Council approves road contracts, a contractor pay request and purchase of water-tower generators

The LaSalle City Council approved multiple infrastructure items Monday, including a low bid award for a Safe Routes to School project, a contractor pay request for ongoing road work and the purchase of emergency generators for water towers. Council accepted the low bid of $340,267.80 from Gensini Excavating Inc. for the Safe Routes to School project after a councilor described the company as reputable and noted the bid was $7,500 less than the next bidder. The motion to accept the bid passed on a roll call with aldermen voting aye. The council also approved pay request number 1 for Universal Asphalt and Excavating Inc., totaling $198,299.44 for work completed to date on the 2025 road improvements (an MFT project). Engineer Brian Brown told council crews resumed work after a breakdown and weather delays; officials said remaining work is planned to continue the following week. Separately, the finance committee recommended and council approved purchase of emergency generators for the Civic and Cannon water towers from Cummins at a cost of $67,200. The motion to accept the committee’s recommendation passed with a recorded aye vote from councilors. Discussion vs. decision: Each item was a formal council action. The Safe Routes bid was awarded, the pay request was approved and the generator purchase authorized. No amendments were recorded in the meeting minutes. Why it matters: The projects fund safety and reliability improvements — a Safe Routes to School project aims to improve walk/bike access near schools, the MFT roadwork covers city streets, and generators support water-service continuity during outages. Details: Bids and pay requests were presented on the council agenda with the exact dollar amounts recorded in the meeting. Staff noted seasonal and equipment delays for the road project; no additional funding sources or grant details were provided in the transcript.