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Village of Pecatonica seeks back-up
By Christopher Johnson
There is a risk facing Pecatonica residents, many of whom may not know that the life blood of the village is operating at critical state at this time.
Municipal Well One is not functioning. Municipal Well Two took over the sole duty of getting water from the underground aquifer into a usable and accessible state for Pecatonica citizens.
Municipal Well Three is still months away from functional operation, according to Village President Bill Smull.
“We have the hole dug and we have the pump and we have the whole project out for bid. We want to be getting the work started soon.”
At this point, all of the water being provided to residents and business owners is being pumped from one functional well.”
Public Works Director Nick Berry said certain steps had to be taken to assure the functioning well will still be able to provide water service to citizens. It is of primary importance, he stressed.
“At the beginning of the month of July, we started having some issues with Well One. We are going to have to tear the motor apart. We are running on Well Two.”
The Village President responded to his fellow Board Members that action had to be taken and the money had to be spent in emergency capacity, if needed, to get the back-up, back up.
“Well One has been the Village’s safeguard. The thing that is out is the knuckle drive. It has to be repaired and we have to have a back-up generator for what we are currently relying on.”
Because Well Two is the only source of municipal water access at this time, a back-up plan had to be designed to assure if what is being used right now, fails in any way. Energy generation needs a back-up plan, as understood.
The Public Works Director said something had to be done to guarantee some emergency replacement action could occur immediately, if it was required.
“If we lose power, we are going to be in trouble. At this point Well Two is wired in and we need a back up generator that we can plug in at any minute.”
Trustees agreed with Berry’s assessment and approved the emergency purchase of the back-up generator during the July meeting of the Pecatonica Village Board.
There will be a lot more money spent on public works projects, including water service in Pecatonica soon. “And we are still looking into additional Grants.” Smull expressed.
Funds received, valued in the millions of dollars range, have already been confirmed and are ready for deployment, as part of the village’s infrastructure improvement plan, involving streets and sewer lines.
A low-interest IEPA Partial Forgiveness Loan was previously secured for work on water mains as the village attempts to work even closer to full compliance and replaces all undersized or damaged mains that are located under the miles of roads within the village.
