Residents, Bensenville agree to water project study

After spending a year opposing Bensenville's proposal to replace their neighborhood's aging water system, White Pines residents agree with village officials that more information is needed before the project's fate can be decided.

Bensenville has proposed an estimated $7 million project to replace water mains in the subdivision and charge White Pines property owners higher water rates to help pay for the work.

White Pines residents pushed back on that idea, in part, because of the price tag. They say Bensenville's cost estimate is high because the village wants to do a full replacement of the system.

"We've got some new mains that they were looking at replacing. Why?" said Gina Mellenthin, president of the White Pines Civic Association.

The residents were working to convince DuPage County or a private company to replace the system and supply them with water.

But in a meeting organized last week by several county board members, White Pines residents and Bensenville officials agreed that an engineering study could determine whether a full replacement of the system is needed.

"No matter who does the work - whether it's Illinois American Water, the city of Bensenville or the county - you need the data," said county board member Jim Healy, who is chairman of the county's public works committee. "You have to have the data in order to figure out what it's going to cost and how you're going to move forward."

So Bensenville trustees on Tuesday night agreed to hire Christopher B. Burke Engineering to do the engineering work necessary to determine the scope of the project. In addition, the firm will help the village develop a plan to isolate the White Pines system and install water meters.

Christopher B. Burke Engineering will be paid up to $387,277 from a fund the village created years ago with fees collected from White Pines residents.

"The good part is they have the funds available to do the engineering," Healy said. "There's a lot of other work that has to be done. This gets the ball rolling."

Village President Frank Soto said a final decision on who would do the project "is still a little ways away." But the preliminary design work is expected to take three to four months to complete.

"Once the engineering is done, the project itself could be analyzed to see savings and various concepts that could be done to mitigate the cost," Soto said.

He said the county will then send a letter to the White Pines residents comparing how much the project would cost if the village did it, if the county did it and if a private company did it.

That has Mellenthin pleased.

"We'll have something that tells us exactly what we have to do," she said. "And we'll know exactly what the scope of the project has to be."

Because the White Pines system has some newer pipes, Mellenthin said she believes the engineers will determine a cost for the project that's "significantly" less than the village's $7 million estimate.

Since both sides are happy with the design engineering contract, Mellenthin said she's hopeful White Pines residents and village officials "can work together again.

"We've bumped heads so much," Mellenthin said. "There's been so much turmoil. Nobody wants the fighting."