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TO: Mayor John Laesch
FROM: Brian Katamay, Long Term Control Plan Project Assistant
DATE: January 26, 2026
SUBJECT:
A Resolution authorizing the Director of Purchasing to execute a two-year contract with Fehr Graham & Associates, LLC in the amount of $263,000 for NPDES and MS4 compliance and sampling, as well as the purchasing of remaining flow metering equipment.
PURPOSE:
This two-year contract continues the professional service agreements previously held by Fehr Graham & Associates that aids the City in collecting the necessary data and water quality samples to meet the obligations of our NPDES and MS4 permits, as well as preparing required monthly reports to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. Additionally, the City is required to monitor flow to each of our combined sewer outfalls. This contract will facilitate the purchase and installation of flow meters for the two remaining outfalls utilizing the older technology.
BACKGROUND:
The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES), resulting from the Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Water Act, created several permits and compliance standards for the City of Aurora.
The City's NPDES Discharge permit covers discharge limitations, monitoring, and reporting requirements. The permit requires the City to submit monthly Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMRs) for all combined sewer overflows (CSOs). The City maintains 15 CSOs discharging into the Fox River and one discharging into Indian Creek and must record overflow volumes on the monthly DMRs though the use of flow meters in our diversion structures. Exhibit B shows the locations of the 16 CSOs, their respective sewer basins, and the boundaries of the combined sewer system.
The City's Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) permit, also known as NPDES Permit No. ILR40, regulates how the City manages stormwater flows into water bodies in order to protect water quality. The programs to obtain the required data includes dry-weather storm sewer outfall inspections, quarterly water quality sampling along the Fox River and Indian Creek, and quarterly storm event water quality sampling.
Since 2022, Fehr Graham managed the City's NPDES data collection efforts and DMR generation. Since 2016, Fehr Graham managed the City's sewer flow meters and assisted with the design and construction of our newer sewer metering infrastructure in 2024 & 2025. Previously this effort was split between four separate contracts. Public Works combined all contractual NPDES permitting work into a single contract to reduce administrative overhead.
DISCUSSION:
This contract assists the City in meeting the requirements of the NPDES Discharge permit and the MS4 permit. Fehr Graham & Associates was selected due to their unique qualifications and long history of working with the City's environmental compliance requirements. The firm has
experience with the City's permits, data requirements, and infrastructure layout. Fehr Graham staff assisted with the design and installation of the sewer flow monitoring network and currently maintain the devices. However, the City expects to see reduced labor costs for sensor maintenance activities due to 2024/25 improvements to our flow metering infrastructure.
The total two-year contracted amount of $263,000 falls under two different Capital Improvement Plan projects, B031 and B038. A two-year cost of $123,000 for the Outfall Inspections, MS4 Sampling, and Quarterly Storm Event Sampling is budgeted under account 280-1852-512.81-22 for CIP B038, NPDES Phase II Stormwater Compliance Program. This has a 2026 budget of $70,000 which is sufficient for this project's 2026 expected costs. A two-year cost of $140,000 for CSO Engineering Service (including data collection, flow meter installation and maintenance, and DMR preparation and review) and Flow Meter equipment purchases is budgeted under account 281-1856-512.73-09 for CIP B031, Long Term Control Plan Improvements. This contract must use funds allocated to the Long-Term Control Plan (LTCP) Fee, therefore CIP B031 has a 2026 available budget of $2,800,000 which is sufficient for this project.
IMPACT STATEMENT:
Traffic control may be needed during sensor installation or maintenance and repair work as some are located within structures in the roadway.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
I recommend the proposed Resolution be adopted.
cc: Infrastructure and Technology Committee
CITY OF AURORA, ILLINOIS
RESOLUTION NO. _________
DATE OF PASSAGE ________________
title
A Resolution to execute a two-year $263,000 contract with Fehr Graham & Associates, LLC for NPDES compliance and environmental sampling.
body
WHEREAS, the City of Aurora has a population of more than 25,000 persons and is, therefore, a home rule unit under subsection (a) of Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois Constitution of 1970; and
WHEREAS, subject to said Section, a home rule unit may exercise any power and perform any function pertaining to its government and affairs for the protection of the public health, safety, morals, and welfare; and
WHEREAS, the City must comply with the Environmental Protection Agency's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, which includes an NPDES Discharge permit for the City's 16 combined sewer outfalls and NPDES ILR40 permit, also known as the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) permit; and
WHEREAS, the attached Exhibit "A" is the two-year contractual agreement with Fehr Graham & Associates, LLC for a total of $263,000, which includes up to $45,000 of equipment purchases for mandated flow monitoring, and
WHEREAS, funds attributed to the MS4 permit must come from the Stormwater Fee and are budgeted under account 280-1852-512.81-22 for CIP B038, NPDES Phase II Stormwater Compliance Program, while funds attributed to the NPDES Discharge permit must come from the LTCP Fee and are budgeted under account 281-1856-512.73-09 for CIP B031, Long Term Control Plan Improvements; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to Aurora Code Section 2-336 the City may award a professional services contract excluded from formal bidding.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Aurora, Illinois, as follows: that the Director of Purchasing is hereby authorized to execute a contract with Fehr Graham & Associates, LLC of Freeport, IL in the amount of $263,000 for NPDES compliance and environmental sampling.