HILLCREST — At its monthly meeting Wednesday, the Hillcrest Village Board of Trustees discussed the idea of dedicated patrols in Hillcrest by the Ogle County Sheriff's Office with Sheriff Brian VanVickle.

The board plans to take action on a proposal at its April meeting. The sheriff's office has provided a quote to the village of $80 an hour. That would be the only cost to the village, besides paying deputies for their time in court on Hillcrest patrol-specific cases.

VanVickle said deputies would be working around 10 hours per week on dedicated patrols to start and they would be in two-hour blocks at varying times. Deputies will work the hours on an overtime basis before or after their regular county patrols.

"I think it's a pretty good deal," Village President Rick Rhoads said. "$80 an hour, and they supply all the insurance, vehicles and everything else."

The sheriff said that statewide, county law enforcement organizations are starting to work more with small villages like Hillcrest on dedicated patrols and his office is currently also working with Davis Junction on a potential similar agreement.

Water main project

Kaitlin Wright of the village's engineering firm, Baxter & Woodman, presented an update on Hillcrest's priority 1A water main project that will take place this year. The village is currently working to finalize a loan agreement with the IEPA.

Last month, trustees voted unanimously to award the project to Elliott & Wood, Inc. for $1.037 million. Elliott & Wood, Inc. has agreed to hold that price as the loan is finalized.

The project plans to replace mains along the full length of Scott Avenue, parts of Errett Road and Erickson Road from Scott Avenue to Jeffrey Avenue, and parts of Jeffrey Avenue from Errett Road to Erickson Road. Those streets are in the southern and oldest part of the village.

The IEPA loan will involve 50 percent loan forgiveness. The debt service on the project would be $35,000 paid annually over 20 years. The project could break ground in mid-April.

The project has been on the village's radar for a number of years. A greater water main replacement project was considered in the past, but was trimmed down to the areas of greatest need.

Insurance

The village unanimously approved the renewal of its yearly insurance policy with Query Insurance/Crum-Halsted Agency for $25,501.  Adam Heal of the insurance agency said an increase was seen in-part due to the village upping its total coverage of property from $1.8 million to over $3 million. One piece of village property that saw an increase in its insurance replacement value was Hillcrest's water tower.

Lead

The village will be rolling out a survey to residents regarding potential lead service lines running into homes in the next month. The state has required a water service line inventory, and a lead service line replacement plan if lead is found in Hillcrest. The village has until Sept. 1 to present the report to the state.

The survey will be sent to residents in both paper and electronic formats. Residents will be able to check their own water lines and provide information to the village. If residents do not respond to the survey, the village would send staff to check the water lines to see what material they're made up of.