Waukesha council approves infrastructure bids, property surplus declaration and four-year firefighters’ contract

The Waukesha Common Council on July 1 approved several contract awards and land actions tied to city infrastructure and operations and voted to approve a four-year collective bargaining agreement with the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 407.

Why it matters: The votes fund an HVAC upgrade at the downtown library, a retaining-wall repair in Harp Springs and advance the sale and disposition of small city-owned parcels. The labor agreement affects pay and terms for the city’s firefighters; the municipal code revisions create a process for designated outdoor refreshment areas (DORAs) and adjust code-violation forfeitures.

Key decisions and outcomes

- Real property purchase agreement amendment: The council approved a third amendment to a purchase agreement for roughly 4.92 acres on Delafield Street, extending the due-diligence/closing timeline. The extension ties the closing deadline to two triggers: final resolution of a lawsuit involving the property (the case had been dismissed the week prior but appeals were possible) and approval and recording of a required conservation easement because the parcel is part of a historic site. The motion to approve the amendment was made by Alderman Rick Lemke and passed 11–1 with 1 abstention.

- 223 Southwest Avenue declared surplus and put out to bid: The council declared a small, triangular parcel at 223 Southwest Avenue surplus and later, after closed session, voted to post the property for 30 days with instructions that bids include the offer and the bidder’s intended use. The surplus declaration vote passed unanimously; the subsequent motion to put the parcel out for bid passed 12–1.

- Library HVAC: The council accepted the low bid from Lee Mechanical for the library HVAC improvement project in the amount of $394,621. The motion passed unanimously.

- Harp Springs retaining wall: The council approved the base bid from Always Contractors for the Harp Springs retaining-wall improvement project for $488,906. The project came in over the project’s original 2021 budget of $185,000; staff said inflation and a modest scope increase (an added wing wall) accounted for the difference. The motion passed 12–1.

- Collective bargaining agreement: The council approved a four-year collective bargaining agreement between the City of Waukesha and IAFF Local 407. The motion passed 12–1.

- Designated outdoor refreshment areas (DORA): Revisions to municipal code section 11.27 governing DORAs were approved on third reading. The ordinance creates rules including wristbands and single-drink-per-wristband limits; the motion passed 12–1.

- Code-violation penalties: The council considered amendments to municipal code sections 11.01 and 25.05 to increase penalties for certain code violations and to align forfeitures with the bonded schedule; council members approved a motion to adopt the revisions that include a minimum forfeiture level coordinated to the bond schedule (the packet’s revision 2 set the minimum at $10 to align with the bond schedule). (The meeting record shows the motion to adopt the revision presented as “revision 2” and the council moved to adopt that version.)

Other items and context

- Rooming-house licensing: The plan commission proposed changes to streamline rooming-house licensing, including allowing the clerk’s office to issue licenses when inspections find no violations, moving references away from a “health inspector” (the city has no health inspector) and separating fee amounts from the ordinance text so fees can be changed without altering the ordinance. This item was on second reading and will return for a subsequent vote.

- Appointments: The council appointed Jeff Fowley to the Redevelopment Authority; that motion passed unanimously.

The council meeting also included multiple commission reports and routine procedural votes. Several capital items came in over multi-year budget estimates; staff and the city administrator said they are updating capital- budgeting procedures and incorporating additional departmental review to reduce scope/budget mismatches going forward.