$1.4M in federal COVID-19 relief funds earmarked for DeKalb County infrastructure projects

SYCAMORE – The DeKalb County Board recently approved a plan to distribute $1.4 million in American Rescue Plan Act federal funds to the county’s 14 municipalities for infrastructure improvement projects.

Each municipality will still have to apply for its $100,000 share, according to county documents, though eight have already submitted applications.

The funds will go toward reimbursing or helping pay for existing infrastructure projects throughout the county such as for completed water, sewer and broadband work. The efforts are part of the county’s Water, Sewer and Broadband Infrastructure ARPA Transfer Program, which allows the county government to request federal funding and then authorize dispersement throughout local municipalities.

“We talked to each community and they’re in various stages,” DeKalb County Administrator Brian Gregory said of the projects. “Some are at the point of preparing to use the funds and others are still putting together their project. And in one case it’s, I believe it’s a larger project, and so we’re not ready to move forward [with the municipal project] quite yet.”

Each DeKalb County municipality needs to submit an American Rescue Plan Act Transferee Program application to receive the funding. As of Oct. 12, eight communities had already submitted an application, county officials said. The costs of the projects that will utilize the funds from the program must be incurred by Dec. 31, 2024 and then all work on those projects must be complete by Dec. 31, 2026.

The county board, when it approved the transferee program, wanted to make sure the county government was sharing its ARPA funding with other municipal governments, Gregory said.

Gregory said the idea was for the federal dollars to serve as many people DeKalb County residents as possible.

Project plans so far

According to county documents, Cortland plans to use the funds for wastewater treatment plant improvements that will help remove phosphorus and ensure Illinois Environmental Protection Agency regulations are met.

To do that, new aerators will facilitate a chemical feed to precipitate the phosphorous out of suspension in the water. The County’s American Rescue Plan Act Transferee Program will finance the majority of the project.

The city of DeKalb’s application indicates it plans to utilize the funds as part of its Lead Service Replacement Assistance Program – a program that aims to incentivize DeKalb homeowners to remove residential lead services. The City has replaced 40 lead service lines totally over $350,000, according to DeKalb County documents.

The village of Hinckley requested to put the funds toward the replacement of two lift stations in the municipal sewer system, according to county documents. Work on the replacement of the lift stations is expected to begin this year and be completed in late 2024.

According county documents, the village of Kirkland seeks to use the funds to update water and sewer valves, as well as a manholes prior to the repaving of Illinois Route 72. The transferee program will cover the majority of the project’s expenses.

The village of Malta is, according to county documents, utilizing the funds to connect to the Kishwaukee Water Reclamation District for the treatment of wastewater. The funds will be used to offset a portion of Malta’s share of the project.

The city of Sandwich used its transferee program application to request funds for a master water works system plan. According to county documents the master plan includes a sustainable water service assessment, a water system evaluation, distribution system modeling, water system cast estimates, lead service line replacement and a water rate study.

According to county documents, the village of Somonauk requested funds for a new sanitary pump lift station and a force main extension to the existing wastewater treatment plant. The project will require up to $2 million in funding, $100,000 of which is expected to be financed through the American Rescue Act Transferee Program.

The city of Sycamore, according to county documents, requested its transferee program funds to be spent toward a roughly $2.6 million water main replacement project along Route 64.

Gregory said those eight municipalities “have already applied [for the program] or completed a project.”

The village of Lee, the village of Kingston, the village of Maple Park, the village of Shabbona, the village of Waterman, and the city of Genoa have yet to submit a transferee program application.

“So the other [six] communities are all working on identifying or submitting applications,” Gregory said.