Village of Rockton approved annexation agreements for water main extension project  for Blackhawk acres

On Tuesday, July 21, 2026  the Village of Rockton approved the annexation agreements  of properties in location of the Blackhawk Acres Water Main Extension project. 

Construction was executed by the Public Works Director Dan Barber and  Superintendent Jake Costello. They worked alongside Village engineers,  C.E.S. Inc. (Civil Engineering Services.)

This project first started in the spring of 2003,  the result of an estimated 70 homes being affected by the discovery of dangerously high levels of PFAS in water, all in Rockton Township. 

Rockton Village President John Peterson reflects “I received an email at that time from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency that requested that I get on a Zoom call. 

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They told me that the state had done testing on private wells in Blackhawk acres and provided maps of the affected areas.”

Former Township Supervisor Paul Williams, and the Winnebago County Health Department  was also on that call. 

We were informed that they didn’t know where the PFAS was coming from or how long the wells had elevated levels. 

Following that call Peterson reached out to the IEPA and the health department to find out the best way to treat the wells and how the people could  be helped.  

“I was advised that the best solution was to get them hooked up to city water since it is treated and tested,” Peterson said. 

Peterson then asked John Cabello to see if there was any available  funding from the state.

Cabello did some research to see if the  IEPA  could help the village of Rockton get a forgivable loan to hook the homes up to city water to abandon their old contaminated well.

Rockton Village Trustees backed Peterson’s ideas and efforts.  

The Village of Rockton  secured a forgivable loan, essentially a grant  in the amount of $1.5 million, allowing residents to connect to village water,  assuring they can have clean, potable  water. 

Evacuating the private well, the meter, and the hookup to the Village water was covered without the homeowner incurring additional costs.

Residents who annexed into the Village of Rockton are able  to hook up to Village water, with the knowledge that their property taxes will go up, but they will also receive services. 

Public meetings were held at the Rockton Township office and at the Rockton Village Municipal Center with representatives from the health department and other agencies in attendance. Detailed  information was also available in different formats. 

Residents had the option to sign an opt out letter. The vast majority opted in. 

Rockton Village Clerk Christina Stewart helped with the ordinances and obtained signatures from the residents. 

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Community Development Director Mark Henderson drew up the annexation agreements.

Henderson explains, “ We had signed agreements for 45 properties to be annexed into the Village after being connected to Village water service. 

Those initial agreements were signed back in 2024. Anyone who signed the agreements has been connected to Village water. 

Since these agreements weren’t mandatory to be signed, many property owners chose not to connect to Village water, and thus are not being annexed into the Village at this time. 

These property owners may still elect to connect to Village water and be annexed into the Village in the future, but would incur the expense of having to connect to the water service.

Back in 2011, a property owner had petitioned to be annexed into the Village of Rockton, and was connected to Village water at that time. 

At that time, there were no properties contiguous to this home that was within the Village Limits, so annexation wasn’t possible, prompting  a  a PRE-Annexation Agreement to be signed, essentially saying that once there was a contiguous property within the Village Limits, then annexation could move forward. 

Now that these 45 annexations are complete, the home in question is now contiguous and may be annexed into the Village in August. 

To our knowledge, this is the only property to which this applies, and  no additional annexations are likely to be imminent.”

Peterson said, “I believe there are between  five to 10 who opted out who are still on their private wells.”

During the public hearing on the project resident Mark Micka asked if residents

will be required to be hooked up to the sewer. Micka  was reassured that there is

no requirement regarding sewer hookups. 

Public Works Director Dan Barber said, “On Blackhawk Blvd. the sewer is there.”

The average cost to hook up a water main to a house can run between $9,000 and $15,000 if done after the fact, possibly years later. Level assessment and the necessary benchmarks  are required to meet the regulations.

PFAS - Perfluoroalkyl and poly-fluoroalkyl - are chemicals made by humans. Since the 1950s, many consumer products and industrial processes have utilized these chemicals.

PFASs have properties that resist heat, grease, and water. There are thousands of types of PFAS, and they are known as forever chemicals.

There is no way to detect exactly where PFAS contamination comes from. PFAS can exist in a Teflon pan.

Cabello secured “The Clean Water Act” provisions will be put in place. 

Peterson said, “We are now in the process of finalizing the annexation agreements with the residents. 

This project has taken longer than expected but I am happy that we could provide residents in the Township with safe water. 

Getting the forgivable loan made all of the difference, as we were able to provide this option at  no cost to residents. This was a huge project and everyone did an outstanding job.”