Mayor Wants Hockey Rink Hydrant Tappers to Donate Their Water Fee

Mayor Ed Zabrocki doesn't want two men who were cited this week for tampering with a fire hydrant to pay a fee to the village. Rather, he prefers they donate that money to a local charity.

"We're gonna let the kids pay the $130 or so for the water and instead of them giving it to the village, we're going to have them give it to ," Zabrocki said on Thursday. "These kids were wrong in what they were doing, but this isn't nuclear physics … They were trying to do something productive. It was definitely wrong, but this is not a felony we're talking about."

found a 500-foot long fire hose Sunday that was illegally connected to a hydrant and running into a 93-foot by 41-foot ice rink in the backyard of a home in the 17600 block of Highland Avenue, they said. The hose was borrowed from a relative who's a firefighter and Zabrocki confirmed that it wasn't from the . The hydrant was adjacent to Tinley Park High School, according to the police report.

The unauthorized 26,000 gallons of water that were used has since caused quite a stir. But Timothy J. Ryan, 20, of Oak Lawn, and Anthony L. Nelin, 20, of Tinley Park, said Thursday that they didn't initially know that what they were doing was illegal. The pair was issued citations and are scheduled to appear in court Jan. 26, when they will likely be ordered to pay a fine and pay for what the water was worth — $127.44.

"We had good intentions," Nelin said. "I don't want the village or the mayor to hate us. We know now that it wasn't right and we're prepared to take full responsibility."

A resident of the home told the cops she was aware of the makeshift skating site but didn't know that a fire hydrant was being used to fill it. Nelin and Ryan said Thursday that the rink is located at the house of one of their friends and fellow hockey players, who is out of town attending college.

"While he was away at school, we were going to try to finish it," Ryan said. " … We didn't expect it to all blow up like this. We thought we could just use (the hydrant) for a little bit and then leave it be. If we knew we could have paid for the water and they could have charged us for it, we would have done that."

It's not uncommon for the to get a request for a fire hydrant meter rental, Zabrocki said.

"We can authorize that kind of thing for filling swimming pools, or large landscaping projects … stuff like that," he said. "That way, it's not a water pressure and safety concern. We know where those meters are and if we had a fire in that area, we would know to shut it off."

Renting a small meter from the village requires a $250 deposit, public works representatives said Thursday. Charges accrue per 1,000 gallons used — $3.51 for each 1,000 gallons up to 20,000. After that point, the rate changes to $5.31 per 1,000 gallons. A storm water fee of 27 cents is also charged with each 1,000 gallons that's pumped, representatives said. 

"We just didn't know it was an option," Ryan said, of filling the near regulation sized hockey rink, which includes space for a penalty box. "We're happy to pay for what we used. If we get to pay it to a charity instead, we'd much rather do that."

The fact is, the duo may not have to fork out any cash at all. They said a complete stranger — a Burr Ridge man — read about their story Wednesday and vowed to foot the bill for them.

"He said he used to do the same thing when he was a kid," Nelin said. "He wants to help."

The two won't know what they owe until their court date, they said. But they want to make it right. 

"We'll do what we need to," Nelin said. "We really didn't want to make anyone mad. We just want to play hockey."

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