Village of Waukesha awards $1.51 million contract for new Public Works building

The Village of Waukesha board voted July 23 to accept a $1,508,850 base bid from Ford Construction Company for a new Department of Public Works building. Greg, the village’s project consultant, told trustees the firm was the lowest of three responsive bidders and that the recommendation included a 10% contingency to cover potential change orders.

"We received 3 bids from Ford Construction, Morton Buildings, and Alcon LLC, with the low bidder being Ford Construction Company at a base bid cost of $1,508,850," Greg said during the bid presentation. Several trustees pressed staff for access to the full bid packet, which totals roughly 500 pages; the chair said the village had budgeted $2,000,000 for the project and staff expects the bid plus contingency and consultant fees to remain under that amount.

Trustees raised questions about product substitutions and oversight during construction; Greg described a formal shop-drawing and substitution-review process and said all proposed alternatives would be reviewed by the village engineer. One trustee said, "I have no idea what I'm voting on," noting they had not seen the full packet; staff said the packet can be emailed to trustees. After discussion, a motion to accept Ford Construction's bid was made, seconded, and approved by voice vote.

The board discussed next steps: Ford Construction will submit design-build elements (electrical, HVAC, plumbing) for state review, and the village will schedule a preconstruction meeting. Staff recommended keeping the 10% contingency available for unforeseen work and said change orders would be brought back to the board as needed. The board did not set a formal construction start date during the meeting; staff said activity would proceed once contract formalities and state approvals are complete.