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Two
named to county water panel
Chicago Tribune -
8/20
County Board
Chairman Robert Schillerstrom recently appointed a woman to the
DuPage Water Commission who has lobbied to bring Lake Michigan
water to her neighborhood where private wells have been tainted.
Elizabeth
Chaplin, 37, of unincorporated Downers Grove, is one of two recent
appointees to the water agency. Local municipal leaders tabbed
Addison Mayor Larry Hartwig to fill another vacancy on the
13-member board.
Chaplin will fill
the remaining two years of a six-year term left by the resignation
of former Commissioner George Kouba, 57. Schillerstrom said he
expects Chaplin to continue to be an advocate for residents in her
neighborhood, where wells have been tainted by potentially
dangerous industrial solvents.
County and
municipal officials, who jointly control the water agency, have
sparred in recent months over the conditions under which
unincorporated areas where private wells have become contaminated
should begin receiving lake water.
The county,
municipalities and the Water Commission struck a deal in April
that allows unincorporated homeowners to tap into neighboring
communities' newly built or existing Lake Michigan water pipes.
The commission will ease homeowners' financial burdens through
low-interest loans.
Under the
agreement, annexation, which was a key sticking point of the deal
that Chaplin and other homeowners resisted, could be required by
neighboring communities, but could be postponed for up to 10
years.
"Obviously,
we are very concerned about these tainted wells and we're trying
to get water to these people," Schillerstrom said. "She
will be a great addition to the board."
"It was a
good-faith effort on Bob Schillerstrom's part to appoint a regular
resident to the Water Commission board," said Chaplin, a
10-year resident of unincorporated Downers Grove. "It's a
great opportunity to represent the unincorporated areas of DuPage
County." She will be sworn in next month.
Hartwig, 61, has
been Addison's mayor since 1995 and was a village trustee from
1987 to 1995. He replaces Roselle Village Trustee Joseph Devlin,
80, on the commission.
"Our staff
has had a good relationship with the staff of the DuPage Water
Commission, so I come onto the board with absolutely no ax to
grind," Hartwig said.
Schillerstrom
said he has not yet selected a county appointee to fill the
remaining vacancy on the board, created by the resignation of
Commissioner James Liljegren, 84.
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