'Unfortunate' Action Needed In Western Springs

WESTERN SPRINGS, IL – A surge in water main breaks this year prompted Western Springs officials to seek a list of contractors who could help during emergencies.

"That's unfortunate that we need to do this, but it makes sense," Village President Heidi Rudolph said at this week's Village Board meeting. "We've had a couple of times over the last year when we had to reach out to these other providers for help."

Matthew Supert, the village's municipal services director, said it was more efficient to have contracts in place.

"This is something we've had on our radar for a little while," Supert said.

The contractors are needed when the village has more than one emergency at a time or a problem requires digging deeper than the village's equipment can handle, officials said.

Under the new system, the village would rotate among Elgin-based IHC Construction Companies, Anchor Heavy Civil and Calumet City Plumbing. The Village Board is expected to vote on the measure later this month.