FAQs

Answer: The City of Cahokia Heights is committed to total transparency and is working with multiple individuals to spend grant funds responsibly and efficiently. We are committed to sharing the entire grant process with the citizens of Cahokia Heights via the website and other media outlets.

In addition, the conditions tied to grants of funds and other compliance documents between the City, IEPA, and USEPA, require changes and updates to the capital improvements, operation, and maintenance of the City’s water and sewer systems.  Things like staffing, inspections, recordkeeping, etc. are all being updated and improved.

Answer: Most sewer improvements will be made in the next 3 years, with additional work being done on operations and maintenance (O&M) over the next 5-10 years.  These improvements have already begun.  The water system improvements are part of a major capital improvement plan to spend over $10 million in the next 10 years on system upgrades.  This work has also already begun, with repairs to the elevated water storage tank at Church Road in progress.

Answer: Each townhall meeting will discuss current events within the grant. We will discuss the progress of construction, how funds have been allocated and future projects. See the Cahokia Heights webpage for meeting dates and the most recent updates.

Answer: Like a major highway into which many other small roads connect, or the main trunk of a tree that connects all the smaller branches, the main sewer trunkline collects all smaller sewer lines serving neighborhoods and businesses in the city and transports the sewage through the city to the south end.  From there it is pumped north to the American Bottoms regional wastewater treatment plant in Sauget.

Answer: This is the alignment that the trunkline follows as it flows through the city from north to south.

Answer: The City has made the request for those funds for fiscal year 24 and the funds are pending. Work has already begun in the area north of Lake Drive. Work to repair two pump stations off of north 82^nd St. in Ping Pong started near the end of July and is continuing.

Answer: The grant of $10 million from the IEPA for sewer repairs was awarded to the City in July 2022.  The various supporting documents and plans to implement the grant and spend the funds was approved in spring 2023, and the first design agreement to begin work on plans and specifications for bidding was approved in May 2023.  Work has been proceeding since then.

Answer: We have requested federal funds from the congressional appropriations process through Senators Duckworth and Durbin, going back to 2021.  Some of those funds are being used via the USACOE for the trunkline repairs.  Additional funds have been requested for future appropriations for other sewer work, including the interceptor sewers at the north end to separate Cahokia Heights sewers from the East St. Louis system, and to further modernize pump station systems to include remote monitoring.

Answer: Any sewer project, including the trunkline repairs, starts at the downstream (lowest) point.  That way, as repairs are made going upstream, more capacity is created to carry flow away from the work being done.

Answer: The first project is the repair of two pump stations in Ping Pong, 82^nd and Bluff and 82^nd and Belleview.  These repairs are already in progress.

Answer: The controls and quality assurance measures to ensure funds are properly spent and work is done properly include:

• Industry standard, good engineering practices that produce plans and specifications that govern the work,
• Competitive bidding to award the work to the contractor(s) most responsive to budget and specifications, including third party bonding of the bid and work,
• Regular inspection and observation of the work in progress by the engineer,
• Review and approval of all contractors pay request and change orders by the engineer and City, including lien waivers for payment of work to general contractor and subcontractors,
• Final inspections, completion of punch list items, submission of warranties,
• Review and approval of all of the above by the funding agencies (IEPA, USACOE, etc.), and
• Adherence to the approved plans and procedures required by grant terms, such as outreach programs, construction strategies, and operations and maintenance plans.

Answer: Part of the requirements of trunkline repairs includes the “care of flow”, meaning, the contractor must conduct bypass pumping to carry all sewer flows around the work being done to prevent backups upstream.

Answer: This is the standard cost share for many grants but not all grants. Cost-sharing is on a grant-by-grant basis.

Answer: We can post sewer plans online, if the website has the capacity to contain them, or provide a link to a file sharing site.  The information is quite voluminous.  Eventually, this information will be surveyed and digitally compiled and available via a GIS system. IF we post this question in the FAQ let’s make sure to post a diagram to website

Answer: A portion of the funds (what type of fund? I would suggest listing funds applied for.) for the interceptor system have been committed via Senator Duckworth’s Office but have not yet dispersed.  Additional funds have been requested for upcoming appropriations by Senators Duckworth and Durbin.  The interceptor system, as currently concepted, runs east-west from Ping Pong to Piat Place, with Interstate highway I-255 acting as a bisector, splitting the system into two parts.

Answer: Most of the old pump stations and sewers are over 50 years old, some even older. Pump stations north of Lake Drive are old, outdated technology that will be completely replaced by modern, state of practice designs. Some of the older sewer lines were built using clay or concrete pipe materials that have deteriorated over time. These will be replaced by new PVC pipe that is more flexible to deflection by groundwater rise and fall, and resistant to corrosion.

Answer: Every new station will have a duplex system. A duplex system is an arrangement with two submersible pumps installed and programmed to operate alternately, i.e., when one turns off the other turns on. Thereby prolonging the life of the pumps and their reliability via the redundancy. The only time both pumps would run at the same time would be in times of very high-water levels in the wetwell. The on-off settings for the pumps are controlled automatically by float switches and the electrical control panel.

Answer: Yes, training will be provided on general operations of collection systems to all employees, and will be provided by pump and controls manufacturers on the operation and maintenance of new pump stations

Answer: No, that location lies within the City of East St. Louis and its sewer system.

Answer: There is presently no known funding source or legal mechanism that would allow for work to be done by the City on homeowner’s property to repair private sewer laterals.  We would be happy to work with homeowners to help resolve this in the future, as much as practicable.