The Homewood Village Board held a public hearing for the lead service line replacement funding process on March 17.
Village staff gave a presentation on the village’s loan application to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA), which seeks funding for lead service line replacements.
The IEPA mandates municipalities to replace all lead service lines within 10 years.
The village plans to replace all 4,363 lead lines by 2036. The project is anticipated to start this spring with 267 service lines scheduled for construction. The village plans to replace approximately 410 lines annually through 2035, with the remaining lines scheduled for completion in 2036, Homewood Public Works Director Joshua Burman said.
Following the hearing, a loan application will be created and sent to the IEPA. The goal is to get all the documents together to prepare and process funding for the 2027 construction year, Homewood Village Manager Napoleon Haney said.
According to Amy Zukowski, Homewood director of finance, the village has submitted three loan applications for fiscal year 2027. The hope is that by completing three separate applications the village can maximize its chances at receiving principal loan forgiveness.
“The IEPA ties our loan repayments, which should be 30 years, to our water contract with the city of Chicago Heights,” Haney said, adding, “we have 20 years left, which creates a problem if we’re borrowing money from the IEPA.”
The village has reached out to Chicago Heights to try and work with them to increase the contract, Haney said.
Representatives from Burns & McDonnell, the engineering firm that the village hired to assist with the project, attended the meeting to clarify details of the project.
In 2026, vulnerable populations such as schools and medical facilities will have the lead lines replaced first followed by residential areas, Paul St. Aubyn, Burns & McDonnell project manager, said.
Locations north of 183rd street will be the focus for 2027 in order to maximize loan forgiveness. It maximizes forgiveness due to census tracks and median household income, St. Aubyn said.
“We hope to find out later this year what kind of principal forgiveness the village might get,” St. Aubyn said.
Between 2028 and 2031, the village will request about $40 million from the IEPA, he said.
“Loan forgiveness is more difficult than actually getting the loan,” St. Aubyn said.
For 2026, the village has achieved $2,465,000 in principal forgiveness.
“So because you think there’s going to be more applicants as time goes on, it’s going to be more difficult for us?” Trustee Julie Willis said.
“We would envision it will be more competitive,” St. Aubyn said.
It is also likely that there will be an escalation in the price, Haney said.
Trustee Phillip Mason and Trustee Jay Heiferman inquired if there is a way to do loan applications for multiple years at a time.
“We’ve given the IEPA a multi-year plan and we’re showing them that the village has all intentions of escalating and increasing that service line replacement,” St. Aubyn said.
“But the funding is only approved and released annually,” Zukowski said.
While the village would like to complete more service lines at once, it’s all about affordability, Haney said.
Village staff would also like to focus on communication with residents so that they understand what to expect. Village staff are working with the communication team to distribute flyers to all the affected areas of the project for 2026 within the next month, Homewood Assistant Village Manager Terence Acquah said.
Village staff would also like to hold another Hot Topics meeting to provide more information to residents, Acquah said.
