Boil order lifted
By Joe Pritchett
Clarion Editor
A 9-foot break in a water main near the I-55 frontage road this past Saturday morning
spawned a boil order that lasted to late Tuesday morning for Village of Chatham water
customers.
Some customers were without water for much of Saturday, especially those who lived near
the break, which occurred across the street from Armbruster Manufacturing along the I-55
frontage road.
Most of the customers inside village limits were without water for three or four hours, Village
Utilities Director Del McCord stated. And with the break being so large, the pumps had to be
turned off for a period of time. And with the water pressure falling below 20 psi, that called for a
mandatory boil order.
Village workers worked all day long Saturday to fix the break, and local residents had regular
running water during the boil order period that lasted until late Tuesday morning, they just could
not drink it. Using the water for necessities such as showers, flushing toilets, etc. was not an
issue.
Still, the boil order sent local restaurants scrambling, and the Ball-Chatham School District
received a generous neighborly gesture from both Meijer of Springfield and County Market of
Chatham, with each grocery store donating bottled water for the district to distribute to all of its
school buildings.
School officials were busy loading up nearly 4,000 bottles of water from Meijer Sunday
evening for use on Monday, and County Market stepped up to provide water for Tuesday.
The boil order forced some local businesses to either close or adjust, with fountain soda or
similar-type drinks obviously not being available. Food preparation was also affected.
The village had 20 different samples of water tested, and the results came back as safe to
drink late Tuesday morning.
The pipe that broke was originally installed sometime in the 1970s, Mayor Tom Gray stated.
There was no way to prevent or predict this event from happening, village officials added.
The break may speed up one part of the process for the new Village of Chatham Water
Plant. As part of the future plans, the pipe that broke was going to be replaced.
Now, village officials will explore some type of pre-bonding arrangement to get the ball
rolling on replacing the line that runs from the storage tank near the Knights of Columbus Hall
to near the AppleBarn.
Village workers will install the new pipe, with some materials needing to be purchased,
McCord explained. The work is expected to be done over the upcoming winter and spring
months.
Costs for the break are still being calculated, though they will be mostly payroll-related,
McCord added.
Adding insult to injury on Saturday was an electrical outage in some parts of town, village
officials added.
•And in a related matter, village officials discussed an emergency notification system at
Tuesday's board meeting.
The village's only outlet currently is to use its website, along with local television, print, radio
and online media, to inform residents of events such as a water main break. The Ball-
Chatham School Board just approved a similar-type measure Monday night, and McCord gave
a high-end estimate of $8,000 per year for such a system to be put into place.
The system could include immediate phone calls, e-mails or text messages to affected
residents, and there is even a way for the system to work for weather-type emergencies.
Options will be explored.
•Also Tuesday, the village board approved a bid of $1.393 million from Henkels & McCoy, a
utility construction company, for the construction of the new village substation at Route
4/Independence on the north side of town.
Construction is expected to last into late November, and the facility should come online soon
after that. The firm was the low bidder, village officials confirmed, and while based out of
Pennsylvania, Henkels & McCoy has an office in Springfield.
When completed, the new substation will work in conjunction with the existing substation on
State Street, The new substation will help accommodate current and future growth in the
village, and it will also provide a backup system during power outages.
•The sketch map and location for the Avenel Subdivision was approved. The development
will include 21 single-family residences, located near the Gordon/Walnut intersection. The
entrance to the subdivision will be located on Gordon Drive, and there will be a 600-foot cul-de-
sac included, allowing for emergency vehicle turnarounds, etc. Greg Sgro is the developer of
Avenel. The vote by the board was 6-1, with Joe Schatteman voting no.
•Neighbors of McDonald's should be happy to hear that the village has agreed to erect an 8-
foot fence along the property line there to aid in screening for lights and noise. The
approximate $12,000 cost will be paid for out of TIF funds.
•Village committee meetings will be held next Tuesday, Sept. 2, starting with Administration
at 6 p.m., followed by Public Works.
By Joe Pritchett
Clarion Editor
A 9-foot break in a water main near the I-55 frontage road this past Saturday morning
spawned a boil order that lasted to late Tuesday morning for Village of Chatham water
customers.
Some customers were without water for much of Saturday, especially those who lived near
the break, which occurred across the street from Armbruster Manufacturing along the I-55
frontage road.
Most of the customers inside village limits were without water for three or four hours, Village
Utilities Director Del McCord stated. And with the break being so large, the pumps had to be
turned off for a period of time. And with the water pressure falling below 20 psi, that called for a
mandatory boil order.
Village workers worked all day long Saturday to fix the break, and local residents had regular
running water during the boil order period that lasted until late Tuesday morning, they just could
not drink it. Using the water for necessities such as showers, flushing toilets, etc. was not an
issue.
Still, the boil order sent local restaurants scrambling, and the Ball-Chatham School District
received a generous neighborly gesture from both Meijer of Springfield and County Market of
Chatham, with each grocery store donating bottled water for the district to distribute to all of its
school buildings.
School officials were busy loading up nearly 4,000 bottles of water from Meijer Sunday
evening for use on Monday, and County Market stepped up to provide water for Tuesday.
The boil order forced some local businesses to either close or adjust, with fountain soda or
similar-type drinks obviously not being available. Food preparation was also affected.
The village had 20 different samples of water tested, and the results came back as safe to
drink late Tuesday morning.
The pipe that broke was originally installed sometime in the 1970s, Mayor Tom Gray stated.
There was no way to prevent or predict this event from happening, village officials added.
The break may speed up one part of the process for the new Village of Chatham Water
Plant. As part of the future plans, the pipe that broke was going to be replaced.
Now, village officials will explore some type of pre-bonding arrangement to get the ball
rolling on replacing the line that runs from the storage tank near the Knights of Columbus Hall
to near the AppleBarn.
Village workers will install the new pipe, with some materials needing to be purchased,
McCord explained. The work is expected to be done over the upcoming winter and spring
months.
Costs for the break are still being calculated, though they will be mostly payroll-related,
McCord added.
Adding insult to injury on Saturday was an electrical outage in some parts of town, village
officials added.
•And in a related matter, village officials discussed an emergency notification system at
Tuesday's board meeting.
The village's only outlet currently is to use its website, along with local television, print, radio
and online media, to inform residents of events such as a water main break. The Ball-
Chatham School Board just approved a similar-type measure Monday night, and McCord gave
a high-end estimate of $8,000 per year for such a system to be put into place.
The system could include immediate phone calls, e-mails or text messages to affected
residents, and there is even a way for the system to work for weather-type emergencies.
Options will be explored.
•Also Tuesday, the village board approved a bid of $1.393 million from Henkels & McCoy, a
utility construction company, for the construction of the new village substation at Route
4/Independence on the north side of town.
Construction is expected to last into late November, and the facility should come online soon
after that. The firm was the low bidder, village officials confirmed, and while based out of
Pennsylvania, Henkels & McCoy has an office in Springfield.
When completed, the new substation will work in conjunction with the existing substation on
State Street, The new substation will help accommodate current and future growth in the
village, and it will also provide a backup system during power outages.
•The sketch map and location for the Avenel Subdivision was approved. The development
will include 21 single-family residences, located near the Gordon/Walnut intersection. The
entrance to the subdivision will be located on Gordon Drive, and there will be a 600-foot cul-de-
sac included, allowing for emergency vehicle turnarounds, etc. Greg Sgro is the developer of
Avenel. The vote by the board was 6-1, with Joe Schatteman voting no.
•Neighbors of McDonald's should be happy to hear that the village has agreed to erect an 8-
foot fence along the property line there to aid in screening for lights and noise. The
approximate $12,000 cost will be paid for out of TIF funds.
•Village committee meetings will be held next Tuesday, Sept. 2, starting with Administration
at 6 p.m., followed by Public Works.
Chatham Clarion
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Issue Date: Aug. 28, 2008