Gurnee water tower completion in sight
As work on the $7 million Gurnee water tower project enters its final stages, the village board recommitted Monday night to repaying the money the village borrowed to finish it early.
The tower, approved by trustees in March, is being built on village-owned land at 1525 Knowles Road, near Rollins Road. The village is using a $5.5 million low-interest loan from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to help pay for the project.
Mayor Kristina Kovarik said the village will make a large down payment, borrow less than the maximum possible and accelerate paying the loan back this year.
"We can afford to do it so we are going to because it's always good not to have debt," Kovarik said. She added she was proud of the village staff members who planned the project's finances.
Work at the site began in January, and, despite some weather-related delays, the project has come in on time, according to Gurnee village engineer Heather Galan.
"We anticipate being fully operational by this coming spring, although the major construction components should wrap up by the end of December," Galan said.
The tower now is being painted. Galan said the painting should be done by late November.
Kovarik noted the new tower will be the first in the village to bear Gurnee's new logo, which is prominently displayed on the village website, gurnee.il.us.
The new water tower will have 10 times the capacity of the old 200,000-gallon tower, which the village demolished last year, near Gurnee Fire Station 1. And because the new tower is farther west, it will improve water pressure where it is needed the most.
"The people on the west side of town will enjoy having better water pressure, and all of us will sleep better at night knowing we have more storage capacity in the village's system," Kovarik said.
Kovarik noted the project has been part of the village's plans for almost 15 years.
In June, the village awarded a $3.9 million construction contract to Chicago Bridge & Iron. That doesn't include costs for engineering, permitting and work needed to connect the tower to the water supply. With those costs included, the village is conservatively estimating the project will cost $7 million.