Unincorporated Lake in the Hills residents asked Algonquin Township for help in water controversy

Algonquin Township’s annual Town Meeting drew a roomful of residents Tuesday night – but many of them brought with them concerns from an unincorporated patch of Lake in the Hills.

“We need help,” said James Wilson, one of several unincorporated Lake in the Hills homeowners who showed up to the meeting of McHenry County’s most populous township looking for guidance in a battle they contend could lead to astronomical water bills.

Their concerns center on the impending sale of the unincorporated water main system – an action Lake in the Hills trustees have tabled twice to allow residents to research water companies that could buy the system.

The village bought the system in the 1970s. The main was installed in the 1950s in the unincorporated area south of Algonquin Road.

The 71 unincorporated customers that use the main live on Scotty Avenue, Dennis Road, Rosemarie Street, Marie Avenue, Isabel Avenue, Ethel Avenue, Craig Street, Roger Street, Willy Avenue, Nevin Avenue and Joan Street.

The pipes were made with now-obsolete asbestos-composite material. That infrastructure since has deteriorated, according to village documents.

The pipes are so fragile that staff members cannot perform basic flushing maintenance without causing water main breaks.

Over the past four years, the section of the main has accounted for 40 percent of all water main breaks villagewide, and the average cost for each repair is about $4,300.

Replacements could cost $1.8 million, Public Works Director Dan Kaup said – but the village generates $30,000 a year from the system.

Since 2002, residents have been paying a quarterly $6 water main replacement fee to fix the main. Each of the 75 customers using the main has paid $372 since its inception. Village officials said they would return 10 years’ worth of the fee to each property owner, costing $20,880.

Officials at Central States Water Resources, a private water and wastewater utility company, are willing to buy the system south of Algonquin and Pyott roads for $1.

The company would take control of the maintenance and upkeep of the system.

Residents fear the privatization could bankrupt them.

“This will result in dramatic, financially devastating water cost increases to our community, potentially causing people in our neighborhood to lose their homes,” unincorporated Lake in the Hills resident Rachel Zastrow said. “We are begging for your ongoing and public support.”

Molly Pack attended the meeting with her 12-year-old son, Charlie, and asked Algonquin Township officials to represent residents when the village meets April 26.

“What I am asking from you all is the commitment to work with the Village of Lake in the Hills and us residents of the township of Algonquin to stop the privatization of the water system,” Pack said.

Algonquin Township officials will discuss the Lake in the Hills water main at their 7 p.m. monthly meeting Wednesday at 3702 Route 14.

“It’s a very complicated issue that’s been going on for years,” Algonquin Township Supervisor Charles Lutzow said. “I welcome them to come to tomorrow’s meeting, but I don’t anticipate the township taking any action at that meeting.”