Joliet decision on Lake Michigan water due Thursday

The city has been planning for more than two years for a decision Thursday on Lake Michigan water, although there appears to still be some late maneuverings that can affect the vote.

The Joliet City Council meets at 5:30 p.m. in a special meeting to vote on two options: building a Joliet pipeline to Hammond, Indiana or buying water from the city of Chicago.

Either way will be expensive and is expected to be the major contributor to water bills tripling by 2030, when the city wants to begin pumping Lake Michigan water into people’s pipes at home.

Even getting started will be expensive.

A vote for the Indiana Intake option would include a $24.5 million contract for preliminary design with Stantec Consulting Services.

A vote for the Chicago Water Department option will include a $17.9 million contract with Stantec for preliminary design.

Stantec is one of several engineering firms that has been part of the consulting team planning the Joliet alternate water source.

The entire project will cost hundreds of millions of dollars and more than a billion depending on which route Joliet chooses and whether the council opts to add extra capacity in hopes of becoming a regional water supplier.

The Indiana Intake option is estimated to cost between $1 billion and $1.4 billion in 2020 dollars. However, adjusting costs to account for prices likely at the time of construction raises the estimate to $1.3 billion to $1.7 billion, according to the consulting team.

The Chicago option is estimated to cost between $592 million and $810 million in 2020 dollars. Adjusting for cost at the time of construction, the estimate is $725 million to $993 million.

The high-end costs are based on a 60 million gallon-a-day system that would be built if Joliet wants to become a regional supplier of Lake Michigan water to other communities yet to be signed up. The lower costs are based on a 30 million-gallon a day system for Joliet only.

Even as late as Tuesday, however, the Southland Water Agency met with city staff to present a third option that it says would save Joliet $332 million on a pipeline to Indiana by partnering with the agency and its plans to deliver Lake Michigan water to the south suburbs.

Late Tuesday, the agency issued a statement saying it appeared unlikely to happen.

The statement from Southland Water Agency spokesman James Prescott said “more time would be needed to fully discuss and negotiate a partnership. While we would welcome a delay in the final decision so as to allow time to further explore this regional partnership, that appears unlikely. We stand ready to engage in accelerated talks if the City Council so chooses.”

Councilman Pat Mudron last week at a City Council meeting suggested a delay in the vote to consider the Southland Water Agency option but no one joined him.

Meanwhile, Mudron said Tuesday, the city of Chicago has proposed new terms that would make its proposal more favorable.

“Last week, they came out with some better numbers and longer terms,” Mudron said.

He said those numbers and terms are to be presented to the council Thursday.

One of the major drawbacks seen in buying from Chicago is that Joliet would have less control of future water rates, although the two cities have negotiated terms aimed at easing those concerns.

The strength seen in the Indiana Intake project is Joliet’s ability to continue controlling its own water system and rates , although that comes with costs and responsibility. The city expects to need 14 more workers on its utilities staff with the Indiana Intake option.