Utility committee recommends $860,000 in sewer televising contracts and a local fuel supplier to city council

The Environmental Services Utility advisory committee on May 18 voted to recommend three procurement actions to the full Kankakee City Council: televising and cleaning contracts for Basin 4 and Basin 9 and a bulk fuel supply contract.

Staff opened bidding May 6 for Basin 4 (south of town, area near the state hospital and Walmart). The low bid for cleaning and televising Basin 4 came from Hair Construction at $397,340, about 25% below the engineer’s estimate. Eric, the staff presenter, said the bid “came in pretty well” and the committee approved forwarding the recommendation to the city council. Alderwoman Johnson moved the recommendation; Alderman Baron seconded the motion, which carried on roll call.

For Basin 9 (northeast corner of the city), Pipe View LLC submitted the low bid at $462,440.30, roughly 21% under estimate. Staff noted Pipe View had not previously worked for the city but said the vendor passed the city’s vetting process. Alderman Jones moved the recommendation and Alderwoman Johnson seconded; the committee approved sending the award recommendation to the full council.

On bulk fuel supply, staff reported three bids opened May 12 and recommended staying with the local bidder, Baron Huitt Oil Company, after calculating the bids were nearly identical (differences equivalent to about $14 per year). The committee voted to recommend the fuel contract; one member abstained on the vote to avoid a potential conflict of interest.

Each recommendation will appear on the full city council’s agenda for final award. The televising and cleaning contracts are intended to support the city’s inflow-and-infiltration reduction work; staff said the Basin 4 and Basin 9 projects will evaluate and clean lines to reduce unnecessary inflow into the wastewater system.