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Residents'
outcry delays water plant
Chicago Tribune
- 7/23
The
West Dundee Village Board is delaying the building of a water-treatment
plant in a historic neighborhood along the Fox River to consider
other sites after hearing from about 50 angry residents this week.
Neighbors
were incensed by a village plan to expand the waterworks on 5th
Street, converting it from a pump station to a treatment plant,
which would require adding onto the building for around $2 million.
Trustees said they did not consider other sites in town because
of the costs, and the village needs to increase its water-producing
capacity because it is growing.
"The
5th Street site served as a water-treatment facility up to 1993,"
said Joe Cavallaro, village manager. "It now serves as a
booster station. It pumps water up into a storage tank. The reason
why we picked it is the infrastructure is already there. It would
cost significantly more to start from scratch."
Cavallaro
said Tuesday that he would begin to put together cost estimates
for other village-owned sites.
Residents
are worried about the possible environmental impact on their close-knit
neighborhood. The plant would use chlorine, fluoride, caustic
soda and salt when treating the water.
David
Barnes, who lives in a home built in 1897 that has been designated
a landmark by the West Dundee Historical Society, said he was
angry that the board made its decision without having cost estimates
for other sites.
"So
you took the cheapest route," Barnes told trustees. "People
take pride in this neighborhood. How dare you."
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