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Homer Glen holds public hearing on proposed 0.25 MGD wastewater plant; engineers, residents debate service area and assumptions
Summary
Engineers from HR Green presented a planned 0.25 MGD wastewater treatment plant with IEPA loan financing and a 2030 in‑service goal; resident speakers questioned capacity and population assumptions while staff and HR Green said the plant is sized for a new planning area, not existing Illinois American service areas.
Homer Glen trustees convened a public hearing July 8 on the villages proposed wastewater treatment plant and preliminary environmental impacts determination (PEID), hearing an HR Green presentation and public comment before closing the record.
Ravi Jairam of HR Green told the board the project team is designing a roughly 0.25 million gallons per day (MGD) treatment plant, expandable as growth warrants. The presentation described the facilitys core systems — screening structure, an aeromod biological treatment system, sludge holding and dewatering, disc filters to meet phosphorus limits, a UV disinfection system, a standby generator and an on-site lab and electrical building — plus a polishing wetland for final effluent polishing. The consultant said the plant site is envisioned near 159th Street east of Gaughan Road and must be designed and in operation before Jan. 1, 2030, to address expiration of the village's current intergovernmental agreement for wastewater conveyance.
Jairam said the project is advancing through 30% design this summer, with soil borings and surveys underway, and that the village plans to use an IEPA loan program to fund construction; he noted a historical base rate around 2.16% and potential small‑community deductions when the final loan application is submitted.
Resident speaker Mike McGee said the engineering numbers appeared inconsistent with typical household water use, arguing that the 0.25 MGD figure would imply per‑household wastewater rates far below normal consumption and urging village engineers to recheck the assumptions. "If you start out with bad numbers, you put bad numbers in, you get bad results," McGee said, citing household and per‑person gallons per day calculations and questioning population projections used in planning.
Village staff and HR Green responded that the 0.25 MGD design reflects a defined facilities planning area (FPA) that would serve undeveloped or unserved parcels in a specific part of the village, not the villages entire population or customers already served by Illinois American. A staff representative stated the figure was based on density assumptions and prior feasibility work for that planning area and said the presentation materials and PEID document explain those boundaries.
HR Green said the public hearing record will remain open for 10 days to accept additional written comments; staff will compile comments, submit a summary letter to IEPA and proceed toward loan scoring and final application steps next year. The board closed the hearing at the meetings conclusion.
What happens next: the village will accept additional comments for 10 days, summarize feedback for IEPA review, and continue 30% design and loan application work ahead of a planned bid advertisement in late 2027 and construction starting in early 2028, with operational completion targeted before Jan. 1, 2030.
