Joliet Pre-Council Meeting Summary - December 1, 2025
Joliet Pre-Council Meeting - December 1, 2025
The City of Joliet held its Pre-Council Meeting on Monday, December 1, 2025, at 5:30 PM in City Hall Council Chambers. The meeting featured a presentation on the proposed 2026 budget, a review of consent agenda items, and discussion of several ordinances and resolutions. No public comments were made. The council later entered closed session to discuss personnel, collective bargaining, land acquisition, and litigation.
Consent Calendar
- Invoices to be Paid – Routine approval of city invoices.
- Award of Contract to Precision Truck Center for Engine Rebuild in Ladder Truck FD 779 – $28,454.54 for rebuilding the engine of an aging ladder truck (no replacement available).
- Award of Contract for 2025 Roadways Resurfacing Contract A to PT Ferro Construction Co. – $516,142.58 for resurfacing in the Manningdale subdivision (southeast side at Mills Road and Raoul Avenue).
- Approval of Purchase of One Compact Electric Sweeper from Brown Equipment Company – $342,523.00 (offset by a $100,000 reimbursable grant). Councilman Clement expressed support, noting it will help clean downtown and parking decks.
- Award of Contract for District Meter Area Chamber Installation Project to P.T. Ferro Construction Co. – $267,550.00 to install 23 water meters creating 12 zones to locate water loss. Councilman Hug praised the project’s effectiveness, noting only two water main breaks in the previous month—a historic low.
- Approval of Amendment No. 1 for Engineering Design Services for Des Plaines River Tunnel Crossing Rehabilitation (Jacobs Associates dba Delve Underground) – $268,630.00 for detailed design of tunnel rehabilitation and water main replacement.
- Approval of Change Order No. 1 for 2025 Sanitary Sewer Cleaning and Inspection Program (Pipe View America) – $82,779.94 net increase for lateral locating and additional televising in the Southeast Joliet Sanitary District (reimbursable by the county).
- Award of Business Continuity Grant to Cut 158, Inc. – $63,733.50. Councilman Hug requested a list of all grant recipients; staff provided names of seven businesses receiving or applying for funds.
- Approval of Change Order No. 2 for Plainfield Road Water Main Improvements (Austin Tyler Construction) – Net decrease of ($1,735,236.11) and final pay estimate of $564,960.68, plus a 91-day time extension due to field changes and traffic realignments.
Public Comments & Testimony
- None.
Discussion Items
2026 Budget Presentation
- Kevin Sing, Director of Finance, presented the 2026 budget overview, focusing on capital projects. Total budget is nearly $650 million, with a $222 million general fund. Key capital highlights include:
- $23.5 million for roads and sidewalks (equivalent to ~43 lane miles of road work).
- $7 million for a Public Safety Institute in partnership with Joliet Junior College (funded by development fees from Compass Business Park).
- $2.4 million for two fire department pumper trucks and a $225,000 technical response vehicle.
- $300,000 for security camera deployment.
- $28 million for Lake Michigan water program improvements and $38 million for Grand Prairie Water Commission contributions.
- $3.5 million to replace 31 vehicles (15 police vehicles, dump trucks, street sweeper, etc.).
- Councilman Clement expressed concern about weed control and asked for dedicated funds. Kevin Sing confirmed $200,000 is allocated for weed and landscape maintenance. Clement urged early spring action.
- Councilman Hug requested a breakdown of the $23.5 million for roads and sidewalks and advocated for doubling sidewalk spending from the current ~$1.2–1.4 million per year to ~$2.5 million. He asked for a dedicated line item.
- Councilwoman Ibarra asked whether four new snow plows on order will be sufficient for a heavy winter season. She requested an assessment for future planning.
Ordinances and Resolutions
- Ordinance 642-25 (Library Tax Levy) – Levy for Joliet Public Library for FY 2025-2026.
- Ordinance 643-25 (City Tax Levy) – Levy for the City of Joliet for FY 2025-2026.
- Ordinance 644-25 (Board of Fire and Police Commissioners Rules Amendment) – Corrects a scrivener’s error and adds military preference points consistent with state law. Interim Corporation Counsel Todd Lenzie explained the changes.
- Resolution 646-25 (Maple Street Right-of-Way Dedication) – Adjusts property lines so the public right-of-way extends to the curb instead of the middle of the street.
- Resolution 647-25 (Theodore Street Widening Grant Match) – Commits city’s 20% local match ($168,960) for a federal Surface Transportation Program grant covering 80% of an estimated $2.844 million construction project.
- Resolution 648-25 (Grand Prairie Water Commission Easement) – Approves an easement for a water delivery structure on city property, the primary point of delivery.
- Resolution 649-25 (Joliet Correctional Center Intergovernmental Agreement) – Extends the city’s lease of the old Joliet Prison for three more years. City Manager Beth Beatty clarified the lease includes the east side property and requires state approval for new activities, such as museum operations.
Public Hearing for 2026 Budget (Item 640-25)
- The required public hearing on the 2026 budget is scheduled for Tuesday, December 2, 2025, to allow residents to comment. Adoption is targeted for December 16, 2025.
Key Outcomes
- No formal votes were taken on consent agenda items or ordinances/resolutions; they are scheduled for action at the regular City Council meeting on December 2, 2025.
- The council acknowledged the budget presentation and directed staff to provide further breakdowns on roads/sidewalks and snow plow capacity.
- Closed Session: A motion by Councilwoman Suzanna Ibarra, seconded by Councilman Juan Moreno, to enter closed session for personnel, collective bargaining, land acquisition/conveyance, and pending litigation carried unanimously (9 ayes). The meeting then adjourned.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening. Welcome to the City of Joliet pre-council meeting for Monday, December 1st, 2025 by 530 in City Hall Council Chambers with the Mayor Terry Darcy presiding. We'll begin with roll call. Mayor Darcy. Here. Councilman McCartiness. Here. Council McClement? Here. Councilman Hug? Councilman Abarra. Here. Councilman Moreno. Here. Councilman Madrin. Here. Councilman Quillman. Here. Councilman Ridden. Here. First, we have a presentation, 2026 budget presentation by Kevin Singh, Director of Finance. Good evening again. So tonight we wanted to focus primarily on the capital portion of the uh fiscal year 2026 budget. I'll also recap a little bit more on the operations and the total budget as a whole. So capital funds are in various different funds within the uh city, ranging from motor fuel tax, vehicle replacements, government capital, parking, and then the sewer and water funds. So the funding sources for capital come from on the government side, uh casino gaming revenues. So a couple of years ago, we took our casino revenues and we allocated them to fund capital improvements. They also come from our local fuel tax for vehicle replacements. Uh we receive an allotment from the state of Illinois' fuel tax, and then we also seek uh and receive grants uh as they become available. For sewer and water, we collect funds from utility rates dedicated and use those for capital improvements. Once again, we also seek and receive grants, and then we use debt. So some highlights for the capital uh government capital for 2026, uh roads and sidewalks. So in the various funds, there's just shy of 23.5 million dollars for roads and sidewalks. Uh it's broken out about a little over five and a half million in the capital government capital fund, small amount in general fund, and then most of it is in motor fuel tax fund. And then the amounts that we have set aside is roughly or the equivalent of roughly 43 lane miles of roadways uh of new road work. We also have a public safety institute uh in partnership with JJC. Uh we've budgeted the use seven million, not sure exactly how much that will come, but that represents the amount we received from uh development fee from the compass business part, which is restricted for that type of use. We also have some specialty vehicles for the fire department, two pumper trucks totaling about two point four million, and then a uh technical response vehicle for uh 225,000. And then police, we have various equipments from uh ballistic shields, drone program, and then replacing gas masks that are aged uh quite a bit in the police department. Then we've also got 300,000 in a to continue our deployment of security cameras throughout the city to increase public safety. For sewer and water, we're continuing our water main replacement uh down a little bit for this year, represents roughly 18 miles of roadway. It's that uh we fund that through uh combination of loans, bonds, and low interest loans through the uh Illinois EPA. We also continue our late Michigan water program. Uh we've got almost 28 million programmed in the budget uh for our improvements to be able to accept Lake Michigan water, and then as part of uh Grand Prairie Water Commission, we've got about 38 million that we're on the uh have in our budget to go fund towards our contribution to that. Continuing the West Side uh wastewater treatment plan expansion uh design. Also have just under two and a half million on the sewer collection system, so that's a sanitary sewer. Uh just under six and a half million for water and four point seven million for sanitary sewer itself. Uh for vehicle replacements, uh this is funded by our local fuel tax. We're replacing 31 vehicles just shy of three and a half million dollars, uh 15 police vehicles for large dump trucks, uh street sweeper, seven roadways trucks, uh, an electrical service truck, and three inspectorslash admin vehicles for sewer and water looking to replace two dunk trucks. Moving into the total budget itself or comprehensive budget, uh shaping up to be just shy of $650 million.
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