Over-budget contract leads Glencoe to prioritize replacement of less-stable Skokie Lagoons water main. Residential main tabled.

The Village of Glencoe Board authorized the execution of a $1.6 million contract for the Lagoon Water Main Replacement Improvements Project on Thursday, July 21.

The contract with Mauro Sewer Construction will cover the replacement of the water transmission main in Skokie Lagoons, which officials said has sprung multiple leaks in the past three years and is facing potential to rupture.  

“If we get a complete rupture, which could happen at that transmission main, then we would lose pressure in that entire water system.” said Public Works Director David Mau during the meeting. If a rupture were to happen, Mau said officials would “have to make emergency repairs that don’t happen quickly on this pipe.”  

The contract covers the third and final phase of the main’s replacement — the installation of 2,500 lineal feet of new, 16-inch, high-density polyethylene pipe to supply the Village’s almost 100-year-old elevated water tank located west of Edens Expressway.

The Village is hoping to use American Rescue Plan Act funds for this final phase, as it did for the second phase of the main replacement in 2021. 

“Over the last 10 years, the 14-inch HDPE water main has experienced leaks in the fused-pipe joints that have required expensive, logistically challenging repair,” according to a Village of Glencoe Memorandum issued on July 21. 

The 2,500 lineal feet of HDPE pipe will run through Cook County Forest Preserve District property west of Forestway Drive near the Skokie Lagoons.

The entire project, estimated at $2.7 million in Mauro’s bid, would address the lagoon transmission water main along with the residential water main; however, the Glencoe Village Board did not approve a contract that large because the pricepoint exceeds the amount budgeted for 2022 ($1.7 million).

The board plans to complete the residential water main project in the near future. 

“It is obviously regrettable that we can’t use the budget amount to cover the whole project, but it seems clearly right to do this part of the project,” Village President Howard Roin said prior to the board’s unanimous approval.   

The 2022 budget does not meet the bid’s total for the project because materials pushed bid pricing 50-60 percent higher than the past two years, according to the project memo. Knowing that only part of the project could be covered with the funds allocated for this year the village originally planned to replace the residential water main first, but critical needs of the lagoon transmission water main made it a priority. 

“We can defer the residential mains,” Mau said. ” … We still see a pressing need to complete this water transmission main replacement. … It’s become imperative that this gets addressed first and it may give us the needed time to flush out what a new elevated tank might look like. It may grant us a 5- to 10-year extension before we have to make that decision.”

This third and final phase of the project is set to begin in October, to reportedly minimize disturbance for forest preserve patrons. Currently, the village board is working with the forest preserve to acquire the necessary permits. 

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