Bolingbrook, Romeoville Mayors Push Forward with Plan to Acquire Water Pipeline System

A group of Village mayors—including Roger Claar of Bolingbrook and John Noak of Romeoville—is pushing forward with its case of eminent domain to acquire a pipeline from the American Lake Water Company in a bid to gain control of the water system for its communities, according to a Bugle Newspapers report.

The mayors have been meeting since 2008 and, under the heading of the Northern Will County Water Agency, want to take over the Bedford Park water pipeline, a line that currently is owned by American Lake Company, a subsidiary of Illinois American Water, according to the report.

Homer Glen, Lemont and Woodridge mayors have teamed with Claar and Noak on the project.

American Lake is fighting the takeover; discovery documents are due in court this fall and the next case management conference set by the judge is Jan 9, 2014, according to the Bugle report.

Bolingbrook will take on the lion's share of the Northern Will County Water Agency's 2013-2014 fiscal budget, which was approved at a recent meeting of the agency, according to the report.

The budget is set at $662,500, and 78 percent of that total will be picked up by the Village of Bolingbrook—about $521,000—because it has the largest number of American Water customers, according to the Bugle report.