Kankakee City Council approves purchase of new sewer services dump truck

After 21 years of service, the “work horse” of Kankakee’s sewer services department is being put out to pasture.The Kankakee City Council approved the purchase of a new dump truck from Elmhurst Ford for $102,095 at Monday’s council meeting.It will replace a 2005 GMC 3500, which City Manager Elizabeth Skubal said has been an “absolute work horse for us” during its lifetime with the city. In addition to hauling large pieces of construction equipment and debris to and from sewer projects, the dump truck had also been used frequently over the past two decades to plow snow downtown, Skubal added.The old dump truck will remain in service for the city as backup if necessary.“We’ll hang onto to it and use it as long as we can get some useful life out of it,” said Environmental Services Utility Superintendent Zachary Newton.Elmhurst Ford’s bid came in about $28,000 less than the only other bid from One Nation Distribution LLC when bids were unsealed Oct. 14, according to city records.Though the