Glen Ellyn taking up Hill Ave. bridge repair deal Monday night

Glen Ellyn President Mark Pfefferman doesn't exactly agree with the way village officials were asked to help pay for repairs on an aging bridge that's entirely in Lombard. But he says he's impressed with how they responded.

Lombard officials last month threatened to close the Hill Avenue bridge on July 1 if Glen Ellyn did not come up with $300,000 to pay for half the local share of repair work. Glen Ellyn officials agreed but sent Lombard a list of conditions that had to be met for the agreement to materialize.

At a village workshop Monday, trustees will consider Lombard's response to that list, which Pfefferman said was mostly positive.

"I'm very proud of the way we handled it," he said. "We didn't react to the way they asked but instead (we responded) in a measured manner. We were the ones that took the lead in surveying the community, talking to unincorporated businesses and going to the school districts."

Among the eight conditions were the inclusion of Glen Ellyn Public Works Director Joe Caracci on a team that will select the design engineer for the $3 million project, which will be paid primarily through federal and state funding.

Glen Ellyn officials also want a revised boundary agreement that would add several parcels west of I-355. Additionally, they want access to a lift station in Lombard to provide water and sewer service to residents in that area.

Deal or no deal? Key components of a potential agreement between Lombard and Glen Ellyn as they prepare to fix an aging bridge on Hill Avenue over the DuPage River:bull; Glen Ellyn will pay half the local portion of costs of the repairbull; Bridge did not close July 1bull; Fire protection fee for newly annexed property by Glen Ellyn will be waivedbull; Space in nearby wastewater treatment campus given for salt storage provided any environmental risks are dealt with by Glen Ellynbull; No truck access restrictions from Glen Ellyn to Lombard and vice versabull; Maximize bridge asset to make more pedestrian-safe (pending cost estimates and ownership-liability considerations as they would not be eligible for grant funding)bull; Revised boundary will absorb several properties into Glen Ellynbull; Lift station access to provide water and service to those propertiesbull; Public Works Director Joe Caracci will be on a team that will select a design engineer for the projectLombard already has complied with the condition the bridge be kept open beyond July 1.After more than six months without an answer from Glen Ellyn, Lombard set the July 1 deadline last month to force a decision."I do think the method by which we were asked was peculiar," Pfefferman said. "This is a very unique situation where one municipality asked another to help pay for infrastructure totally within another municipality."Lombard officials have said that while the bridge is within their village limits, it actually has more value to Glen Ellyn residents. The structure, which spans the DuPage River just south of the Union Pacific railroad tracks, is used by roughly 2,000 vehicles a day. During the morning rush, about 640 vehicles travel from Glen Ellyn to Lombard and nearly the same number head the opposite way during evening rush. In a survey on Glen Ellyn's website, 53 percent of 196 respondents said they would be affected by the bridge's closure. However, only 37 percent said Glen Ellyn should help pay for the work.