaining infrastructure.
“My concern is general infrastructure,” Beth Augustine said before vote, stressing that were no villages nearby when La Grange was founded. “We’re a really old town, and we’ve got really old pipes, we’ve got really old buildings, and we have some very old structures. This is a good thing.”
With the water main being first put into service in 1920, Trustee Lou Gale agreed with Augustine.
“It’s one of those things you just have to do, you have to work with the railroad,” he said.
The lease agreement calls for a one-time payment to BNSF of $3,910 as compensation for the use of the premises. In addition, the Village agrees to pay all costs for railway expenses for flagging crews, and any vehicle rental costs during the installation.
(The details of the project can be found at the Village’s website villageoflagrange.com, under the tab for the April 24 Board meeting. The details of the lease agreement with BNSF can be found under the tab for the May 22 meeting.)
The installation itself will be completed by Suburban General Construction, a La Grange Park firm.
The total cost is $3,774,617, which was considered the lowest responsible bid. There was one other bidder, Millennium Contracting, but on the advice of consulting engineers Baxter and Woodman, Millennium’s was nixed because of insufficient information.
The BNSF Brainard Crossing is expected to be closed during the month of June.
Augustine spoke of the Village’s approach to this aspect of Village’s infrastructure.
“We usually do a road and pipe every two years,” she said. “so we save up money, from different tax revenues, so we can afford to do a stretch every couple years. So we’re paying as we go.”
The project is slated to begin June 5 and be finished by November of this year. The Spring of 2024 will see the Village resurface the entire road as part of a Federal Aid eligible project.
Hank Beckman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
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