Glen Carbon Makes Progress Towards $16 Million Water Plant Bid

GLEN CARBON – The Village of Glen Carbon is one step closer to building its own water treatment plant.

Village Board members unanimously approved a resolution on March 10, 2026 authorizing the Notice of Intent to award the bid for the water treatment plant to Korte Lutijohan Contractors, Inc., pending approval from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA).

“This is the next step in us proceeding to build our own water plant,” Village Administrator Jamie Bowden said. “This has been a long process.”

Out of six general contractors, Korte Lutijohan Contractors, Inc. submitted the lowest bid for the project, totaling $16.4 million. Mayor Bob Marcus noted this amount is significantly lower than the village anticipated.

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Marcus thanked Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski for presenting the Village Board with $1.1 million for the water treatment plant’s completion earlier this year. Once completed, the village’s future water treatment plan is estimated to be able to process up to 3 million gallons of water per day.

Scott Hunt with planning and engineering firm WHKS & Co. noted that while the $1.1 million Community Project Funding grant from Budzinski’s office has been allocated by Congress, the funds may not be available by the time the village is ready to award the bid. The amount of local funding needed for the project will not be known until the IEPA completes their review and checks for any additional funding, on top of $3 million in state funding already made available for the project.

Based on the currently available funding, Hunt said the village would need to impose 15% water rate increases for 2027 and 2028 to reimburse itself for the project costs. If Glen Carbon does secure the $1.1 million grant, it may only need to impose a 15% increase in 2027, followed by a 12% increase in 2028.

Hunt said the newly approved Notice of Intent to award the bid will go next to the IEPA, whose legal department will review the documentation before issuing a Loan Commitment Letter to the village.

The village is not financially obligated to take any action until after the IEPA’s review process has been completed, which could happen as soon as this April. Once the village secures the agency’s Loan Commitment Letter, the Village Board will then consider approving the official Notice of Award to the contractor at a future meeting. Stay tuned to Riverbender.com for the latest developments.

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