Accomplishments 2007
Maintenance of our two 850,000 gallon reservoirs was competed and both tanks were completely vacuumed. Complete inspections show both tanks to be in excellent condition and should require only inspections every two years.
All four wells have been tested and found to be in excellent condition. The plan it to disassemble each well at four year intervals for maintenance.
Negotiated an agreement with MidAmerican Energy to purchase electricity for the City of Oregon. New State Legislation has deregulated certain aspects of the electricity supply and a middleman supplier should save the City about 5.5% in electricity costs.
150 radio-read water meters have been installed and operators have been trained in their use. Replacement priorities have been difficult to read meters and all future new construction, but the City will continue with replacements until all meters are new and have a radio-read capability.
Fencing has been modified and repaired at the wastewater plant to make the entrance more accessible for larger trucks.
The Department has purchased a trailer mounted portable generator for use as backup power for the City wells. Necessary electrical equipment has been installed at well Three off Fifth Street and well Four off Pines Road. In the event of a major power outage, the City water and wastewater can provide service using auxiliary power almost indefinitely.
Smoke testing of the business district has been completed and violations identified. The City will be perusing the necessary improvements to be in compliance. All connections to the City sewer system will eventually be tested and the project will continue until all storm water infiltration is eliminated. This project will continue for several years.
The City has continued with the engineering for the wastewater plant upgrade and all engineering plans are complete. All City requirements for the IEPA revolving loan have been submitted and we now wait for EPA approval to start construction of the wastewater plant upgrade. Many obstacles have been overcome to get to this point but when the upgrade is complete, our original sludge disposal problem should be eliminated. The Cannibal Process that is being installed will eliminate 80% of all our solid waste.
The City required major adjustments in fee’s this year and it became necessary to meet inflationary costs of operation. The increase in connection fee’s has increased to compensate for new construction expense and water and wastewater rates have been increased to the median fee for surrounding Cities of the same size in Northern Illinois. In 2009, when expenses and income have been evaluated, the department intends to adjust fee’s each year to the cost of living increases.
