Township Building Reopens After Water Issue

Plainfield Township employees were back to their old digs on Monday after temporarily moving out due to issues with the facility’s well water.

Supervisor John Argoudelis said testing done by the Will County Health Department revealed small amounts of bacteria in the water.

“Sometime in the middle of last week, we had our annual water test,” he said. “Not everyone tests their water annually, but we do.”

For the first time ever since the building opened in 2005, Argoudelis said tests revealed bacteria. He said the bacteria was not found to be dangerous.

According to Argoudelis, the problem may have stemmed from the summer drought, which resulted in low water levels.

Township Assessor Erin Kljaich said the water had to be chlorinated before staff could move back in.

“We were temporarily relocated to Village Hall last week,” she said, noting employees moved back to the township facility on Monday.

Township officials still plan to move forward with plans to build a 3,000-square-foot addition to the township building, but only if the price is right, Argoudelis said.

Described a multi-use addition, the planned facility is intended to replace the senior center housed at the park district’s River Edge Recreation Center.

That facility has been closed for several years after flooding numerous times. The township building addition would include an office for joint Plainfield Township/Plainfield Park District senior coordinator Kathy Whalen, a meeting space for community groups and a kitchen.

The project is being re-bid, since some of the bids received in September came back incomplete, Argoudelis said.

“We need to see what the real numbers are before we make a decision,” he said.

If the bids come back higher than expected, he said officials may opt to tweak the project or explore the possibility of purchasing a foreclosed building to house the multi-use addition in an effort to lower costs.

“We are going to make a decision based on the numbers,” Argoudelis said.

The project would be funded by a combination of money set aside by the township, plus a $100,000 state grant and $150,000 contributed by the park district.

“If we don’t end up spending our part of money on a senior center, we’ll apply it to our mortgage on the existing building,” Argoudelis said.