Evanston City Council Meeting 10-26-2026

The Evanston City Council’s October 26, 2026 meeting included a presentation on the proposed FY2027 Capital Improvement Program (CIP) and budget, followed by a public budget hearing; no budget or CIP adoption action was taken. The proposed CIP totals about $100 million, with roughly 32% expected to be supported by low-interest loans and outside grants. Projects discussed included water-main and lead-service-line replacements, street and transportation improvements, parks, municipal facilities, and water-treatment-plant reliability. Funding plans included reallocating motor-fuel-tax resources away from street resurfacing for two years to help meet major-project matching needs, increased traffic-calming funding, and a $600,000 city contribution toward the canoe-launch project’s parking-lot work. Staff also described upcoming procurement activity, including design and construction work for facilities and water infrastructure, a planned building-energy RFP, and an RFP for a brownfields grant subrecipient. The council discussed concerns about project affordability, staffing capacity, pedestrian and bicycle safety funding, and the need to prioritize projects before issuing bonds.

The council approved the consent agenda, including Resolution 224R26 for the purchase of winter-season rock salt from Morton Salt Incorporated; Resolution 242R26 waiving competitive bidding for selected facility-supply, hardware, repair, and inspection vendors; and Resolution 286R26 directing that competitively bid roadway public-works projects be advertised on the IDOT website. The consent agenda also included payroll and bills approval, an agreement with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District for GIS data access, and a rental-housing scatter-site acquisition item. Separately, the Church Street Plaza plan-development amendment (P1) passed 8–1. The budget hearing featured public requests for greater investment in safer streets and crossing guards, along with concerns about taxes, fees, reserves, and financial transparency. Industry-related budget updates included anticipated 2027–28 fleet procurements for garbage trucks, fire engines, and ambulances, which have 18–24-month lead times; these were described as upcoming negotiations, not awards.