Kendall County Times

Village of Oswego Committee of the Whole Met June 22.

Here is the minutes provided by the committee:

CALL TO ORDER  

President Troy Parlier called the meeting to order at 6:01 p.m. 

ROLL CALL 

Board Members Physically Present: President Troy Parlier; Trustees Tom Guist, Kit Kuhrt, James Marter II, Terry  Olson, Jennifer Jones Sinnott and Brian Thomas. 

Staff Physically Present: Dan Di Santo, Village Administrator; Christina Burns, Asst. Village Administrator; Tina  Touchette, Village Clerk; Jeff Burgner, Police Chief; Jennifer Hughes, Public Works Director; Rod Zenner,  Community Development Director; Mark Horton, Finance Director; Scott McMaster, ED Director; Jenette Sturges,  Community Engagement Coordinator, Marketing; Susan Quasney, Project Engineer; Tim Zasada, Asst. Public  Works Director Utilities; and Karl Ottosen, Village Attorney; and Douglas Dorando, Village Attorney. 

PUBLIC FORUM 

Public Forum was opened at 6:01 p.m. There was no one who requested to speak. The public forum was closed at  6:01 p.m. 

OLD BUSINESS 

F.1 Update on the Alternative Water Source Evaluation – Part 2: Water Source Options and Key Considerations 

Director Hughes addressed the Board regarding alternative water source options and key considerations. Most of  northeast Illinois is currently in a drought. There are water issues and concerns. Conservation will be discussed at  the next Board meeting. Cost for the water source will be brought forward at a future meeting. Baxter & Woodman  representatives, Carolyn Grieves and Lauren Schuld attended in person and presented their evaluation: 

Overview 

• Part 1- purpose, need and options discussed at the June 8, 2021 Committee of the Whole 

• Part 2- discussing tonight 

• Part 3- conservation measures and drought impacts; discussing at the July 13, 2021 Committee of the Whole 

• Part 4- public information meeting for all three communities (Oswego, Yorkville and Montgomery) 

• Part 5- cost analysis with details 

• Part 6- source selection 

Study Approach 

• Oswego used the deep sandstone aquifer as its water source. 

• Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS) has projected that the deep aquifer is not sustainable for the future of this  region.

• ISWS projects the region will be at severe wish of well depletion and unable to meet population growth and  water demands by 2050, even with Joliet leaving the aquifer; have known it has been unsustainable for over  100 years. 

• Will eventually require a new water supply. 

• White outline depicts Oswego’s boundaries

Alternative Water Sources 

Fox River Option 

• Studied by EEI in 2016 

• Network of 11 wells 

⮚ Four would be required (in green) 

⮚ Others could be abandoned 

• Dash lines are supplemental water 

• Three connection points; no connections in high zone 

• Need to construct system to bring water into the plant and then move it back out hydraulically; Aurora and Elgin  

• Aurora and Elgin have used the Fox River for over 20 years 

• Needs to be evaluated on total demand 

• IEPA will require testing, sampling and permitting plan; they will work with all three communities;  

• Timeline is 9-11 years 

• New well will be required

• Internal system improvements at connection points and in the high zone 

• Northwest Water Planning Alliance doing a study 

• Other issues coming with regulatory requirements 

• River quality is better over the past 20 years 

• Water levels vary from year to year; will not be able to predict 

• Treatment process estimated for all items related to the river 

• Dam removals and toxins behind the dams 

• Surface water treatment takes a lot of work and monitoring by staff; always needs to be monitored and checked 

• Will need a two treatment process to be covered 

• Network of wells will need to be utilized;  

• Black box is Fox Metro

Lake Michigan- DuPage Water Commission Option 

• They did not consider Oswego coming in, but did plan for larger water usage 

• Opportunity now, or they may not build a pipe big enough for Oswego use 

• 29-mile transmission main line (see aqua line below) 

• Three connection points, reservoir and pumping station at high zone 

• Currently has capacity now, but will need improvements by 2050 

• Costs spread across all communities 

• Waiting on more information 

• Green area depicts current customers/members

• Purchases water from Chicago 

• Specific conservation requirements 

• Less liability 

• 4-5 years for permitting and construction 

• Will not need a new well

Lake Michigan- Joliet Water Commission Option 

• Commission is in process 

⮚ Governance under formation now 

• Will need modifications if going through Joliet 

• Purchases water from Chicago 

• Twelve communities in discussion 

• Same connection points (see yellow star) 

• Timeline- 2030 

• New well required

Lake Michigan- Illinois American Water Option 

• Evaluating upgrades 

• Private utility company 

• Purchases water from Chicago 

• Plainfield currently using (see orange star; usage is in the shaded orange) 

• Transmission line (see aqua line) 

• Governance has limits 

• Timeline is 4-5 years 

• No new well needed 

• Sells to one company, then another company

Summary  

• Will need an allocation to get water from Lake Michigan 

• Purchasing Lake Michigan water at a rate 

• If choosing the Fox River option, it would be Oswego personnel maintaining the transmission lines and  plant.

Next Steps 

• Conservation 

• Refinements of Joliet Water Commission and Illinois American Water Options 

• Cost Estimates; late this summer 

• Funding Alternatives 

• Public Information Meeting 

• Source Selection 

Board, staff, and Baxter & Woodman representatives’ discussion focused on drawdown; what percentage Aurora  uses from their wells; our area aquifer is independent from others; blending; Fox River doing the heavy lifting;  Aurora and Elgin using wells more because of the drought; how much of a draw if Oswego goes on the Fox River;  Aurora uses 58% river and 42% well because of the drought; treatment plant will help with the hard water; water  levels with dam removal; how much treatment over time; whether the treatment plant will be adaptable; how much  innovation in processes; ultrafiltration technologies evolve, but not rapidly; how infrastructure for Fox River will be  used to move to Lake Michigan; internal system in place and will depend on growth; may not be able to move to  Lake Michigan from Fox River in the future, or it could be a significant cost; who will be paying for capacity  increases; putting in one pipe and considering future from 2050 to 2150; how many gallons per day is treated and  put back into the river; staff will look up; depth of intake crib in Lake Michigan is 200 feet below lake level; 7,900 

feet of internal feet of improvements for all Lake Michigan options; what the issues are if choosing Lake Michigan;  plan for outage maintenance; no real treatment concerns with Lake Michigan water; two days of storage capacity;  keeping emergency wells for coverage; Joliet option still pending; Joliet is sharing draft contracts and information  for building the commission; Mayors and Managers group also weighing in; will still cycle the wells; WRT system  would come out if choosing Lake Michigan; during an emergency, levels would be monitored; maintaining the wells  on a regular basis so they will work when needed; WRT system is under lease; lease expires in 2025; cost of WRT  is $400,000; have eight WRT’s. There was no further discussion. 

NEW BUSINESS 

There was no new business. 

CLOSED SESSION 

There was no closed session. 

ADJOURNMENT 

The meeting adjourned at 7:05 p.m.