McLean County Times

The Town of Normal has approved a $512,433 bid for the proposed Jersey Avenue water main replacement project.

The water main repacement project will replace the 24,000 feet of water main that runs along Jersey and Robinwood Drive and Ethell Parkway, according to the Pantagraph. 

“Those funds will remain in the water capital account and fortunately they will be available to fund another project perhaps. Maybe the next project will come in over budget and we might need those funds for that," Normal City Manager Pam Reece said. "In regards with how those funds are spent in the future, it will be in accordance with the town’s procurement policy. We will determine what project needs to be done or how we might have some needs available and potentially, those funds could be used to accommodate some future project or some future need.”

Increasing the rates of water had been discussed to help with the $100,000 approximate shortage in Normal's water revenue, Council member Stan Nord told the Pantagraph. 

“This is a savings of $453,000 we just found,” he said. “I know that our water rate increase has been put on hold, but in light of this, and this is over four times the amount of money we were trying to get by raising the water rates. I would like to see the water rate increase canceled for this year.”

But Reece told the Pantagraph that before rates increase, it will be brought before the Council. 

“Maybe it will be a good bidding environment to get some good pricing, so we will try to balance all of that,” Reece said. “We are aware of the impact of the water rate increase and how that could be delayed, possibly.”

The project will address issues that some water services are experiencing, such as some running from the main to residences crossing property lines. This means if one household has a problem, they may need to be in a neighbor's property to fix it, the Pantagraph reports. 

The water main project, which has been awarded to George Gildner, also won't interfere with the new bridge construction, according to the Pantagraph.