Greetings from Lena Village Hall

Report from Dennis Bergman

Lena Village President

It has been a long time since I have written an article, due to the fact that our Meeting Minutes are now published every month. I am writing at this time because there are several important projects that will be going on in Lena, and some important issues that you need to know about.

We are moving forward with major improvements to our Village Water System. Last Fall bids were taken and approved by the Board of Trustees. The loan documents with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency were signed. Last week we had a Pre-Construction meetings with the various contractors.

The improvements will be a new 400,000 gallon water tower. The present tower was built in 1895 and is the oldest operating water tower in the state. Once the new tower is in service, the old tower will be maintained as an historical site. An additional well will be drilled near the site of the new tower. It will be 900 feet deep. The new well will have a capacity of approximately 650 GPM. A new well house will be built at the site of the well to enclose the well pumps and motors, control system, and other items. A new computer control system will be installed which will run the 3 wells that we will have in addition to controlling the high service pumps located at the old tower facility.

We will also be adding some new water main improvements, as well as replacing some water mains that are old. Streets or area of the Village that will see water main improvements are Townline Road, Grove Street, Lincoln-Washington Street area, Nursing Home area, Pepin Drive, and West Main Street.

The final part of this project will be new water meters for every business and residence in the Village. You will soon be receiving a letter explaining why we are putting in new meters, the advantages the new meters will have to you, and the process for installing these new meters. Mechanical Inc. of Freeport received the contract to install the meters. Their trucks will be marked with a sign which says Meter Replacement Program and their employees will be wearing ID tags.

The total cost of the project is 4.1 million dollars. The Village has received a loan from the State Environmental Protection Agency. One million dollars will not have to be repaid as part of a program that encourages communities to upgrade their water and sewer facilities. Over one million dollars will be repaid using funds from our TIF districts. The balance will be paid from funds generated from monthly water bills. The past 2 years we have gradually raised rates as we knew we would have to repay the loan. No more increases are planned until the project is completed and final costs are known, and then we will know what are yearly payments will be. We feel the rates are near where they have to be to repay the loan, so no huge increases will be seen in the future.

At the Primary election on March 20th, the Village of Lena will have a referendum on Electrical Aggregation. This is a complex issue and we plan on having some informative meetings to explain the details and I will write about the subject when the election nears.

Another downtown building is being renovated under the Village’s TIF Facade Program. The Pat Brown Realtors Building in looking much better, and we hope for additional projects in our downtown area soon. We are also working with our Architect Carl Lingle on a new Downtown Improvement Plan. We hope to have drawings and pictures of the proposed improvements soon for the public to view and comment on.

I would like to congratulate Dr. Gordon Dammann on his retirement and wish him and Karen well. Having quality professional services are vital to a small community, and Dr Dammann practiced Dentistry here for 40 years. He has been active in many civic organizations and currently serves on the Lena Community Park Board. Thank you for serving the community and best wishes on your retirement.