Homer Glen · Cedar Road & 159th Street Sewer
Homer Glen awarded$2.6 millionto run sewerto empty land
On June 10, 2026 the Village Board awarded a $2,591,009.72 contract to extend sanitary sewer to unserved, vacant parcels along Cedar Road and 159th Street. In Heidi’s view this is not a scandal, and the Village’s reasons for it are real. But sewer is the thing that decides where development can happen, and this one was budgeted in 2021, engineered starting in 2022, voted on in 2026, and is not on the Village’s public Projects page. If Homer Glen is going to grow along 159th, that conversation should happen while what gets built there is still a choice.
Exhibit A
What was approved
currently unserved vacant parcels along Cedar Road and 159th Street
will assist in providing new users for the Villages planned wastewater treatment plant
pending substantial completion by October 30th, 2026
WWTP PROJECT
On June 10, 2026, the Village Board voted 5-0 to award a construction bid of $2,591,009.72 to Austin Tyler Construction. The work extends the Village’s existing Fiddyment Creek sanitary sewer trunk line to serve unserved vacant properties along Cedar Road and 159th Street. A $500,000 grant, contingent on substantial completion by October 30, 2026, would offset the cost — leaving roughly $2.09 million of the bid to the Village at the time of the award, on top of engineering and land-acquisition costs.
The Village’s stated purpose is twofold: to “provide sanitary sewer service to currently unserved vacant parcels along Cedar Road and 159th Street,” and — in the Village Engineer’s words — because the extension “will assist in providing new users” for the Village’s planned wastewater treatment plant. Both halves of that are worth sitting with. The second half means this project’s job is partly to create ratepayers for a plant that doesn’t exist yet.
Where Heidi stands
Build the sewer. The treatment plant needs users, the corridor needs a plan, and Homer Glen needs a tax base that isn’t only rooftops. The Village has said plainly that this sewer is meant to open 159th Street to development. What it hasn’t done is settle what that development should be in a current plan residents can weigh in on: its adopted Comprehensive Plan dates to 2005, and a 2020 draft update was never adopted. A sewer extension to vacant land is a growth decision. Hold the conversation about what belongs along 159th Street now — the contract was awarded in June 2026, and the project’s grant requires substantial completion by October 30, 2026 — and before anything is rezoned or built on that land. Publish how much of this extension the Village expects to recover through its sewer impact fees, from which parcels, and when. And list a $2.6 million project on the Village’s project page, so residents don’t learn the dollar figure from a news article.
Exhibit B
The re-route
Due to issues with easement acquisition
has developed an alternate routethat
will still serve all the intended parcels
approximately 78% of the current construction cost
close out at an estimated $670,000 under budget
Topography, Design Engineering, Permitting & Bidding· $78,200
Update, September 2026: a September 9 staff memo to the Board says that “due to issues with easement acquisition” the Village Engineering Department “has developed an alternate route” that “will still serve all the intended parcels.” The new route still has to be designed, permitted and bid. The memo recommends $98,600 more for Robinson Engineering, says the $500,000 grant “will be used to cover approximately 78% of the current construction cost,” and estimates the project will “close out at an estimated $670,000 under budget.” The memo doesn’t say what “current construction cost” covers. Robinson’s letter starts the new route at Cedar Road, at the “amended location of Manhole #4 of the current contract,” so the grant’s share of the finished line isn’t known yet. We will post the final cost when the Village does.
Why a sewer vote is a growth vote
Land without sewer stays large-lot or stays empty — septic capacity sets a hard ceiling on density. Run a trunk line down a corridor and the arithmetic of what can be built there changes permanently. That is not a Homer Glen quirk, and the Village says as much itself. Its January 2026 federal funding request says the 159th Street corridor “has been constrained by lack of sewer infrastructure,” that this extension will “unlock economic development capacity” along it, and that it enables housing “that previously could not be built without sewer access.” When the Board set connection fees for the original Fiddyment Creek line in January 2021, the staff memo said the Board “chose to construct both the sewer and water mains in this area to spur the development of properties along 159th Street” — two separate Village-owned lines, a sanitary sewer and a water main. That is why a sewer vote deserves the attention a rezoning gets.
And the sequencing matters. Once the pipe is in, the order is fixed: by the time a rezoning hearing is scheduled and residents pack the room to argue about what should go on 159th Street, the sewer will already be in the ground and already sized. The expensive, irreversible decision was the infrastructure vote — and on June 10, 2026 it passed 5-0 without a single public comment on it; the minutes record one public comment that whole night, about fireworks. The project was no secret: in January 2026 the Board voted to seek $3 million in federal funding for it, it sat in the March draft budget, and the Village’s own February 2026 video told residents that new sewer extensions along Cedar Road and 159th Street would expand service to undeveloped areas. What 159th Street should become is a question for the Village’s Comprehensive Plan, and the adopted one dates to 2005: in an April 2026 Board packet, staff wrote that a 2020 draft update was “not adopted” and that the Village is “looking to initiate an update to the Comprehensive Plan in 2026/2027.” The pipe was awarded before any update was adopted. What the corridor becomes belongs in that update’s public process, before anything is rezoned. (This spring’s Badger fight was a different kind of case: a Will County zoning request, which the Village opposed by resolution on May 15, 2026, a month before this award.)
This has been planned since 2021
At the June 10, 2026 award, Trustee Rose Reynders said the Village was extending its trunk line, planned “for quite some time.” The record agrees with her. The Village budgeted the extension by name — “FIDDYMENT CREEK CEDAR ROAD EXTENSION,” $1,720,000 — in its FY2021-22 budget draft in March 2021. It took engineering proposals in March 2022, and its own Major Contracts register lists an agreement with Robinson Engineering for the “Fiddyment Creek Sanitary Sewer — Cedar Road Extension” dated May 25, 2022 — four years before the construction bid, and about seven months before the Board ordered a feasibility study for a Village-owned treatment plant (January 11, 2023).
The Village’s own roadmap document for the plant lists the Fiddyment Creek tie-in as advance work that can proceed before the plant is designed — run the line, “leave a stub,” and have it ready to hook up when the plant is finished. The same document is candid about the ambition behind the capacity: that a new plant might entice “surrounding areas to send their wastewater our way,” opening the door to “additional users/$$.”
None of that is improper. Planning ahead is what a village is supposed to do. But five years of planning is five years of opportunities to bring residents into it. The project came before the Board in open session again and again — the engineering contract in 2022, the federal funding request in January 2026, the award in June — but each time as an agenda item about the pipe, not about what the corridor should become.
The record
How we got here
- 2018Homer Glen, the City of Lockport and the Bonnie Brae–Forest Manor Sanitary District sign a three-party agreement under which some Village sewage is treated at Lockport’s Bonnie Brae plant. Term runs to January 1, 2030. The Fiddyment Creek sanitary sewer is the line that carries it.
- May 25, 2022The Village enters an agreement with Robinson Engineering for the “Fiddyment Creek Sanitary Sewer — Cedar Road Extension.” The project is older than that: the Village budgeted it by name at $1,720,000 in its FY2021-22 budget draft (March 2021), received three engineering proposals on March 11, 2022, and accepted Robinson’s on April 13, 2022. All of it predates the public discussion of a Village-owned treatment plant.
- October 26, 2022Village Manager Carmen Maurella tells the Board the Village is running into walls on wastewater treatment, and reads the Board an email from Lockport: Lockport will not authorize any new connections or additional growth for Homer Glen.
- January 11, 2023The Board votes 5-0 for a Robinson Engineering feasibility study “to evaluate and estimate costs for the construction of a wastewater treatment facility within the Village of Homer Glen.”
- April 2023Lockport gives notice that it will end the agreement on January 1, 2030; the Village’s July 2026 hearing memo says the Bonnie Brae plant “has reached the end of its useful lifespan” and that Lockport plans to turn it into a lift station. The Board had already voted to study a plant of its own; the notice set the deadline. This sewer line was budgeted and under engineering contract before either, but it could not stay clear of the Lockport problem: a line meant to bring in new users needs new connections, and in October 2022 Lockport had said it would authorize none. The Village now plans for its flow to go, eventually, to a Village plant.
- Undated Village roadmapThe Village document “Homer Glen’s Waste Water Treatment Plant and Visions for the Village” lists advance work that could begin before the plant is designed, including “Extension/tie-in of the existing Fiddyment Creek sanitary line to the proposed plant… leave a stub… so that it can be hooked up and ready to go once construction of the plant is complete.” The same document floats a broader ambition: that a new plant “entices surrounding areas to send their wastewater our way” and “could potentially open the door for additional users/$$.”
- January 28, 2026The Board votes 6-0 to seek $3,000,000 in federal funding for “a one-mile sanitary sewer trunk line extension along W. 159th Street and Cedar Road,” and Village Engineer Brett Westcott walks the Board through the route. The request says the 159th Street corridor “has been constrained by lack of sewer infrastructure” and that the line “creates an opportunity for the nearby unsewered Cedar Glen neighborhood to access municipal service.”
- March 18, 2026Both drafts of the FY2026-27 Village budget — the March 18 Admin & Finance Committee workshop draft and the April public-hearing draft — list a Capital Project Fund project: “FIDDYMENT CREEK (Construction & engineering)” at $2,097,148, directly beneath the wastewater plant line.
- April 22, 2026The Board adopts the FY2026-27 budget. The adopted budget is published only as an account-level report, which has no separate Fiddyment Creek account — and neither did the account-level pages inside the drafts; the $2,097,148 Fiddyment Creek figure sits on the drafts’ project list, not in the account report. The plant account, 70-00-85-630 “WWTP PROJECT,” is $15,487,279 in the drafts and the adopted budget alike, and the June bid memo charges the sewer extension to that same account. The Capital Project Fund also carries a revenue account, “RECAPTURE FEE/SANITARY SEWER” — budgeted at $0 for the year.
- June 10, 2026The Village Board votes 5-0 to award a construction bid of $2,591,009.72 to Austin Tyler Construction to extend the existing Fiddyment Creek sanitary sewer trunk line to “currently unserved vacant parcels along Cedar Road and 159th Street.” The Village Engineer’s memo says the extension “will assist in providing new users” for the Village’s planned wastewater treatment plant, charges the cost to account 70.00.85.630 — the line the budget labels “WWTP PROJECT” — and notes a $500,000 grant contingent on substantial completion by October 30, 2026. Moving the award, Trustee Rose Reynders said the Village was extending its trunk line, a project planned “for quite some time” — which the 2021 budget and 2022 engineering agreement confirm. The minutes record no public comment on it.
- July 8, 2026At the public hearing on the treatment plant, HR Green’s Ravi Jayaraman presents a 0.25 MGD first phase, with room to expand to 0.5 MGD. Village Engineer Brett Westcott clarifies, per the minutes, that the plant “will not serve existing Illinois American Water customers who are currently served by Illinois American Water wastewater plants” — Illinois American’s sewer customers; buying drinking water from Illinois American is a separate matter — and that it “will treat the area from Gougar to Parker Road between 151st Street and 159th Street.” The Illinois EPA project summary for the plant (in the hearing packet) projects “114 residential connections, 1 commercial customer,” with septic users able to connect “when they are ready.” The land this sewer reaches sits inside the area the plant is sized to serve.
- July 9, 2026The Village updates its public Village Projects page. Six projects are listed. The Cedar Road sewer extension is not one of them, and neither is the treatment plant.
- September 9, 2026A staff memo to the Board says that “due to issues with easement acquisition” the Village Engineering Department “has developed an alternate route” that “will still serve all the intended parcels”; Robinson Engineering’s letter in the same packet says the failed easement talks were with the owner at the northeast corner of 159th Street and Cedar Road. Staff recommend $98,600 more for Robinson Engineering, say the re-route lets the Village secure the $500,000 grant before the October 30 deadline — grant money that “will be used to cover approximately 78% of the current construction cost” — and estimate the project will “close out at an estimated $670,000 under budget.”
Who pays, and who pays it back
The Village fronts the money, from its Capital Project Fund: the June bid memo charges the award to account 70.00.85.630, the “WWTP PROJECT” line, and that fund’s budgeted revenue this year is mostly a $3,000,000 transfer from the home-rule sales tax fund, plus interest — not sewer bills. The adopted FY2026-27 budget also carries a Capital Project Fund revenue account named “RECAPTURE FEE/SANITARY SEWER” — budgeted at $0 this year.
A fee exists, too. Ordinance 21-001, adopted in January 2021 for the original Fiddyment Creek line, set an impact fee for anyone connecting to that sewer: $3,333.32 per acre, plus $596.79 per population-equivalent above 5.25 per acre — a rate calculated from the original line’s $4.23 million cost, not this extension. That mechanism is normal and generally good policy: it means growth pays for some of its own infrastructure rather than falling entirely on existing residents. But it only works if somebody actually builds, and if the terms are set to recover a fair share. The Village has not published how much of this extension it expects the fee to recover, from which Cedar Road and 159th Street parcels, or when — or whether the 2021 rate will be updated for it. The Village’s net share was about $2.09 million at the June award; in September staff estimated the project would close about $670,000 under budget, with the re-routed leg still to be designed and bid. Taxpayers are entitled to see that math.
Questions & answers
What exactly did the Village approve?
Does this connect my house to sewer?
So who is this sewer for?
Why does that matter? Isn’t growth normal?
Is this connected to the Badger rezoning fight near Cedar Glen?
How long has this been planned?
How does this fit with the treatment plant?
What does Heidi think should happen?
- Village of Homer Glen — June 10, 2026 Village Board packet, item L.4: the Village Engineer’s agenda supplement sheet (the $2,591,009.72 Austin Tyler Construction bid and the other two bids; service to “currently unserved vacant parcels along Cedar Road and 159th Street”; “will assist in providing new users” for the planned treatment plant; the $500,000 grant “pending substantial completion by October 30th, 2026”; “Budget Implications: $2,591,009.72 to be paid out of 70.00.85.630”). homerglenil.org (PDF)
- Village of Homer Glen — Minutes of the June 10, 2026 Village Board meeting (p. 3, the one public comment that night, on fireworks; p. 9, the 5-0 award vote and Trustee Reynders’ remarks). homerglenil.org (PDF)
- Patch — “Homer Glen Approves $2.5M Sanitary Sewer Line Project” (published June 11, 2026, reporting the Board’s June 10, 2026 vote). patch.com
- Village of Homer Glen — September 9, 2026 Village Board packet, item L.4: staff memo and Robinson Engineering letter of August 27, 2026 on the alternate sewer route, the $98,600 in additional engineering, and the estimate that the project will “close out at an estimated $670,000 under budget.” homerglenil.org (PDF)
- Village of Homer Glen — March 24, 2021 Village Board packet, FY2021-22 budget draft, Capital Project Bond Fund: “FIDDYMENT CREEK CEDAR ROAD EXTENSION 1,720,000.” homerglenil.org (PDF)
- Village of Homer Glen — April 13, 2022 Village Board packet and minutes (three engineering proposals received March 11, 2022; Robinson Engineering’s accepted). homerglenil.org (PDF)
- Village of Homer Glen — Major Contracts & Agreements register (Robinson Engineering, “Fiddyment Creek Sanitary Sewer - Cedar Road Extension,” May 25, 2022). homerglenil.org
- Village of Homer Glen — Minutes of the October 26, 2022 Village Board meeting (Village Manager’s report; Lockport’s email on new connections). homerglenil.org (PDF)
- Village of Homer Glen — Minutes of the January 11, 2023 Village Board meeting (5-0 approval of the Robinson Engineering wastewater treatment facility feasibility study). homerglenil.org (PDF)
- Village of Homer Glen — January 13, 2021 Village Board packet: Ordinance 21-001 and staff memo (Fiddyment Creek sanitary sewer impact fee of $3,333.32 per acre, calculated from the original line’s $4,231,253.67 cost; “to spur the development of properties along 159th Street”). homerglenil.org (PDF)
- Village of Homer Glen — January 28, 2026 Village Board packet: FY26 Congressionally Directed Spending request, $3,000,000 for the Cedar Road sanitary sewer extension (the 159th Street corridor “constrained by lack of sewer infrastructure”; the Cedar Glen neighborhood; housing “that previously could not be built without sewer access”). homerglenil.org (PDF)
- Village of Homer Glen — Minutes of the January 28, 2026 Village Board meeting (6-0 vote on the federal funding request; Village Engineer Westcott on the route). homerglenil.org (PDF)
- Village of Homer Glen — FY27 Budget Draft 1 (Admin & Finance Committee workshop, March 18, 2026): Capital Project Fund project list, “FIDDYMENT CREEK (Construction & engineering) 2,097,148.” homerglenil.org (PDF)
- Village of Homer Glen — FY27 Budget Draft 2 (the April 2026 public-hearing draft; same Fiddyment Creek line). homerglenil.org (PDF)
- Village of Homer Glen — ADOPTED Budget, Fiscal Year May 1, 2026 to April 30, 2027 (adopted April 22, 2026): Capital Project Fund revenue account 70-00-02-260 “RECAPTURE FEE/SANITARY SEWER,” budgeted at $0, and capital account 70-00-85-630 “WWTP PROJECT,” $15,487,279 — the same account the June 10, 2026 bid memo charges the $2,591,009.72 sewer extension to. This PDF is a scan with no searchable text layer. homerglenil.org (PDF)
- Village of Homer Glen — “Homer Glen’s Waste Water Treatment Plant and Visions for the Village” (Village roadmap document; the Fiddyment Creek tie-in as advance work, and the ambition to attract wastewater from surrounding areas). homerglenil.org (PDF)
- Village of Homer Glen — January 22, 2025 Village Board packet (facilities-plan proposals; Strand Associates’ proposal describes the area Lockport serves as “a largely undeveloped area of the village generally bound by 151st Street, 159th Street, Gougar Road, and Parker Road”). homerglenil.org (PDF)
- Village of Homer Glen — July 8, 2026 Village Board packet (public-hearing memo: a plant “initially be sized to treat an average flow of 0.25 million gallons per day”; the Illinois EPA project summary dated June 16, 2026). homerglenil.org (PDF)
- Village of Homer Glen — Minutes of the July 8, 2026 Village Board meeting, pp. 3-4 (the public hearing: HR Green’s 0.25 MGD Phase 1; Village Engineer Westcott on the service area and Illinois American Water’s wastewater customers). homerglenil.org (PDF)
- Citizen Portal — “Homer Glen holds public hearing on proposed 0.25 MGD wastewater plant; engineers, residents debate service area and assumptions.” An AI-generated summary of the July 8, 2026 hearing, not an official record; listed for reference only. citizenportal.ai
- Village of Homer Glen — Minutes of the May 15, 2026 special Village Board meeting (Resolution 26-014, formally opposing Will County zoning case ZC-26-020). homerglenil.org (PDF)
- Village of Homer Glen — April 22, 2026 Village Board packet: the draft 2026 Affordable Housing Plan (“Guiding principles from a 2020 DRAFT Comprehensive Plan (not adopted)”; the Village “is looking to initiate an update to the Comprehensive Plan in 2026/2027”) and a rezoning staff report that still cites the 2005 Comprehensive Plan’s Future Land Use Map. homerglenil.org (PDF)
- Village of Homer Glen — Village Projects page (updated July 9, 2026; six projects listed, not including this one). homerglenil.org
- Patch — “Lockport Will Terminate Waste Water Agreement With Homer Glen In 2030” (April 20, 2023). patch.com
Stay informed
We’ll update this page as the corridor plans and the recapture terms become public, and as construction proceeds — the grant requires the line to be substantially complete by October 30, 2026.