The Waterloo City Council approved the city’s upcoming fiscal year budget, said goodbye to a longtime alderman and awarded contracts for upcoming projects on Monday night. 

Waterloo’s 2023-24 fiscal year begins May 1, and the budget approved Monday night projects revenue across all funds at $66,987,355 and expenditures at $65,519,402 for a positive difference of $1,467,953.

Per the annual budget report summary as provided on the city’s website, there is a 32 percent budgeted increase in expenditures from the current fiscal year budget. 

The major differences between the 2022-23 budget and the 2023-24 budget include a significant increase in capital outlay. 

“Several projects completed in prior fiscal years have not been paid as the city is waiting to be billed by the state,” the summary states. “These payments are reflected in the 2023-2024 budget.” 

Major capital expenditures in the current fiscal year include sidewalk and road improvements, water infrastructure – which includes a water treatment plant and water tower – and sewer main lining. 

Other significant capital outlay includes vehicle and equipment purchases in the police, street and utility departments.

Salaries, insurance and pension benefits account for an 8 percent increase from the current fiscal year budget.

After approving the budget, the council awarded large contracts to three companies as part of the city’s massive water treatment plant project.

Aldermen approved the low bid of $15,988,500 from Korte & Luitjohan Contractors for the water treatment facilities project, the low bid of $11,310,660.26 from Haier Plumbing & Heating  for the water transmission facilities project, and the low bid of $3,859,000 from Caldwell Tanks for the 500,000-gallon elevated water tank project.

Loan funding for construction of Waterloo’s water treatment plant west of town has been reserved through an Illinois Environmental Protection Agency loan. Last year, the Waterloo City Council approved an ordinance authorizing the city to borrow funds from the Public Water Supply Loan Program through the IEPA for this project.

“All of the funds for (these) bids will come out of the IEPA loan,” Waterloo Public Works Director Tim Birk said. “The IEPA has also reserved $1,250,000 in loan forgiveness at the end of the project. The interest rate on the loan is 0.93 percent over 30 years.”

Birk added that city work to begin late this summer early fall.

In 2021, the city purchased nearly 28 acres of land in the area of 7800 Bluff Road from the Village of Valmeyer for $215,000. This land will serve as the well site for Waterloo’s new water treatment plant. 

In 2019, Waterloo purchased 9.17 acres of land off East Hunters Ridge just east of Valmeyer for the future site of the treatment facility. The cost of that purchase was $229,250 and included 8,830 feet of easement both west and east of the future plant site for the installment of water line.

The water source for Waterloo’s new plant will be the Mississippi Aquaphor just north of Valmeyer.

Once completed, Waterloo’s new plant will be able to accommodate 3.5 million gallons of water per day. 

Presently, Waterloo uses about one million gallons per day.

Waterloo announced plans in February 2019 to build its own facility and leave Illinois American Water, its current provider, at the end of an existing contract that expires in October 2024.

As part of this project, the city is building a new water tower on the Waterloo VFW property. 

The existing tower next to Waterloo City Hall has a capacity of 250,000 gallons. The estimated cost of this new water tower is $2.5 million.

The council also approved the low bid from Huebner Concrete of $238,726.60 for this year’s street, curb and sidewalk improvement program, and approved the low bid from Kilian Corporation of $418,559.65 for the city’s downtown resurfacing project taking place just after Porta Westfalica Festival in June.

Also, the council gave the go-ahead on a nearly $16,000 one-year purchase of a new Babel X software program for the Waterloo Police Department.

Waterloo Police Chief Jeff Prosise referred to this technology as an online search tool that will allow his officers to receive notifications if a local resident is making threats or other harmful statements via public platforms such as Facebook or other social media networks. 

Key words can be entered that this software can use to flag such posts and alert police in advance of potentially dangerous situations, Prosise said.

Also for the police department, the council approved Tasers, body cameras and in-car video equipment for two officers from Axon Enterprise for a combined amount of just under $25,000.

 Farewell to Heller

At the beginning of Monday’s meeting, outgoing Mayor Tom Smith presented a plaque to outgoing longtime Ward IV Alderman Clyde Heller, whose last meeting will be May 1.

Heller served 21 years on the council and was recently mayor pro tem when Smith was out of commission due to a stroke.

“You were there for me when my wife was dying,” Smith said. “You were there when I had my stroke. You’ve always been there. We may not have always agreed with everything, but I never had to worry about you stabbing me in the back. Thank you for your loyalty and what you’ve done for the City of Waterloo.”

Heller offered parting words as he departs the council. 

“There have been a few times that I haven’t agreed and some people have known about it pretty heartily, and then other times I kept my mouth shut,” Heller said. “There are eight of us here, and there’s not one of us that gets our way all of the time. You have to make compromises, and you have to hear each other out. I’ve enjoyed working with everyone on the council and three different mayors.”