Waukesha City utility panel approves $11.82 million in 2026 blanket purchase orders

The Waukesha City Water Utility Commission on Dec. 18 approved blanket purchase orders for 2026 totaling $11,820,478 to streamline recurring purchases and support the new operations center.

Courtney, the utility staff member who presented the list, said the blanket purchase orders let the commission and accounting use a single PO across the year for recurring vendor spending. "All of these amounts on the list of items are included in the original approved budget," Courtney said, and noted the total of $11,820,478 reflects a modest increase from the prior year.

The list includes several large recurring or planned items: roughly $3.2 million for purchase of water, purchases tied to the operations center (office furnishings and security hardware), SCADA-related services, mailing and billing processing by AB Data, and fleet replacements including a Ford F-550 and a dump-body/plow. Courtney said AB Data remains the billing mail-and-processing vendor during the billing-system transition and that competitive pricing is used for procurement.

Commissioners asked clarifying questions about specific vendors and line items, including whether some entries are associated with the operations center. Courtney said office furnishings and several operation-center items are included, and noted the fleet and parts purchases were budgeted. The commission also discussed jurisdiction for some fees in other agenda items (PSC vs. common council authority) during the meeting.

The commission voted to approve the blanket purchase orders; the chair announced the motion passed. The approved POs will allow staff to process recurring purchases and vendor payments through 2026 without seeking individual POs for each repeat transaction.

Next steps: staff will process vendor orders under the approved POs and continue to bring items that exceed budgeted amounts back to the commission for approval.