Ottawa buys land for new wastewater plant

The Ottawa City Council approved the purchase Tuesday of 7.91 acres of property for the construction of the new wastewater treatment plant.

The council also approved an access and utility easement through adjoining property in order to reach the proposed plant site, currently owned by Halterman-Reynolds LLC and located along Route 71 just north of where U.S. 6 turns east toward Marseilles and south of the Hank’s Farm Restaurant.

“The engineering firm explained well why we need this. Without this expansion, it could limit our potential growth as the city is actively pursuing businesses to come to our industrial park. We couldn’t get the larger businesses without it.”

—  Ottawa City Commissioner Brent Barron

Commissioner Brent Barron said the city is “going into design mode,” including council approval of an earlier motion to enter a contract with Fehr Graham Engineering and Environmental of Rockford for further design work on the plant and its site

The plant would add about 1 million gallons per day capacity to the 4 million per day being handled by the existing wastewater plant. The estimated cost of expanding the plant to that capacity and meeting Illinois Environmental Protection Agency standards was $75 million, Barron said.

“It will take approximately two years to complete the design phase of this,” Barron said. “Once the design is approved by the IEPA, it comes back and we enter the bidding phase. This is a multi-year project, probably taking six to eight years to complete. The estimated completion date, according to the engineer, is 2029, with an estimate cost of about $30 million.

“The engineering firm explained well why we need this. Without this expansion, it could limit our potential growth as the city is actively pursuing businesses to come to our industrial park. We couldn’t get the larger businesses without it.”

Peck Park update

The council also heard a report from Commissioner Marla Pearson the work at Peck Park is progressing well. The payment to Wright Excavating for the placement of a water line for a new splash pad was approved and Pearson said the asphalt paving of the tennis courts by Advanced Asphalt Company will begin on Wednesday. The paving of the basketball courts should follow after soon.

The council recently approved the installation of fencing, paving and construction of tennis courts at the park, along with plans for new equipment, a regulation basketball court and a splash pad in the future.

“We’re laying down the foundation and we should have all the fun stuff by spring,” Pearson said. “I’m very pleased with how the parks are progressing. Equipping parks, fixing parks and adding new stuff to the parks is definitely the fun part of this job.”

Also part of Pearson’s report Tuesday was the appropriation of a total of $338,335 for the city’s street resurfacing program for this year. The streets, she said, have been determined after the submitting of citizen’s complaints, checked out and then prioritized by the city’s streets department and the council.

In other council action

The council appointed Charles Schaefer to the Electrical Commission and Melissa Hulse to the Playground and Recreation Board.

The council heard Ottawa Canal Association Director Arnie Bandstra thank the city and the other supporters for the success of the Canal Day celebration July 8. He pledged the association’s help in the city’s continuing effort to develop of the canal as a park that would be “a big asset” for the citizens and tourism in the area.