LES 12-10-15

Page 1

THURSDAY

December 10, 2015 • 75¢

SERVING OSWEGO, MONTGOMERY AND BOULDER HILL FOR MORE THAN A HALF-CENTURY

KendallCountyNow.com

Fox Metro will build new plant

Facebook.com/RecordNewspapers

Plenty of holiday spirit at Oswego Christmas Walk Photos by ERIC MILLER emiller@shawmedia.com

Thousands of area residents descended upon downtown Oswego Friday evening for the village’s annual Christmas Walk. This year’s walk included a visit from Santa, silent fire truck parade, ice skating, treats and specials in downtown shops, and plenty of holiday music. TOP: Trains running down Main Street were a big hit for young and old. LEFT: The Chicago Ice House sculptor drew a large crowd as he turned a big block of ice into Mickey Mouse on skates. BOTTOM LEFT: The Prom Shoppe had live models dancing to the songs of the season. BOTTOM RIGHT: Kurt and Colleen Frieders of Aurora smile for a photo with Santa while daughter Ragen has her eyes on the man in the white beard.

Expected to cost $92 million SHAW MEDIA The Fox Metro Water Reclamation District is moving forward with plans to build a new $92 million wastewater treatment plant just south of its current facility to conform to a mandate from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. The agency will construct the new plant on land it previously purchased immediately south of its existing plant on Ill. Route 31 near Montgomery. Fox Metro provides wastewater treatment for nearly 300,000 residents of Oswego, Aurora, Montgomery, North Aurora, Sugar Grove, and portions of Batavia and Yorkville. Though Fox Metro meets and exceeds current wastewater requirements, the IEPA’s recently revised guidelines require Fox Metro to further improve its wastewater treatment facilities and enhance its ability to process phosphorous. The Fox Metro’s Board of Trustees has contracted River City Construction LLC to manage the construction of the new south plant. The firm was the low bidder for the project. The water that Fox Metro currently discharges into the Fox River is already cleaner than the existing river water, but the EPA has tasked the facility with reducing the level of phosphorous in the river by 2019. Phosphorus enters the watershed system through fertilizer runoff from farms and lawns, and from human waste through wastewater, which Fox Metro then receives and treats. Within four years, the new plant will eliminate 67 percent of phosphorus in Fox Metro’s discharged water. Phosphorus is a nutrient that depletes dissolved oxygen in water and may cause offensive conditions, such as algae blooms. The Fox River is part of the Mississippi River watershed, the fourth-largest river system in the world, which flows into the Gulf of Mexico. There, impaired water contributes to “Gulf hypoxia,” or low-oxygen zones. The water in these “dead zones” does not contain enough dissolved oxygen to support marine life. Removing more phosphorus from all Mississippi River tributaries may help alleviate Gulf hypoxia and improve the ecosystem for aquatic plants, animals and other organisms within the Fox River and the entire Mississippi watershed. To comply with the IEPA’s revised guidelines, Fox Metro secured a $92 million state of Illinois revolving loan at a rate of 1.85 percent. The board has ensured

See EXPANSION, page 2

LOCAL NEWS

LOCAL NEWS

WHERE IT’S AT

Christmas tree time

Going to the movies

Village of Montgomery hosts annual Christmas Tree lighting, drawing large crowds / 8

Kendall 10 theater expanding in Oswego; will upgrade seats, sell alcoholic beverages / 3

Forum.............................................5 Local news...............................2-13 Opinion...........................................4 Police reports........................10-11 Sports......................................14-16

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Vol. 57, No. 50 3 sections


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LES 12-10-15 by Shaw Media - Issuu