Fox Lake Officials Weighing Lead Later Payment Options

5/19/17 – City officials in Fox Lake are discussing ways to help residents pay to have their lead laterals replaced. The underground water laterals run from the street right-of-way into a residence and may be made out of lead in older homes.  If a residence has lead laterals, it will cost an estimated $3000 to have the hazardous piping replaced with copper or plastic. Mayor Tom Bednarek says the city is looking at grants but the application alone costs $9000 dollars. Instead, officials are taking a different approach. The council will vote on a plan next month that would have affected residents pay one-third of the cost up front, have one-third of the cost added to their next property tax bill and the remainder on the tax bill the following year. Bednarek says so far only one lead lateral has been discovered in Fox Lake.