Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Contracts And Infrastructure topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Joliet council reviews multiple contracts; Verandah Park water‑main change order posts $807,418 deduction
Summary
Council previewed agenda and consent items including professional services agreements and change orders. City staff said the large deduction on the Verandah Park water‑main project resulted from less rock excavation than anticipated; council also moved forward with a First Due web‑based fire inspection and reporting contract renewal.
City staff reviewed a slate of consent and agenda items Monday that included professional services agreements for water‑system engineering, contracts for sanitary‑sewer work, contract amendments and change orders for water‑main projects, and a renewal of the Fire Department’s First Due web‑based inspection and reporting suite.
Among the items called out by council was change order No. 2 on the Verandah Park Water Main Improvements Project, which showed a deduction of $807,418.80. Council member Allison (staff identified by first name) asked how the city saved that amount; a city engineer or project manager explained the deduction reflected less rock excavation than had been anticipated in the original contract. “There was not as much rock excavation as was ... anticipated. So there was a large quantity of rock excavation included in the contract that wasn't utilized,” the staff member said.
A smaller deduction, $6,757.66, was listed for the Guernsey Park Phase B water‑main improvement project. Other consent items noted in the pre‑council review included a $155,428.70 professional services agreement with Kavanaugh & Associates PA for district‑metered area design and implementation, a $114,100 agreement with RJN Group for the 2026 sanitary sewer rehabilitation program, and a $30,000 amendment to an on‑call wastewater treatment engineering contract with Strand Associates Inc.
The Fire Department’s contract with Locality Media Inc., doing business as First Due, for web‑based inspection services and the full First Due suite was also on the agenda. Deputy Chief Shotelsky described the system’s functions, saying the department has used parts of First Due for two years and acquired the full suite last year, which now handles scheduling, fire and EMS reporting, asset and inventory tracking, inspections and investigative case tracking. He also said the city recently added an AI feature to help crews draft narratives and populate report fields.
Council members did not ask to pull these consent items for further review and the items moved forward on the agenda for formal action at the next meeting.
