Board holds IEPA public hearing on wastewater plant expansion; no loan commitment made

The Village of Manhattan held a public hearing March 18 to receive comment on a project summary and preliminary environmental impacts determination issued by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency for a possible wastewater treatment plant expansion.

Village staff explained the hearing is an annual procedural requirement tied to applying for a low‑interest IEPA loan and that the board was not committing to pursue a loan or to start the project at this meeting. A staff member said the municipality must repeat this step each year if it wants to remain eligible to apply for the IEPA financing in the future.

Staff told the board that the village does not yet have a final decision on whether to expand the plant. One staff speaker said that the estimated cost of an expanded plant would be in a broad range (a figure of about $42,000,000 was mentioned in discussion as a planning figure, and a $60,000,000 figure was cited as an example of a current start‑today estimate), but they stressed those are preliminary planning numbers and not a formal commitment. Trustees asked whether the village had any additional presentations or audience testimony; no members of the public provided substantive testimony at the hearing and the board closed the hearing without taking action.

Because this item is an IEPA administrative step, village staff said the hearing preserves the village’s option to pursue low‑interest state loans later but does not require the village to finance or build the expansion.

No motion to apply for IEPA funds or to begin construction was recorded at the meeting.