White Pines residents oppose Bensenville water project

A group in the White Pines subdivision near Bensenville is rallying neighbors to oppose the village's latest proposal to install a water delivery system.

Officials have announced plans for a roughly $7 million project to replace White Pines' aging water system. To pay for the work, property owners have two choices: voluntarily be annexed and pay for it through property taxes over 20 years, or remain separate and pay a higher surcharge that could nearly double their water bill.

"Many residents feel like they are being forced into annexation," said Doug LaVine, president of the White Pines Civic Association. "We are being forced into annexation by excessively increased water and sewer rates."

Association members are surveying residents and going door-to-door with a petition calling on a private company - not Bensenville - to fix the system and supply the neighborhood with water.

Even though White Pines has been staunchly independent since its founding in the 1940s, the neighborhood of roughly 280 homes gets Lake Michigan water through Bensenville.

Officials say the area's water system, which includes decades-old pipes, is obsolete. In addition to frequent main breaks, it produces substandard water pressure to combat fires.

But a December 2014 proposal by the village to replace the system never materialized because residents resisted annexation and questioned the cost estimate.

In July, village officials met with White Pines residents to present a new plan, but some say it's no better than the original idea.

"Everybody was expecting to hear a carrot and stick at that meeting," said Dave Lux, a 20-year resident. "It was big stick and bigger stick. There's no upside in what they presented."

To raise the estimated $7 million, Bensenville plans to use roughly $900,000 it collected from a surcharge that White Pines residents have been paying on their water bills and to borrow the remaining $6.1 million from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

If residents agree to become Bensenville taxpayers, the property tax dollars they pay to the village would be used to help repay the loan.

Residents who refuse to annex - or who can't because their properties aren't contiguous with the village - will have a second option: Bensenville would increase the surcharge for their combined water and sewer bill. Lux acknowledges the water system needs work, but he said Bensenville is trying to force people to annex.

If White Pines is annexed, it would increase the residential tax base for the village, which lost hundreds of homes to O'Hare Airport expansion.

"They are looking to replace their tax base," Lux said. "We have an assessed valuation of more than $60 million. We would be a convenient way for the village to get back to the condition it was in."

Village Manager Evan Summers insists the village is pursuing the project because the water system is obsolete.

"We are experiencing water loss within White Pines," he said. "We are experiencing breaks in White Pines. We need to address the problem."

Summers stressed it's up to each homeowner to decide how to pay.

"We can't have village of Bensenville residents subsidizing unincorporated White Pines," he said.

Last week, the village board agreed to spend roughly $437,000 to hire an engineering firm to do design work. The village also sent annexation applications to White Pines residents.

Homeowners have until the end of the month to submit a petition to annex. Meanwhile, the village is planning to apply for the IEPA loan by the end of this year or early 2019.

It could take up to a year for the loan to get approved.

Civic association members say a private company is offering to repair the system and supply them with water.

"Our civic association is going to give the people the last option we have," said Gina Mellenthin, who serves on the association board. "Then the people can make an educated decision."

The company would need to purchase Lake Michigan water through Bensenville or DuPage County. Neither have been approached to sell water to the company.