Monee Approves $158,724 Payment on 2025 Sidewalk Project

Monee Village Board Meeting | May 27, 2026

Article Summary: The Monee Village Board on Wednesday, May 27, 2026, approved a $158,723.98 payment to contractor M&J Underground, Inc. for the 2025 Monee Sidewalk Improvements project, even as a resident pressed the board about extending sidewalks to another section of Main Street.

Monee Sidewalk Project Key Points:

• The board approved Pay Request #2 to M&J Underground in the amount of $158,723.98, on a 5-0 vote.
• The project carries a contract sum of $379,772.91 and is roughly 67% complete, with $254,531.58 earned to date.
• A resident asked about a possible sidewalk on Main Street between Ruby and Will Center, but officials said drainage and open ditches make it a costly, lower-priority job.

MONEE — The Monee Village Board on Wednesday, May 27, 2026, approved a second progress payment of $158,723.98 to M&J Underground, Inc. for the village’s 2025 Sidewalk Improvements project, advancing a roadway-and-walkway program that residents say they are already putting to use.

The payment was presented as the second board action request under the administrator’s report. According to the board packet, Village Administrator Ruben Bautista told trustees that staff and the village’s consulting firm, Robinson Engineering, Ltd., had confirmed the contractor’s invoice met contract requirements before recommending payment.

Funding and Project Status Detailed

The packet laid out the payment in detail. M&J Underground has earned $254,531.58 to date on the project. From that figure, the village withheld 10% retention, or $25,453.16, and subtracted $70,354.44 in previous billings, leaving the $158,723.98 due on this request. In a May 8, 2026, letter to the village, Robinson Engineering Project Engineer Geoff Aggen wrote that the firm had reviewed the work and found it in substantial compliance with the plans and specifications.

Supporting documents in the packet show the project’s contract sum stands at $379,772.91 — an original contract of $376,086.46 plus a $3,686.45 change order — and that work completed and stored to date represents about 67% of the contract value. The application for payment lists a remaining balance to finish, including retainage, of $150,694.49.

The motion to approve passed 5-0, with Trustees Heidi Gonzalez, Doug Horne, Chuck Rakis, Michael Wilson and Scott Youdris voting in favor. Trustee John Henson was absent.

Before the vote, one trustee, noting the spring weather, encouraged residents to “go out and walk-test our new sidewalks, especially the one on Will Center Road,” describing that stretch as one that “looks exceptionally well.”

Residents Eye More Sidewalks

The sidewalk program drew renewed interest during the meeting’s public comment period, when resident Linda Marshall of 5032 West Herbert Court asked whether the village had plans for a sidewalk between Ruby and Will Center along Main Street, noting that only a single home along that stretch currently has a walkway and that families with school-age children live on the street.

Officials said the idea has been discussed but faces significant obstacles. Unlike the Will Center Road work, which required relatively minimal regrading, much of that section of Main Street remains lined with open drainage ditches that would have to be reconfigured with storm sewer service, a village official explained. “It’s on the radar,” the official said, “but not a priority.”

The 2025 sidewalk work follows earlier reporting that landscaping restoration tied to the project had been substantially completed, and village officials have indicated a separate 2026 sidewalk project is in the works.