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Establishing Water & Sewer Service Back to the Top You may establish water, sewer and garbage pickup by completing the Application for Service Form and delivering or mailing along with your $150 Application Fee to the Village of Pecatonica at the following address: Village of Pecatonica 405 Main Street PO Box 730 Pecatonica, IL 61063-0730 Terminating Water & Sewer Service Back to the Top Water, sewer and garbage pickup service may be terminated by completing the Termination of Service Form and delivering or mailing it to the Village Hall at the above address. You may also fax or email it to (815) 239-1060 or information@villageofpecatonica.com. Water and Sewer Rates Back to the Top The following rates are billed on a monthly basis. Water: $2.59 automatic base fee, plus .49 per 100 gallons used Sewer: $16.08 automatic base fee, plus .86 per 100 gallons of water used Customers outside the Village Limits pay a different rate. Billing and Payments Back to the Top Water and Sewer customers are billed by mail each month. Bills are mailed the first week of the month with payments due by the 25th. The charges will appear on your bill across from the abbreviations W1, W2, W3 for water and S1, S2, S3, S4 for sewer. You will also find the current reading of your meter on your bill (if that number doesn’t match what is on your meter at time of reading then please call the Village Hall). Payments not received by 5:00 p.m. on the 25th are subject to penalties. If your bill shows a “past due” amount then that amount must be paid by the 16th of that same month or a “shut-off” notice will be sent giving you only 10 days to pay it or your water will be shut-off. There is a $50 re-instatement fee if your water is turned back on from 9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. on business days. If you request your water to be turned back on after business hours, or weekends and holidays the re-instatement charge is $100. The following payment options are available. * Cash, Check or Money Order – Payments can be mailed, dropped off at the Village Hall or deposited in our drop box slot located at the next door south of the Village Hall door on Main Street. * Automatic Debit from Checking or Savings Account – An Automatic Debit Payment Application Form must be on file at the Village Hall for this option. Special Note: we do not accept Credit Card payments. Mailed payments and application forms should be addressed to: Village of Pecatonica PO Box 730 Pecatonica, IL 61063-0730 How is my Meter Read? Back to the Top The Public Works Department of Pecatonica visits your property and records usage on your water meter every month. They are read by use of a Handheld Electronic Reader. Every meter has a radio-read transmitter attached to the top. When a Public Works Employee drives by or walks up to your property he will receive a specific signal from your transmitter into the handheld device. The handheld reader measures use in even hundred gallon increments. Therefore, if your inside meter reads 58,890 gallons, the handheld reading from the outside will be 58,800. The additional 90 gallons will be billed once your water consumption reaches the next hundred gallons or, in this example, 58,900 gallons. Estimating is only used in exceptional circumstances. During the business hours of the Village Hall you may pay us a visit to look at the equipment we use. When is my Meter Read? Back to the Top The Public Works Department of Pecatonica visits your property as close to the end of the month as possible, of course, if that day falls on a weekend or a holiday, then the meters are read the next business day. Please feel free to contact the Village Hall if you would like to know on what date your meter will be read. Meter Replacement Program Back to the Top The Village currently has two types of meters and reading equipment: Hersey and Sensus. The Village is moving toward replacing all the Hersey meters with Sensus meters. A certain number a year will be replaced. When your meter is to be replaced you will receive a letter asking to set up an appointment with the company that is doing the replacements. If you have any questions please feel free to call the Village Hall. Troubleshooting High Water Usage Back to the Top If you feel your water consumption or bill seems high given your historical use, please locate your meter and write down the actual reading from the meter before calling the Village Hall. This will help us determine what your actual usage has been since the last time we read your meter. Your meter has a “leak detector” which will tell you if water is going through your meter. When you know there is no water being used, please check this indicator (Hersey meters: small red triangle, Sensus meters: small red dial) to make sure it is not moving. If the indicator is moving, water is going through your meter somewhere on the property. It is the responsibility of the property owner or tenant to determine where the water is being used. Some of the more common problems are: * A leaking toilet. (Simple test: Place food coloring in the tank and let sit for 10 minutes. If color comes into the bowl your toilet is leaking.) * A leaking hot water heater. * A faulty water softener. * A hose that has been left on outside. * An outside hose bib that is leaking. * An undetected broken pipe in a crawl space. * A toilet that won’t shut off after being flushed. Water Bill Appeal Process Back to the Top Every customer has the right to appeal their billing. The first step is to submit a letter to the Village Clerk explaining there position on the matter, etc. The second step will be to schedule a time when you can meet with the Public Works Committee. They meet every 4th Thursday of the month at 7:00 p.m. in the Village Hall unless otherwise stated on the door. You may request to have your meter taken out and sent for testing, keeping in mind that if the test shows that the meter is working accurately you will be charged a $25 testing fee. If the test shows that the meter is not working accurately you will not be required to pay the testing fee and your bill will be adjusted accordingly. TRASH and RECYCLING Back to the Top The Village of Pecatonica contracts with Gill’s Freeport Disposal for residential refuse and recycling collection.
Establishing Service Back to the Top Residential Trash and Recycling removal service is typically established during Application for Water and Sewer Service. Residential customers may establish trash/recycling removal, water and sewer service by submitting the Application for Service form to the Village Hall. Commercial customers and customers outside the Village Limits may establish garbage removal service by contacting: Gill’s Freeport Disposal, Inc. 735 N. Van Buren PO Box 64 Freeport, IL 61032 Tel: (815) 233-5644 Fax: (815) 232-3393
or any service which is licensed with the Village of Pecatonica. Refuse Guidelines Back to the Top Trash and recyclables must be placed near the street for collection not earlier than the day before scheduled collection. Empty containers must be removed the day of collection. All refuse material shall be placed in bags or cans not exceeding a capacity of 33 gallons with a 50 pound limit per bag or can. Each resident is allowed an unlimited number of bags or cans of household trash per week to be picked up. The containers should be sufficiently strong to prevent spillage and wind-carry. Gill’s will not pickup rocks, carpeting, toilets, broken concrete, hot ashes, hazardous materials, liquid wastes, bio-medical wastes, and materials resulting from construction, remodeling, repair or demolition of any structure or from manufacturing, commercial or agricultural processes. These items must be hauled away by the resident or you may call a private hauler listed in the newspaper or in the yellow pages of your telephone book. (You may also call Gill’s to find out what they charge for pickup of these items). Oversized or bulky items such as large furniture, non CFC containing appliances, water heaters, lawn mowers and grills will be picked up. Items banned from landfills will not be picked up such as toilets. (If you are unsure if it will be picked up please call Gill’s before setting out for pickup (815) 233-5644. Tires and oil can be taken to Fire Station #9 in Rockford at Halsted & Rockton Ave. on Saturdays only from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. (Limit of 4 tires per visit). Rock River Reclamation, at 3333 Kishwaukee St. in Rockford, will take all items listed in this paragraph. Their hours are every Saturday from 8:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. and every Sunday 12 noon until 4:00 p.m. They are closed on holiday weekends. Acceptable items are aerosols, corrosives, oxidizers, solvents, oil-based and latex paints, waste oils, pesticides, batteries, fluorescent lamps, and insulin disposal service. Do not bring: explosives, ammunition, radio-actives, compressed gas, infectious or medical wastes, car tires, appliances or commercial/industrial waste. If you have items not listed here please call them at (815) 387-7400 to find out if they take it. Refuse Collection Schedule Back to the Top Pickup will be every Wednesday. Gill’s will begin picking up refuse at 5:00 a.m. If there is a holiday that falls on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday then pickup will be on Thursday. Those holidays are New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, and Christmas. Refuse and Recycling Rates Back to the Top The monthly fee for garbage and recycling pickup is $12.97. You will find this figure on your monthly utility bill across from the “R1 or R2” abbreviation. Recycling Guidelines Back to the Top One recycle bin is provided for recycling materials. If you need an additional bin or if your bin becomes damaged they can be purchased at the Village Hall for $10.00 a bin. If you are moving into a newly built home then contact the Village Hall and a bin will be provided. Sorting of recycling items is not necessary, but Gill’s does require that items be cleaned out. Labels need not be removed. Newspapers and magazines must be put in a brown grocery bag and stacked on top of the other recycling materials. Any items left in your bin after pickup will be classified as non-recyclable and will need to be placed in your trash the following week. It is not mandatory that a resident participate in recycling but you will then need to put it in a bag or can and count as trash. We do urge you to participate to help lessen the load on the landfills. Yard and Garden Waste Pickup Back to the Top All yard and garden waste must be placed in a garbage can marked with an “X” or in paper yard waste bags. Only grass clippings, leaves, weeds, trimmings and garden waste can be picked up. No sod, dirt or rocks will be collected. Twigs and branches, no bigger in diameter than ½” or so, and bundled with twine and cut in 3’ lengths will be picked up. Pickup starts around April 1st (when the landfills open) and goes to November 30th. Please call before setting out your first yard waste in order to make sure they have started picking it up. Missed Pickup or Complaints Back to the Top If you have any questions about refuse or recycling please call Gill’s Freeport Disposal at (815) 233-5644. If the truck has missed your pickup or if you have any complaints please call Gill’s and they will be glad to help you. Please do not call the Village Hall, thank you. QUESTIONS or COMMENTS? Back to the Top We are always interested in your questions or comments about the Village of Pecatonica services. Please email your questions and comments to information@villageofpecatonica.com and a member of our staff will respond to you by email or phone as quickly as possible. |
PecatonicaxVillagexHall
405 Main Street
P.O. Box 730
Pecatonica, IL 61063
Phone: (815) 239-2310
Fax: (815) 239-1060
Hours: Monday-Friday
9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Handicap accessible at the
rear entrance.
For after hours payment for Water, Sewer, Recycling Bills and Local Citations there is a convenient drop off slot just south of the main entrance to the Village Hall.