Announcement of New City Manager, Water and Sewer Rate Increase Among the Business of Elmhurst Aldermen Tonight

Elmhurst City Council will convene today at 7:30 p.m. at City Hall, 209 N. York St. The open session will follow an executive session of the board at 6:30 p.m., which will include a discussion on collective bargaining, threatened or imminent litigation, employment or compensation of an officer and disposition and acquisition of real property.

The open meeting will begin with a presentation on the Illinois City Manager’s Association, followed by a public forum. Attendees will be given up to three minutes to speak on any topic.

The consent agenda, in addition to approval of minutes and accounts payable, will include the following:

• A report on economic development alternatives prepared by Kane, McKenna and Associates will be forwarded to the Development, Planning and Zoning Committee and the Economic Development Commission for review. The plan is to determine whether all or portions of five study areas would benefit from economic development tools and public finance programs in conjunction with private development initiatives. Emphasis will be on tax increment financing, but KMA also has identified additional programs for review. The five areas are Lake Street, North York Street, York and Vallette Street, York and Butterfield Road, and Riverside Drive.
• A report on the Butterfield Road and Commonwealth Lane intersection improvements is up for approval. Improvements would include the addition of multiple left- and right-turn lanes. The project received nearly $800,000 from the federal Surface Transportation Program. The Public Works and Building Committee is recommending the City Council accept a supplemental Phase II engineering proposal from TranSystems Corp. in an amount not to exceed $21,400.
• The council will be asked to accept a bid from Scandia Construction for $25,370 to replace the asphalt shingle roof at the Elmhurst Historical Museum’s education center. Scandia submitted the lowest of three qualified bids.
• The council also will be asked to accept a bid from Eugene Matthews Inc. of $48,485 to replace sections of roof at the Fire Academy Burn Tower at 910 Addison Ave. The company submitted the lowest of three qualified bids.
• Aldermen will be asked to approve a recommendation from the Public Works and Building Committee to accept a bid from K-Five Construction for $458,000 for improvements to St. Charles Road from York Street to York High School. K-Five submitted the lowest of seven bids. Improvements include removal and replacement of curb and gutter, pavement and sidewalk work, storm sewer work and paving of driveway approaches. The work must be completed before school starts in the fall. The bulk of the cost, $380,000, was awarded to the city by the Illinois Department of Transportation.
• Repair work also is likely to be approved for the Adelaide parking deck. The work includes pipe, concrete and joint repairs, cleaning and sealing of concrete floors and pavement striping. JLJ Contracting submitted the lowest of seven bids, at $73,200.
• Alderman also are expected to sign off on an auction of a 1995 Lexus SC300. The vehicle was seized for forfeiture by the police department.
• Also on the consent agenda is an ordinance adopting the prevailing wage rates for DuPage and Cook County.

Following approval of the consent agenda, the City Council will hear a report on from the Finance, Council Affairs and Administration Services Committee, which is recommending a rate increase of 8 percent.

Residential rates for water are slated to increase from $4.95 to $5.35 per thousand gallons. The city purchases water from the DuPage Water Commission, which purchases it from the city of Chicago. Since 2008, DWC has increased water rates to its members by 66.4 percent. DWC projects a minimum 10 percent annual increase in water rates to members for each of the next five years. Another significant expense in the water utility budget is the water main replacement program, which is budgeted at $770,000 a year. It has been been paid out of the city’s reserves since 2009.

Sewer rates are slated to increase 8 percent from $4.55 to $4.91 per thousands gallons. The city is planning to purchase an anaerobic digester for $7.3 million (funded through a loan from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency), and the wastewater treatment plant will require significant infrastructure improvement due to its age, officials said.

The combined water and sewer rate adjustments for an average family of four will result in an estimated increase of $9.12 a month.

Aldermen will then hear updates from Mayor Pete DiCianni and last, but certainly not least, will approve the appointment of a new city manager to replace The council will formally recognize Borchert's service to the city at the end of the meeting.