Failure At Old Highland Park Fuel Station Costs Taxpayers $55,000

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — A systems failure at Highland Park's municipal fueling station led the City Council to allocate an extra $55,000 to its equipment maintenance and replacement fund this year.

The City Council on Monday unanimously approved the additional spending, as well as a contract to build a new station for more than $1.6 million.

The existing fuel station at the Public Services Building, 1150 Half Day Road, is about 30 years old, and some of its components are more than 40 years old, according to city staff.

"Due to age, virtually all components of the station have reached or exceeded their service lives, including the underground storage tanks, the dispensers and dispensing lines," Rob Bannon, the city's deputy public works director, said in memo to councilmembers. "The new fueling station is slated for construction in early 2022 with full operations to resume by end of 2022."

The station, which is used by all city departments, suffered a failure at some point earlier this year due to a potential leak in its delivery system, according to Bannon.

Diesel fueling was unaffected, but the unleaded pump was down for days, and a contractor had to conduct extensive tests and repairs, he said.

While the station was down, Bannon said city officials cut a deal with a local gas station that resulted in having to pay full price at the pump — about 23 percent more than the city's existing contract.

As a result, taxpayers wound up spending an extra $30,000 on gas and $25,000 for testing and repairs to the fuel station in 2021 than was originally budgeted.

The budget amendment was approved unanimously at Monday's City Council meeting as part of the consent agenda, along with a contract for fuel card services in case of a future service interruption.

The City Council also approved a contract with Streamwood-based Crown Industries worth up to $1,657,683.27 to cover the costs of building of a new fueling station to the west of the current location, at 1180 Half Day Road.

That project, originally budgeted as part of the city's 10-year capital improvement plan, was approved by councilmembers in June 2020 but postponed due to the coronavirus, according to Bannon.

The new fuel station's price tag wound up being higher than anticipated.

Bannon said the city's design engineering consultants "found that the market volatility, supply chain shortage, and the increased material prices are driving up costs."