New Lenox Fast-Tracks Over $310,000 in SCADA Upgrades, Advances IEPA Loan for New Water Facility

Village of New Lenox Meeting | May 11, 2026

Article Summary: The Village Board waived formal bidding to approve a pair of six-figure proposals from TriR Systems to replace aging radio antennas and install a secure SCADA server for the village’s water infrastructure.

Public Works Infrastructure Key Points:

• The Board approved a $156,500 proposal for a new SCADA server to secure sensitive water data off the main village network.

• A concurrent $153,500 proposal was approved to replace glitching radio antennas on the village’s water towers.

• Trustees advanced a first-read ordinance to seek IEPA loan funding for Phase 1B1 of the Water Resource Recovery Facility (WRRF).

The New Lenox Village Board on Monday, May 11, 2026, authorized critical security and communication upgrades for its public works department, waiving the formal bidding process to approve over $310,000 in contracts with TriR Systems.

The two approved proposals deal directly with the village’s Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system, the crucial technological framework used to monitor and control municipal water operations.

The first proposal, totaling $156,500, will fund a dedicated SCADA server at the Public Works facility. According to village staff, the upgrade is designed to improve cybersecurity by limiting the amount of sensitive water data stored on the main village server. Furthermore, the new system will eventually serve as a vital redundancy backup for the server that will be installed at the future Water Resource Recovery Facility (WRRF).

The second proposal, totaling $153,500, targets the village’s communication hardware. Staff reported that the SCADA radio antennas located on top of the village water towers are rapidly aging out and are no longer functioning reliably.

“We’re having glitches and we’re not getting all the information we need,” public works staff told the Board.

Because TriR Systems has exclusively handled the village’s SCADA work for several years, the Board unanimously agreed to wave the formal competitive bidding process for both contracts to ensure systemic continuity.

In a related infrastructure move, the Board heard a first read of an ordinance authorizing the village to borrow funds from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) Water Pollution Control Loan Program.

The IEPA funds will finance Phase 1B1 of the new WRRF project. The phase involves the construction of a major gravity line that will stretch from the intersection of Nelson Road and Haven Avenue all the way to the site of the new treatment plant. Because it was a first read, the Board will vote on the IEPA loan ordinance at a future meeting.