Carol Stream will need water rate hike, officials say

A plan to upgrade and renovate an aging wastewater treatment facility in Carol Stream is expected to come with a price tag in the millions, forcing officials to raise water rates in the near future, officials said Monday.

Village Manager Joe Breinig said he was not sure when a rate hike would be imposed, but that any capital improvements to water and sewer facilities tend to come with one. Any hike, he said, would have to go through the budget process before it would be implemented.

“It's way too early to even say it has to be done next year,” he said. “The only way that water and sewer costs are paid for is through the rates.”

At a special meeting Monday, a local consulting firm presented an inspection report summarizing findings from facility tours, staff interviews and plant operating data. The report said the facility, which is just off Kuhn Road north of North Avenue, is in decent condition but that several areas will need some improvements in the near future as they reach the end of their useful lives. Among them is an early-level treatment area that sorts larger debris out of the water and sends it on its way to a landfill. The facility's rotary drum screens have endured daily pounding for nearly 20 years, which puts them at the top of the consultant's priority list. The facility was built in the 1970s, with periodic additions during the 1990s.

The screens that are part of the first round of work have been there since 1992. Fixing the screens, in addition to two other projects officials say should be done within five years, will cost about $4.5 million. Recommendations for other work that will need to be done put the price tag at about $10.2 million in investments into the facility over the next 20 years.

Breinig said the inspection report means the village will have less of a chance to hold off on the project. In July, the village asked for the inspection after they discovered problems with some of the facility's components.

Breinig said officials want to fix potential problems before they happen in order to avoid larger expenses in the future. However, he said village officials are aware that a rate hike in this economy is not an easy thing to talk about.

“We are certainly mindful and sensitive to that,” Breinig said. “If we were talking about frivolous spending that is one thing. But I don't see this as that type of thing. I don't see how we can ignore it.”