Dubbo Regional Council has declined to release the tender documents for smart water meters set to be rolled out across the local government area at a cost of about $5 million.
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It reports the "time for access to the tender documents has now concluded".
"The tender for the smart water meters has now been awarded and the contract being finalised," a council spokesman said.
"Anything pertaining to the tender assessment and subsequent award is now a commercial-in-confidence matter.
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"In line with the NSW Government's Information Public Access Act 2009, information about the tender will be added to the Register of Government Contracts on council's website, which is updated quarterly."
On Friday, australiantenders.com.au carried numerous Dubbo Regional Council tenders, some of them marked "awarded" including the tender for the construction of Victoria Park No. 1 Oval playing surface.
Subscribers to the website were able to access tender details.
On Monday afternoon the website only showed seven Dubbo Regional Council tenders with closing dates ranging from March 5 to March 17.
On January 24 the council issued a statement announcing Taggle Systems had been awarded the smart meters contract.
"Council called for tenders for the supply and installation of smart meter technology for its entire fleet of water meters, including the development of an integrated water billing platform and a customer portal in late 2019," it read.
The council did not consult with ratepayers on the introduction of the smart meters fleet which it owns.
The project will be funded with ratepayer dollars already in the council's water and sewage budget.
It will take up to eight months to complete with a starting date yet to be announced.
