PEORIA, IL – The Peoria City Council will make a decision regarding the purchase option of the Water Company by the end of October 2013. As water is a basic and essential resource with sustainability at its core, Mayor Jim Ardis has asked the Sustainability Commission to provide the Council with supplemental information to allow them to make an informed decision in the best interest of the community.

Furthermore, Mayor Ardis, along with the Chairman of the Sustainability Commission, Dr. Amir Al-Khafaji, have asked a group of prominent business people to provide objective feedback that focuses on the following:

1. broadly discuss the pros and cons of acquisition and provide point/counterpoint analysis to these issues;

2. attain updated financial information including revenues, expenses, capital expenditures, infrastructure replacement, etc.;

3. review IL-AWC historical price increases and compare to city-owned rate estimates (i.e., 3% per year, every year);

4. determine costs of financing/interest rates;

5. research what has been done successfully in other communities.

Although each item listed above has the potential to easily branch into additional questions and areas of interest, Mayor Ardis believes “the group needs to remain focused on the above items and provide sufficient data and information on each so that the Council, City Manager and City Staff have a concise base of knowledge from which to begin discussion and analysis.”

As such, Mayor Ardis and Dr. Al-Khafaji have asked former Councilmember Bob Manning to serve as Chairman of the group that will be providing feedback to the Council. Members that have agreed to serve in addition to Mr. Manning include:

Jim Mamer, Morton Community Banks
Tim Krueger, Thrive and former Maui Jim CFO
Mo Dalhoumi, ADM
Larry Ivory, President, Illinois Black Chamber
Mike Everett, Business Development Director, West Central Illinois Building and Constructions Trade Council
Dr. Robert Fuessle, Bradley University

Mayor Ardis expects that the group will work quickly and provide the Council with information in advance for discussion. In addition, Mayor Ardis stated “I firmly believe that Mr. Manning’s background and understanding of these issues will be invaluable. Information the Sustainability group provides us will insure a solid decision is made on this important issue.”