SHERRARD, Ill. — The Village of Sherrard could receive up to $7 million in federal funding for water infrastructure improvements.
With just under 700 residents, Mayor Paula Rath said the village can’t afford to perform upgrades itself.
“It’s a small village, ‘course we don’t have a huge income,” Rath said. She told News 8 that many of the residents are retirees on a fixed income, limiting how much tax revenue the village can bring in.
But Sherrard could get that funding with the federal Water Resources Development Act of 2024. If approved, the US Army Corps of Engineers would take on upgrades to the village’s water systems.
Water and Sewer Operator Dan Helm said upgrades to the water tower are one of the biggest needs. Helm manages water and sewer for several towns in the area.
Helm said the water tower’s exterior primer is lead, making repainting expensive.
“For an aged water tower like that, we were looking at the potential of maybe getting a new tower erected,” Helm said.
Rath also said the tower needs replacement.
“It’s just something I’d say we’ve been band-aiding for over 20 years, we definitely need a new one, no question about it,” Rath said. “And it’s actually a little small in capacity for what the village is now.”
But the water tower isn’t the only thing that could use some help. Helm and Rath said the village’s wastewater lagoons still need work.
The lagoons capture sewage from the village and the west side of neighboring Fyre Lake. It’s sent through two sand filters — large, flat planes with pumps — removing contamination before the clean water is sent to a nearby river.
“We've put in new sand in the sand filters a couple years ago, that was around 100 to $120,000 to do that,” Helm said. “So we’re looking down, having to do the other half now eventually, so kind of kicking that can down the road until we can afford it.”
While the sand in one filter was replaced, the sand in the other hasn’t been replaced since the 1990s, making it less effective.
The proposed bill includes seven other projects in Illinois, but none specifically in the Iowa Quad Cities area hometowns. It still has to pass a House and Senate vote and wait for funding in fiscal year 2026.