Common Council Defers Approval on Engineering Services for Janesville Road

The Common Council voted 3-2 Tuesday night to defer a vote on hiring Ayres Associates Inc. to perform engineering design services for the Janesville Road reconstruction project. 

Ayres has been retained by Waukesha County to handle the county’s portion of the major road project. City of Muskego engineering staff would like Ayres to handle the relocation of city utilities to coincide with the road work.

However, in a somewhat unexpected move, Second District Alderman Kert Harenda pulled the resolution from the consent agenda for discussion. Harenda then argued a competitive bid process did not occur, and that there should be two more bids submitted to the city before a decision is made.

Harenda expressed concern that the council had no other bids to compare Ayres' price. He said that if a resident from his district approaches him and asks what the council's reasoning was for going with Ayres, he had nothing to present.

Mayor Kathy Chiaverotti and First District Alderman Tracy Snead argued that going with Aryes "made common sense." They argued Aryes offered a great bid on the project, but that the project would run more smoothly and efficiently because one firm would be handling the entire project. Adding another firm to the mix could potentially lead to communication breakdowns and other problems between the two, they said.

In the end, Third District Alderman Neil Borgman and Fifth District Alderman Dan Soltysiak joined Harenda in voting to defer the passage of the resolution until the next council meeting in two weeks.

Before joining Snead in voting to oppose the deferment, Sixth District Alderman Neome Schaumberg questioned how realistic it would be to see two more bids arrive before the next Council meeting.

Not present were Aldermen Keith Werner and Noah Fiedler, of Districts Four and Seven, respectively.

Following the meeting, Chiaverotti said she was concerned by the vote.

“It's unfortunate that the resolution to approve utility work for the first phase of Janesville Road reconstruction was deferred," she said. "It was a commonsense decision. When a firm has been contracted by the county for their utility work and we piggy back for the same service, it's a commonsense decision that moves the project along in an efficient and cost-effective manner."

Chiaverotti said the city engineer made the recommendation and that the recommendation was approved by both the Public Works and Finance committees before making its way to the council.