Lead water service replacement project public hearing on agenda for Sycamore City Council meeting

SYCAMORE – Sycamore elected officials and residents will have a chance to say their piece during a public hearing Monday for proposed city lead water service replacement and radium removal projects.

The Sycamore City Council meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday and will be hosted electronically via Zoom. The meeting agenda with the meeting link included will be available on the city's website, cityofsycamore.com.

The proposed lead water service replacement project is meant to replace existing lead service lines from the city main to the residents’ meters. The city has identified 150 existing services but included a larger section of the existing corporate limits for the potential project limits.

"The goal is to remove lead services as a preventative measure against lead exposure," city officials wrote in the Monday agenda.

Well No. 7 is located in the Electric Park subdivision and was previously taken offline due to increasing radium levels within the raw water. That second project includes a proposed radium removal system similar to those installed at four other city wells, city officials wrote.

City officials wrote the proposed lead water service replacement and the radium removal projects are independent projects. However, the city is using one public hearing to address both projects, per the meeting documents.

City officials will discuss the planning, design and evaluation of the proposed projects during the Monday public hearing, according to the meeting agenda. Both lead service line replacement and radium removal improvements were discussed within the city's Water Master Plan completed in December 2019.

Anyone wishing to make a statement on the proposed projects during the virtual public hearing will be asked to identify themselves and their respective interest. Written comments may be submitted to Sycamore City Manager Brian Gregory at bgregory@cityofsycamore.com or Chris Covert, Project Manager, Bureau of Water, Infrastructure Financial Assistance Section, at 1021 North Grand Avenue East, P.O. Box 19276, Springfield, Illinois 62794-9276.

The update comes after Sycamore residents recently filed a class action lawsuit against the city on several counts, including fraud, deceptive business, negligence and public nuisance. The filing followed months of public outcry over concerns about water quality.

Meanwhile, there also will be a separate public hearing for the proposed city property tax levy, which would remain about the same for a resident that owns a $200,000 home within city boundaries. The City Council is also expected to vote on the first reading of the proposed tax levy.