Lake Zurich village trustees could soon vote on plans to switch the town’s water supplier – going from wells to taps into Lake Michigan water – with village staff and colleagues informing the elected leaders that further decision delays will be costly to the town.
“Kicking the can down the road is always a bad idea,” Trustee Mary Beth Euker said at the Nov. 6 Village Board meeting.
At the meeting, trustees got an update on switching to Lake Michigan water. The matter didn’t require action from the board, but there was a hope that a vote on the change could be around the corner.
More Top Picks Best Home Car Lifts For Enthusiasts
For years, village leaders have been looking at options to replace the deep aquifer wells that currently supplies the town’s water because those wells contain more radium, a carcinogen, than is legally allowable and removing it — as the town currently does — is costly and forces the municipality to deal with hazardous nuclear material for years to come.
Even when moved out of state and secured in radioactive storage facilities, the town is still responsible for the waste and any spills or contamination associated with it, officials explained.
Euker said a spill or accidental contamination could cripple Lake Zurich financially.
“That remediation could come back to bite us in the future, and that’s not being good stewards of public resources, in my opinion,” she said.
The radium is a naturally occurring product of the wells, with little the town can do to prevent its occurrence in the water aside from expensive remediation.
Like the rest of the board, Euker seemed eager to make a switch sooner than later.
She pointed out that if the current vendor handling the remediation were to go out of business, the town would be left having to deal with the waste on its own.
Startup costs for a change to Lake Michigan-supplied water would require a 30-year loan of about $152 million, according to information previously provided to village leaders. But not all costs will necessarily be paid for by village water customers if voters approve a half-cent, non-home rule sales tax in the election next November. Trustees say that tax would be paid mainly by visitors to help pay for the transition.
The other possibility would be for village water customers to bear the entire cost and they would see their water bills increase slowly over years to cover the costs, with a zero-interest loan covering the initial expense.
But in either case, as advocates of the move continue to point out, the cost to switch will only increase – by millions – each year. Also, the move will include upgraded water infrastructure that is needed anyway.
Earlier this year the board approved an intent to join the Central Lake County Joint Action Water Agency, a collective of villages using Lake Michigan water, after extensive feasibility and cost studies.
Village Manager Ray Keller pointed out that other area towns are in line for Lake Michigan water, so if Lake Zurich doesn’t make a move soon, the municipality could lose its place in line and any immediate opportunity to switch.
“We’re at the use-it-or-lose-it point, because the line is long,” Keller said.
He said given the cost of dealing with radium, the limited time offer of Lake Michigan water and the ever-increasing costs of switching sources, the village does not have much choice except to switch water sources.
“Doing nothing is not a responsible or a viable option,” Keller said.
He went on to advise the board to adopt a five-year rate schedule later this year with a view toward switching to Lake Michigan water. That construction could begin as early as 2026.
The 2024 budget workshop is Nov. 18, and the next meeting is Nov. 20 and Dec. 6 the board will adopt a budget, so it’s likely if the board does follow Keller’s recommendations, that schedule will be set in the coming weeks.
The board seemed to agree, and Mayor Tom Poynton urged them to give the project a green light when it returns for a vote later this year.
“I’m going to speak for me and say let’s move forward,” Poynton said.
Jesse Wright is a freelancer.
More Top Picks Best Ice Skates For Beginners