On Feb. 25, the Homewood Village Board received recommendations for preventing future loss of power at critical facilities during emergencies. The topic has been in discussion since the low-scale tornado in July 2024 caused loss of power to the Village Hall for three days, Assistant Village Manager Terence Acquah said.
At the Nov. 11, 2024, board meeting, Interface Engineering was selected to perform an assessment of the Village Hall to find a cost-effective solution, Acquah said.
The first part of the study was to examine the existing condition of the facility, Tom Voltaggio, principal emeritus of Interface, said.
In addition to the Village Hall, four other facilities were assessed: the police and fire stations, the municipal service center (public works facility) and Brian Carey Training Center (the village’s emergency operations center), Voltaggio said.
The next step was to review the current ComEd facility bills. “ComEd provides bills on energy usage,” Voltaggio said, “but they also provide information on those bills that document your peak usage, which is very important in assessing what kinds of backup power needs you might have.”
Interface Engineering also met with the Village of Homewood’s team and operating personnel to evaluate areas of concern in the facilities. The company also discussed the differing methods of fuel source with the village team, he said.
According to Voltaggio, there are two options, diesel fuel and natural gas. There are advantages and disadvantages to both, he said.
“Diesel fuel machines are far less expensive. Natural gas machines are more expensive, but they eliminate the need for onsite fuel storage,” Voltaggio said. “The preference of your team onsite was natural gas with the potential for propane backup, a dual fuel arrangement.”
The availability of the dual fuel arrangement is still in the works since it depends on what kind of machines are out on the market right now, he said.
Currently, the Village Hall and the police and fire departments share one generator, but Interface is suggesting is install one generator solely for the Village Hall, Voltaggio said.
As for the police and fire station, a machine upgrade is recommended since the current generator is getting old, but the pumping station and Brian Carey Center seem to be in good shape, he said.
For the public works facility, one of the options is to add some additional components to continue tying it into the pump station, Voltaggio said.
According to the assessment provided by Interface Engineering, the project will be pretty costly. The firm has provided two types of upgrading options for most of the facilities, each option with differing prices.
The Village Hall upgrade estimate is $89,735 or $345,938. For the police/fire department, $422,388 or $849,974. For the public works facility, $324,648 or $431,798. For the Brian Carey Training Center, there is one option of $62,789.
“The numbers are daunting, and as we prolong any sort of installation, changing, and upgrading that price is going to change. So it may be something that we want to take a look at sooner than later,” trustee Allisa Opyd said.