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Infrastructure committee to refer water-reclamation questions to full board
Summary
Committee members debated whether to proceed with engineering on the village wastewater project and agreed to present outstanding questions—about the contractor, engineering scope and potential Illinois EPA rules—to the full board for direction.
The Infrastructure Committee agreed to ask the village board to review recent decisions about the local wastewater treatment and water-reclamation options after members said several regulatory and engineering questions remain unresolved.
A committee member summarized the situation, saying the item recognizes that the village "decided not to go forward with the engineering on [the] project." The member asked that the matter be presented to the board for broader consideration and additional input from staff and counsel. Another member said they had contacted state Rep. Brad Chris to ask whether new Illinois EPA regulations were expected but that Brad Chris, as a legislator, might not have regulatory detail to offer.
Members also debated whether the village relied heavily on an operator's assessment rather than an independent engineering review. One committee member argued an operator may be biased because he "wants that contract," while another countered that the person the village hired "is an engineer" and also serves as an operator. The committee did not resolve the disagreement but proposed drafting contingency options—"Plan B or Plan C"—to gather more information before any final decision.
The committee decided that the full board should review the matter at its Thursday meeting and that staff should seek clarifying guidance on regulatory requirements from the Illinois EPA and counsel before the board acts.
