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Village hears $24 million wastewater facilities plan, board to pursue DNR facilities‑plan submission
Summary
Applied Technologies presented a draft wastewater facilities plan that recommends near‑term upgrades to the treatment plant and lift stations, estimates roughly $24 million in capital costs and outlines rate impacts and a schedule tied to DNR review.
Applied Technologies and village staff presented a draft wastewater facilities plan intended to meet state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) requirements and guide the utility’s capital investments over the next 20 years.
Leo Cusick of Applied Technologies told trustees the plan is designed to avoid repeated short‑term "Band‑Aid" fixes and to position the plant for at least two decades of reliable operation. "We don't wanna have the next 20 years of operations, have to kind of Band Aid, and, bubble gum to kind of make it work," Leo said.
The plan groups recommended projects into five pieces: immediate work at the treatment plant and School Street lift station (design already underway), and improvements at the treatment‑plant lift station, site work, and a Honey Creek lift station and force main. Leo said the treatment‑plant work includes mechanical equipment, new process building and sludge handling improvements; one large line item is a proposed new process building to consolidate screening and sludge handling.
Applied Technologies estimated total project costs in a planning‑level range of approximately $24 million. The consultant modeled funding scenarios assuming Clean Water Fund borrowing at a 2.2% interest rate and showed that taking on all the projects at once could increase sewer utility rates by roughly 40%—about $80 per quarter, or $26 per month, for a typical ratepayer—unless the work is phased. "If you total that all that up, we're we're around 24,000,000 in total project costs," Leo said.
Trustees and staff emphasized phasing options to avoid a single large rate shock. Leo and staff recommended submitting the facilities plan to the DNR soon: a typical DNR review is about 90 days, followed by design and another plan review. Under the proposed schedule the village could submit to DNR the next month, start design in the fall and, if bids and financing align, complete construction around fall 2028.
The plan also discusses biosolids management and uncertainty about future PFAS (per‑ and polyfluoroalkyl substances) regulations for sludge and effluent. Leo said regulators may first act on drinking water, then sludge, and wastewater effluent rules would likely come later; the plan therefore avoids hard commitments to large, irreversible equipment purchases specifically for PFAS treatment until regulations become clearer.
Board direction at the meeting was to proceed with the DNR facilities‑plan submission and schedule the required public hearing. President Johnson summarized the board’s intent to "push forward in getting this submitted to the public hearing," so the village can maintain the present regulatory timeline and refine phasing, financing and rate modeling during design.
No formal capital authorization was approved at the meeting; the presentation and draft plan will be the basis for a public hearing, DNR review and later budgeting and borrowing decisions.
