Village of Itasca Breaks Ground on New Wastewater Treatment Plant

The Village of Itasca, Illinois recently broke ground on a new wastewater treatment plant. Designed by Baxter & Woodman, Inc., Consulting Engineers and constructed by Williams Brothers Construction, this project will boost the local economy, create hundreds of new jobs, and take approximately two years to complete.

Once completed, the plant will increase the Village’s wastewater treatment capacity from 2.65 to 4.0 million gallons per day.  This $35 million dollar project includes construction of a completely new treatment plant and demolition of the existing treatment plant. The improvements are needed to accommodate residential, commercial, and industrial growth in the village.

Baxter & Woodman worked closely with the village to identify the funding necessary for these improvements. The project is funded in part by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency Water Pollution Control Loan Program, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Program, and the issuance of bonds under the Buy American Program. The village will borrow $20 million from the IEPA programs but will pay back only $15 million.  Under the ARRA program, $5 million of the $20 million debt will be forgiven.  This means Itasca will pay back just $15 million at 0% over the next 20 years.

Strategic planning and a common goal to improve and protect local water quality allowed this project to come to fruition.  Baxter & Woodman worked with village officials and staff to gain consensus from various stakeholders including the Conservation Foundation, Sierra Club, Prairie Rivers Network, Salt Creek Watershed Network, Illinois Department of Natural Resources, and Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

Baxter & Woodman is an employee-owned design firm that provides planning, design, construction, and technology services for water, wastewater, stormwater, and transportation facilities for municipalities, counties, and state agencies. Environmental, geographic information systems (GIS), water and wastewater operations, and advanced technology needs complement the firm’s civil engineering expertise. Clients are served from nine regional offices in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin.