Finance committee debates single-bid parks landscaping contract, votes to advance issue to full council

The Muskego City Finance Committee on Feb. 25 considered awarding a two-year parks and facility landscaping services contract after the city received a single bid from Siebert Landscaping. City staff said the new contract would reduce the two-year cost from $365,000 under the last contract to $327,500, a savings staff attributed to scope changes including taking over maintenance of Manchester Park and reducing edging and mulching in the second year.

The discussion centered on why only one bidder responded, whether some local contractors were discouraged from bidding, and whether the committee should reopen the solicitation. Scott, a city staff member who presented the item, told the committee, “This will allow us to save, like I said, $39,500 in contracted services,” and described scope reductions (skipping some edging and mulching in 2026 and adding one park to city crews) as the basis for the savings.

Several alderpersons and other speakers pressed staff on outreach and procurement options. Committee members and speakers named local firms that had held or sought the contract in prior years, including Happy Mower and vendors who hold school-district or other municipal contracts. One committee member said they had received calls and an email indicating contractors were discouraged from bidding; staff denied telling any firm not to bid and said they had reached out to eight potential providers for this cycle. A member asked for a cost-breakdown and analysis to confirm the city would not spend more in staff time or equipment to realize the reported savings.

Alderman Kabaki opposed redoing the solicitation, saying reopening it after a contract has been submitted would “undermine” the process: “I really strongly object to to redoing this for several reasons,” Kabaki said, arguing that the contracting process and Siebert’s bid had been fair. Other committee members said rebidding or broader solicitation might produce more bidders and potentially lower price but acknowledged trade-offs including the precedent it would set and the administrative cost of a formal public bid.

After extended debate, the committee voted to advance the landscaping contract to the full City Council without a committee recommendation so the full council can consider whether to accept the sole bid, reopen for quotes, or publicly rebid. The committee recorded the voice vote as passed; the transcript does not provide a roll-call tally for named members on that final committee action.

The committee also requested a written breakdown from staff showing how the $39,500 in stated savings was achieved (edging and mulch reductions, added city labor/equipment, and the cost of acquiring a mower were highlighted in discussion), and asked staff to summarize outreach efforts to potential bidders. Staff said they would provide a follow-up analysis by email to the committee members.

The item will next appear before the full Muskego City Council for final direction or action.