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Warrenville council approves purchase and installation of two market sheds after procedural challenge
Summary
After an initial vote failed because waiving competitive bidding required a six‑vote supermajority, the Warrenville City Council reconsidered and approved Resolution R2025‑55 to purchase and install two 12×16 market sheds from Countryside Barns, tied to a $25,000 DuPage County grant with funds that must be spent by November.
The Warrenville City Council voted to approve Resolution R2025‑55 on Sept. 15, 2025, authorizing a contract with Countryside Barns Incorporated to purchase and install two 12‑by‑16‑foot market sheds for the planned market. The contract was approved after councilors reconsidered an earlier failed vote on the same motion.
The matter initially failed because the motion to waive competitive bidding did not garner the supermajority the council requires. An official pointed out that waiving the bidding process required six affirmative votes; because that threshold was not met on the first roll call, the chair announced the motion had failed. Council then took a short recess and returned to reconsider the item. A motion to reconsider passed by voice vote, the resolution was reintroduced, and the subsequent roll call recorded sufficient ayes to carry the resolution.
The measure authorizes the city to waive competitive bidding and enter a contract with Countryside Barns for two 12‑ft by 16‑ft sheds for the market. Emery, the city’s Community and Economic Development director, told the council the project advanced on an accelerated schedule because the city received a $25,000 grant from DuPage County tied to development of the market. “The funds for the grant have to be spent by November, which is why we flipped things a bit in our schedule to provide some early direction with construction of the baseline of the market,” Emery said.
An alderman who raised procedural concerns said the item had been moved from a lower (tier 3) priority to tier 1 without clear council involvement and criticized the decision to waive competitive bidding. “Without competitive bidding and due consideration of alternative sites, I just wonder if we're treating ourselves differently than how we would have treated anyone else who came in with a project similar to this,” the alderman said, calling for more diligence and adherence to the established process.
Mayor Andrew Johnson thanked the critic and said the points had been heard: “Bill, your points were made and understood and clarified,” the mayor said, while noting the city could now proceed with staff work on the project. City staff indicated the grant timing and a planned soft launch in October were factors that prompted the scheduling change.
The resolution passage allows staff to finalize the contract and proceed with procurement and installation planning for the sheds. Because the grant funds must be spent by November, staff said they will need to finalize the implementation timeline quickly; the council did not set a separate vote on financing at the meeting.
