Business must repay village after burst line break

Due to a water line break, Wheeling shut down water to up to 20 businesses on Monday.

Wheeling public works employees spent most of the day and night repairing the line that burst near Inland Die Casting in the 100 block of Carpenter Avenue. The line broke at about 6:45 a.m. on Monday and because it was an emergency, village employees stepped in, said Wheeling's Director of Public Works Tony Stravos.

“Typically, this would be responsibility of the owner, but we couldn't wait four or five hours for a contractor to arrive,” he said after Monday's village board meeting.

Inland will be responsible for repaying the village for all fees related to fixing the water line — including paying for the salaries and benefits of workers at the site and the costs to run the construction equipment, Stravos said.

In total, eight village employees worked on the site and Stravos said the pipe probably wouldn't be fixed until 10 or 11 p.m. on Monday.

“We're still working on it,” Stravos told the village board. “At one point we tired to turn it back on and it burst again.”

Water lines are susceptible to breaks in the winter because frost causes the ground to shift and put pressure on the pipes, Stravos said.