Committee discusses demolition contracting, approves bundled demolition contracts

Council Member Mary Waters, chair of the Detroit City Council Public Health and Safety Committee, chaired discussion and approval of multiple demolition contracts and pressed city staff for clarity on why demolition work is issued in bundled packages rather than smaller lots.

The committee approved unfinished business items 5.1 through 5.4, which are various demolition contracts, by motion and "hearing no objections," sending the items to formal session with a recommendation to approve. After the motion, members questioned staff about the city's procurement approach for demolition work.

Louan Counts, group executive of Construction and Building Operations, explained that packaging demolition properties together has been standard practice since the program began. Counts said packages historically contained several hundred properties ("about in the 400s") from roughly 2014 to 2019. After discussions with contractors, the city reduced package sizes to about 120 properties to better sustain a year's worth of contractor work. Counts said more recently packages have been reduced further; some current packages are around the high 50s.

Counts said emergency demolitions are handled separately but can be packaged when multiple emergencies are proximate. She said the city prequalifies demolition companies to meet Detroit's higher standards and runs a trial program for firms new to city work, but few trial participants have yet transitioned to larger packages. "You're not going to be a first-year demo company and come in and get a package of 50," Counts said, explaining the operational and financial risks to small contractors unfamiliar with Detroit's requirements.

Members asked for a deeper briefing on the back-end challenges and the committee was invited to participate in the city's annual "Demolition Week," starting the week of April 7, which Counts described as an opportunity to walk council members and community members through the demolition process and contractor expectations.

The committee made no changes to policy in the meeting; the specific demolition contracts referenced in items 5.1'5.4 were approved and will move forward to formal session as recommended.