Glennshire water issue still murky

After two years, it's still unclear whether a group of 224 Glennshire homeowners in Hawthorn Woods are closer to getting clean drinking water from Lake County.

The county board's public works and transportation and finance committees Wednesday approved a three-party agreement with Hawthorn Woods and Aqua Illinois, Inc., that would allow the county to buy water from Aqua to serve Glennshire subdivision residents.

County Administrator Barry Burton said the agreement is necessary for the county to resolve a state lawsuit and get the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency's blessing to install the new system.

The IEPA ordered Lake County in 2006 to build a new water system to replace Glennshire'S 20 shallow wells after repeated violations. The county would own and operate the new system as it did the previous one.

The county board is expected to approve the agreement Tuesday if Hawthorn Woods signs off on it first.

Both Hawthorn Woods and Aqua Illinois must ratify the deal because the new system would be within village boundaries, and the village partly owns Aqua Illinois' system.

Mayor Keith Hunt said Wednesday that's not going to happen because the agreement leaves it to the village to collect about $450,000 connection and recapture fees from residents.

"If they expect to get water, then they've (the county) got to pay the fees," Hunt said. "No money, no water."

Hunt said the connection and recapture fees are the responsibility of whomever is installing the system.

"It's something that gets charged and paid before the service being turned on," he said. "As long as the county expects to have water, the county has to pay the fee. It would be no different if this were a developer, a homeowner's association, if this were a private individual or anything else."

At issue is a lawsuit filed against the county by the 672 Glennshire residents who say the county should pay the entire $6 million cost to replace their "failed" system. The county agreed to pay $1 million. That lawsuit is pending in federal court.

If the county loses the residents' lawsuit and is forced by the state to install the system, Burton said, the county doesn't want to be responsible for the village fees as well.

"It's up to them to collect it from the residents," Burton said. "And once again, because of the village's actions, the residents will be delayed in receiving drinking water."

County officials blamed Hawthorn Woods for obstructing the system's installation by refusing to grant the necessary permits for months, and filed a third-party complaint against the village earlier this year.

That issue was resolved in July when the village approved the special-use permits, variance and rights-of-way needed for the project, yet the county's lawsuit remains.

"This (water agreement) goes a long way toward resolving our issues with Hawthorn Woods, only if they approve it," Burton said. "From our standpoint, we've got an agreement that's fair. I hope the village would stop delaying this project."

The attorney general's office also is waiting for a resolution, spokeswoman Vanessa Cordonnier said.

"We don't really care who pays for it as long as the residents have safe, drinkable water," she said.