WAUPUN — The Waupun City Council tabled the purchase after reviewing quotes for new police vehicles at this week’s Special Common Council meeting held January 27, 2026.
The Waupun Police Department received quotes for the purchase of two new police vehicles: a 2026 Ford Explorer Interceptor which would replace a current patrol vehicle, and a 2026 Ford F150 Police Responder to replace the current K-9 patrol vehicle.
Quotes for both vehicles were received from Holiday Automotive, Homan Auto Group, and Napleton 151 Auto Group.
Before discussion, Mayor Rohn Bishop requested to table the two items for the February meeting. According to Mayor Bishop, Homan Auto contacted him the morning of the meeting requesting an extension so they could correct parts of their quote.
Alderman Pete Kaczmarski asked City Attorney Dan VandeZande if there was any legal issue with this. VandeZande said there was no legal issue.
City Administrator Kathy Schlieve said the only issue that might be posed is whether the compared quotes were for apples-to-apples vehicles that meet the specifications the City is looking for the same across every bid.
City Attorney VandeZande added that different municipalities may have different rules for it, but as long as the City is following it, there is no issue—which is the case with these quotes.
Alderman Dan Siebers asked if the bid could be submitted to the Police Department before the next meeting so it could be included in the packet. Siebers said that he would prefer to not go through the bid process in the Council meeting.
Alderman Kaczmarski said that the other businesses should be able to resubmit bids if the City Council will allow Homans to, to be fair to the other vendors.
Alderman Mike Matoushek asked how many bids were received. The Police Department received only the three bids.
The lowest quote included in the packet was from Holiday Automotive for both vehicles—$45,007 for the 2026 Police Interceptor Utility and $46,690 for the 2026 F-150 Police Responder. Homan Auto’s quotes came in at $47,119.50 and $48,289.50, respectively.
The City’s local purchasing policy allows purchases from local vendors for comparable quotes if it provides a better value compared to the lowest bid. Factors for the “best value” equation include lead time, access to warranty services, and more.
If the City purchased vehicles from Holiday or Napleton 151, the work would need to be done out of town which would increase costs and downtime on the vehicles compared to a vendor in-town such as Homan Auto.
Each of the quotes were included in the meeting agenda packet.
The Council unanimously passed a motion to table the item for next meeting.
