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South Lyon awards $314,537 Lafayette Park bid; council debates EV charger and loss of adjacent parking
Summary
Council awarded phase 1 of Lafayette Park improvements to Nicholas Contracting for $314,537.20, approving funds from account 101751978. Discussion centered on EV-charging infrastructure, who will pay for electrical setup, and the reduction of three park-adjacent spaces.
The South Lyon City Council awarded a $314,537.20 contract to Nicholas Contracting Inc. of Milford for Phase 1 of Lafayette Park improvements and authorized use of funds from account 101751978.
City staff presented three bids and recommended awarding the project to the lowest responsive bidder, Nicholas Contracting. Councilmember Hanson moved to award the contract; Councilmember Kibble seconded the motion. The council approved the award on a roll-call vote; Mayor Stephen B. Kennedy recorded a "no" vote, while other members voted in favor.
During discussion, councilmembers and staff addressed an element of the project to install EV-charging infrastructure adjacent to the park. The project design reduces the three on-street parking spaces immediately adjacent to the park to three spaces under the new plan (one of which would be designated handicap and one intended for EV charging). Councilmembers asked whether the $15,000 line item tied to an EV charging station covered the charger hardware or only electrical/infrastructure work. Staff and the DDA indicated the charging company that has installed other downtown stations had committed to install chargers at no cost in some cases, but the city had budgeted money for electrical work and transformer access if the vendor did not install the hardware. Councilmembers discussed that the electrical work would also enable power for food trucks and other event needs.
Councilmembers raised concerns about the impact of dedicating one of the three park-adjacent spaces for charging and about whether one of the remaining spaces would be reserved for handicap access. Staff confirmed one of the three spaces would be handicap-accessible. The council discussed additional parking available in the downtown and previous instances where planned power hookups for public events were not fully realized. The city manager noted the budget included funds to provide electrical infrastructure if the charging vendor did not supply the equipment.
The council approved the contract award by roll call; Clerk Deaton recorded the vote. The contract will proceed to implementation with engineering oversight and required electrical work to be scheduled in coordination with other downtown infrastructure plans.
