City Council Convenes On Tariff Impacts; Puchalski Proposes "Domestic Cement Summit"

WAUKESHA — Councilman Gary Puchalski called an emergency session of the Waukesha Common Council on Monday to discuss what he described as "a fast-moving cement situation," after city procurement staff informed him that a new 50 percent federal tariff on Canadian cement, which took effect last week, could delay the decorative concrete apron work planned around the East Avenue roundabout.

The apron work, a stamped and colored concrete treatment for the splitter islands and pedestrian crossings that was never part of the roundabout's core structure when it opened to traffic in February, had been budgeted at $340,000 and scheduled to begin in October. City Purchasing Director Alan Meffert told Puchalski the specialty stamped-concrete mix specified in the original bid documents is sourced from a supplier in Windsor, Ontario, and that the tariff would add an estimated $61,000 to the project's material cost if the order goes forward as written.

"We need to understand this situation fast," Puchalski said, standing before a whiteboard on which someone had already written "CEMENT???" in red marker before the meeting began. "This is not a wait-and-see thing. Waiting means the roundabout goes into 2027 looking the way it looks right now, which is gray."

The Domestic Cement Summit

Puchalski's proposed response is a "Domestic Cement Summit," a half-day meeting he wants to hold within three weeks at the municipal complex, inviting representatives from four regional concrete contractors, a state Department of Transportation liaison, and, in Puchalski's words, "anyone in Wisconsin who has ever poured a stamped crosswalk and wants to talk about it." He has not yet confirmed a date, but told the council he is targeting the week of September 14.

City Engineer Wanda Trebilcock, who has overseen the roundabout project since its original construction, told the council that switching to a domestic cement supplier is technically possible but would require re-testing the color and stamping specifications, since the Ontario mix was chosen specifically for an aggregate finish that matched a sample board approved by the council in January. "We can find American cement," Trebilcock said. "Finding American cement that looks like the sample board is a different question."

"We can find American cement. Finding American cement that looks like the sample board is a different question."

— Wanda Trebilcock, City Engineer

Three Months, Or 2027

Internal estimates circulated to council members ahead of Monday's session put the delay at three months if a domestic supplier is secured quickly, or a push into the 2027 construction season if the summit fails to produce an alternative by November 1, when the city's paving contractor said it needs a final materials order to hold its October slot.

Alderman Denise Worzalla asked whether the apron work could simply be postponed a year without much consequence, since the roundabout has functioned, if not gracefully, since February. Puchalski said he "would not call gray concrete acceptable long-term" and noted that the roundabout has already drawn enough attention for reasons unrelated to its appearance, a reference several council members took to mean the intersection's ongoing navigation difficulties. "We don't need one more thing wrong with it," Puchalski said. "Even if this thing is cosmetic. Especially because it's cosmetic. Cosmetic things, we can control."

Meffert said his office has already reached out to two Wisconsin-based concrete suppliers, one in Waukesha County and one in Fond du Lac, to request revised bids using domestically sourced material, but cautioned that neither has confirmed it can match the original color specification without a new test pour, a process that typically takes two to three weeks per attempt.

What Happens Next

The council voted 6-1 to authorize Puchalski to organize the Domestic Cement Summit, with Alderman Worzalla casting the lone dissenting vote, saying she supported the idea in principle but objected to the word "summit" for what she called "six contractors and a DOT guy in the room next to the DPW garage." Puchalski said the venue is still being finalized.

Trebilcock said her office will present updated cost and timeline options at the council's September 2 meeting, regardless of what the summit produces, and that a final decision on whether to proceed with the tariffed Ontario mix, wait for a domestic match, or delay the apron work entirely will need to be made by mid-September to preserve the October construction window.

Puchalski closed Monday's session by asking city staff to compile a one-page summary of the tariff situation "that a normal person could read in the amount of time it takes to drive around the roundabout once," a request Trebilcock said her office would attempt but could not guarantee, "depending on how many times the normal person in question needs to go around."