Robbins mayor says Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office has offered help with water infrastructure
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The town of Robbins may have received a blessing in the form of a Friday night disaster that could unlock state funds to upgrade its water system.
“Robbins has been in contact with the governor’s office to make sure that the money gets released in an expedited way,” Mayor Darren Bryant said.
For almost a year, Bryant has been calling on state and federal lawmakers to help update the town’s water infrastructure, which he says is about five decades old and long overdue for repairs. The issue has reared its head in the past year because although the town was promised $4 million from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to replace lead pipes last October, most of the area’s water news has been less positive. In an interview with WTTW in November, Bryant said there were more than two dozen water main breaks in 2022.
Then, just before 11 p.m. on July 28, officials with the town’s Water Department were alerted to another main crack that threatened the water access for thousands.
Over the next several days, water was turned on and off and boil orders were put into effect. Cameras captured hundreds of gallons of water pouring from the top of the town’s 135-foot water tower as a part of a fail-safe measure to prevent the drum from bursting as the main crack increased water flow.
But Bryant said the recent events have led to some promising discussions.
“I had three phone calls from the governor’s office in the last three days,” he told village trustees Tuesday. “They’ve been calling me and calling me and calling me. We are on the governor’s desk. They told me they are going to be releasing the funding.”
There is no set timeline for when Robbins might receive the funds or if it will be for the full $40 million that Bryant said would be required to make all of the necessary updates. But Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office confirmed its intention to upgrade the south suburb’s infrastructure.
“Senior staff from the Governor’s Office had productive conversations with Mayor Bryant regarding next steps to securing funding for necessary improvements,” a spokesperson for the governor’s office said in an email. “The administration has also been in regular contact with south suburban officials across the region to encourage them to apply for the millions of dollars available through IEPA’s Revolving Loan program.”
Revolving loan funds are typically long-term and low-interest loans offered by a local or state government to make direct loans to “borrowers for clean energy projects,” according to the EPA’s website. While obtaining loans and grants is often a great way for small towns to unlock funding for projects, writing applications can be a time-intensive and expensive process.
“We don’t have the staffing that it takes to just focus on grants. You know who’s working on grants right now? Me, the mayor,” Bryant said.
Robbins leadership also plans to work with state lawmakers on legislation to set aside funding for water infrastructure upgrades this upcoming legislative session.
“Gov. Pritzker and IDOT pledged $94 million this year to make key updates to several south suburban water infrastructure systems as part of the Governor’s ongoing commitment to ensure every community in Illinois has access to safe, clean drinking water,” Pritzker’s office said.
In an interview last week, Bryant quipped that Pritzker could personally pay for upgrading the water infrastructure. In a follow-up conversation, Bryant said this week the governor’s office was upset with the statement and he shared concern it could affect future funding.
“We don’t need the people of Robbins to get blackballed or boxed out or hard bullied,” Bryant said. “I’m just going to shut my mouth and work collaboratively with who I need to work collaboratively with.”
At the Village Board meeting, Bryant took questions about the water lines from residents and said he will do a better job to ensure the community has access to bottled water during boil notices and shut-offs. He said he should have asked the governor to unlock assistance from the nearby National Guard base to distribute pallets of water bottles.
Both Bryant and Pritzker’s office agreed federal funds will be needed to fully upgrade the region’s infrastructure. But for now, Bryant is working to unlock the $4 million for upgrades they have been promised and is hopeful those funds will make their way to Robbins very soon.
“From my talks with the governor’s office, they are going to push that through,” Bryant said.
