The Village of Dixmoor will start receiving $14 million in funding from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to overhaul its aging water infrastructure and fix recurring water access and quality issues.

The funds will be used to immediately begin replacing lead pipes and water meters. Improvements will also include the installation of a 750,000-gallon elevated storage tank, and replacing approximately 10,500 feet of six- and eight-inch water main pipes with more capable 12-inch water mains.

Starting with the lead pipes will protect residents’ health, Village President Fitzgerald Roberts said.

“We don’t need lead to be run into our system that can possibly cause some type of illness to the residents here,” Roberts said. “We have our water tested out here at least three or four times a week.”

That project could take anywhere from 6 to 18 months, Roberts said.

• RELATED STORY
• Environment & Public Health

Residents of south suburban Dixmoor want a long-term fix to the village’s water problems

read more

“Then, by God’s will, we’ll be doing the second phase where we go to the water tower, and the rest of the arteries to the water system,” he said.

Ten million dollars of the funding is a grant from the Rebuild Illinois Capital Plan. The other $4 million is a loan through the Illinois EPA’s State Revolving Fund. The loan will be given as principal forgiveness, and the village will not need to pay it back.

The water distribution system in Dixmoor, a mostly Black suburb south of Chicago, is about 125 years old, Roberts said. In recent years, water main breaks and other problems have led to low pressure, boil orders, and yellowish, undrinkable water.

Although the $14 million makes Village Administrator Quandra Craig hopeful, she said it’s not enough.

“Robertson Engineering is predicting $50 million to be able to do the entire Village of Dixmoor. So [$14 million] is a start, but we definitely need more funding,” Craig said.

Robertson has been contracted to complete the work. This is separate from a $2 million U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project to increase water pressure in the village.

“More pipes, more lines, more hydrants, valves,” Craig listed off the ways the village could use an additional $36 million. “We’re about three square miles. So three square miles to put in new pipelines everywhere.”

But raising or borrowing millions more is problematic for Dixmoor, which has a dwindling tax base and a population with 20% living below the federal poverty line, according to the U.S. Census.

The village also has a track record of poor financial record-keeping by previous administrations. Dixmoor did not file paperwork with the state comptroller in recent years that would detail its finances, including how much the village has spent addressing its water issues.

But Roberts vows that whatever funds Dixmoor is able to secure going forward, the village will use thinking of citizens’ welfare first.

“Whatever funding that God bless us to receive for a project, we’re going to make sure to go directly to that project,” Roberts said. “It will not be mismanaged at all under this administration.”

Adora Namigadde is a metro reporter for WBEZ. Follow her @adorakn.