Livonia council advances a slate of routine purchases and public works contracts, approves portable-toilet contract amendment

The Livonia City Council at its April study meeting advanced a group of routine awards, purchases and contract actions that will appear on the April 28 voting meeting agenda or were moved on consent during the study session.

Key items included:

- Fire ambulance replacement: The council heard a request from Fire Chief Jenison to purchase a Lifeline Type I Superliner ambulance through cooperative purchasing (Houston-Galveston Area Council) because lead times push delivery into 2027. Chief Jenison said the city’s vehicle-rotation plan would move older vehicles into reserve or auction when the new unit is received.

- McNamara Towers HVAC work: The Livonia Housing Commission requested award of a bid to replace the makeup-air system at Building 2 of McNamara Towers. Staff reported the last replacement was in 2008; the low qualified bid was listed in the packet.

- Leisure pool deck and water-slide refurbishment: Parks and Recreation asked the council to award contracts to refurbish the leisure pool decking at the Jackie Kursky Recreation Center and to refinish and re-examine bolts on the center’s water slide. Staff said pools require periodic heavy maintenance and presented prior experience in selecting qualified contractors rather than lowest bid in one instance.

- Portable-toilet contract resolution amendment: Public Works said a prior resolution mistakenly reflected one year of bid pricing; staff asked the council to amend the authorization so the contract covers the full 2025–2028 four-year period with a corrected total of $524,934.22. Officials confirmed ADA-compliant units are included as required.

- Sidewalk and path projects: Engineering and Parks staff described multiple small public-works projects funded through the general budget or Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), including a Newberg Road sidewalk extension (Pembroke Ave. to Joshua Simmons Drive), a Country Homes Park sidewalk installation, and Clement Circle park path repairs and culvert work to address chronic local flooding. Bids and low-bid amounts were presented in the packet.

- License agreement for courthouse drug testing: The Law Department presented a license agreement allowing Class A Training Center LLC (operating as TAP) to perform court-ordered drug testing at space in the Sixteenth District Courthouse; staff said the licensing change replaces a prior vendor and yields modest license revenue.

Several items were moved for approval on consent or advanced to the regular agenda for the April 28 voting meeting. In most consent cases the study session recorded no formal roll-call vote; staff said individual items will be finalized at the voting meeting.

Officials stressed that cooperative purchasing and sole-source selections were used where permitted: the ambulance purchase leverages a cooperative purchasing contract, and one pool contractor was recommended based on prior performance. Public Works confirmed ADA compliance requirements for portable toilets and said staff will verify site-level ADA placement for specific locations.

Staff and department heads answered technical questions about delivery timelines, warranty and maintenance cycles, and how older vehicles or equipment would be retired or disposed of when replacements arrive. No formal funding changes were made at the study session; items brought forward used previously budgeted funds or CDBG allocations as noted in the packet.