Brookfield trustees voted 3 to 2 on Monday to approve a new 10-year water services agreement with the Chicago Zoological Society, ending a months-long feud between the two parties over the village’s attempts to squeeze additional revenue out of the national tourist attraction.


The deal calls for the zoo to pay for water at cost from the village of Brookfield. In addition, retroactive to Aug. 9, the zoo must pay a 5-percent tax on all water supplied to it. The village board imposed that tax on all water customers within the village of Brookfield in August.


The zoo must also pay a water system maintenance surcharge of $99,900 in 2010 for the eight months since the village’s last agreement with the zoo for water service ended. Beginning on Jan. 1, 2011, the zoo’s maintenance surcharge will be $107,500 annually. The amount of the surcharge will increase 2.5 percent annually until the contract ends.


The zoo will make payments for water on a quarterly basis, according to the deal, which was released to the public Monday night after the village board’s vote.


Trustees Cathy Colgrass Edwards, C.P. Hall and David LeClere voted for the new deal. Trustees Michael Towner and Brian Oberhauser voted against it. Trustee Yvonne Prause, who previously indicated she was against the deal, was absent from the meeting.


Village President Michael Garvey called the deal “fair to both parties.” While increases for water delivery to the zoo over the term of the contract are modest, Garvey said “we got the tradeoff of a long-term agreement with a built-in escalator clause. This clause will be more beneficial over the long haul [than the previous deal].”


Matthew Mayer, the zoo’s vice president for governmental affairs, said after Monday night’s vote that the zoological society was “pleased to reach an agreement as concerns water delivery for the zoo.”


While he wouldn’t disclose details of the zoo’s negotiations with the village, Mayer did thank those who backed the zoo this summer. The society, beginning in June, launched a public relations blitz, arguing the village was treating the zoo like a cash cow and trying to squeeze money from the society in order to fund village operations. The result, the zoo said would be cuts in programming and layoffs.


“We are very grateful to Brookfield Zoo members and supporters who have helped highlight the zoo’s investments in the cultural, educational and economic well being of the village,” Mayer said.