Kankakee City Council approves festival street closures, extends billboard permit and awards sewer and fuel contracts

Kankakee City Council members on Monday voted to appoint a mayor pro tem, approve street closures and noise permits for summer and fall events, extend a billboard conditional-use permit and award multiple public-works contracts.

The council appointed Alderman Osinga as mayor pro tem after a motion and a second by Alderman Prude; the clerk recorded the vote as 14 ayes, 0 nays. Mayor Pro Tem (speaker 4) opened the meeting and the council moved through routine business including approval of minutes and several permits.

The council approved a street closure for a children’s summer festival on West Chestnut Street (event scheduled 08/09/2026, 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.) and a fall festival closure for 10/03/2026; both were moved, seconded and passed by roll call. The council also approved a noise permit and street closures for the Kankakee County Unity Festival, requested for 07/18/2026, after the organizer described the event’s goals and requested city assistance with locations and presence.

Director King (speaker 20) explained a requested one-year extension for a conditional-use permit and variance for a billboard on Lot 1 of the Eastgate Subdivision, noting the original permit had been approved about a year earlier and the applicant needs more time to secure permitting. "They have been, I think they're submitted to IDOT, but the process takes a long time for permitting," Director King said. The council approved the extension by roll call (vote recorded as 13 ayes, 0 nays, 1 abstention).

On infrastructure contracts, Superintendent Newton (speaker 21) described low bids to clean and televise sewer basins to investigate infiltration and inflow. Newton said the low bids came in substantially below engineering estimates. The council awarded the basin 4 contract to Hair Construction, Inc. (agenda amount listed as $397,340) and awarded the northeast-basin televising contract to Pipe View LLC (approx. $462,440.30); both were approved by roll call (14 ayes, 0 nays).

The council also approved a bulk-fuel supply bid after staff reported three bids and recommended staying with the local supplier because the annual cost difference was negligible (staff estimated about $15 per year difference after calculating unit-price variances).

Financial approvals included passage of city bills and environmental-service utility bills. The clerk presented city bills "in the amount of $604,097.60," which the council approved by roll call; during the motion a speaker elsewhere in the meeting read the figure as "$6,044,097 dollars and 60¢," a discrepancy that appears in the transcript and is noted here for clarity. Environmental services utility bills of $954,818.43 were approved by roll call (14 ayes, 0 nays).

What’s next: Many actions passed on first reading or as standalone approvals and will move to implementation by the relevant departments. Staff will proceed with permitting and contracting steps for the awarded sewer work and fuel supply, and event organizers will coordinate with city staff on logistics and closures.

Votes at a glance: appointment of mayor pro tem — approved (14–0); West Chestnut kids summer fest closure — approved; Fall festival closure — approved; Kankakee County Unity Festival noise permit and closures — approved; Enterprise Zone boundary ordinance — approved (14–0); Billboard conditional-use extension — approved (13–0–1 abstention); Basin 4 sewer cleaning contract — approved (14–0); Pipe View LLC sewer contract — approved (14–0); Bulk fuel supply bid — approved.