Village approves purchase for fire department

NEW BREMEN — Village councilors covered a bevy of items Monday night during its second meeting of the month.

Village Administrator Brent Richter informed council that he has a call with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday to wrap up the permit with the wastewater treatment plant.

The Ohio EPA is giving the village 72 months to meet the ammonia and phosphorus limits, up from the previous 36-month timeframe.

Richter noted that he sat in on a meeting with American Municipal Power regarding the Prairie State Energy Campus and its carbon dioxide usage.

Richter had said during a previous meeting that Illinois legislators were working to shut down the facility because of its CO2 usage, but the unions have come to an agreement to keep it open as long as the plant reduces its emissions over the next several years.

Richter said that the plant is to reduce its carbon dioxide load by 3% in 2025 and 100% by 2045.

“It’s a two-unit power plant and right now they don’t have the technology — in the year 2042, they have to be 45% reduction and they don’t have the technology right now to do that. So that would be shutting one unit down,” said Richter. “That’s the worst case scenario.” Prairie State opened in 2012 and the village gets 63% of its power from the plant.

Also during his report, Richter noted that he’s been applying for grants for village improvements including funds to dredge the lagoon and replace the water line that runs from Herman Street to the water tower.