Lincoln Park council approves county park grant, police labor pact and multiple city contracts

Lincoln Park — The Lincoln Park City Council on May 12 approved a package of funding agreements and contracts including a $27,004 Wayne County parks grant for improvements to the Community Center Ice Arena, ratified a two-year tentative agreement with the Fraternal Order of Police Labor Council and awarded several construction and maintenance contracts for city facilities and parks.

The Council approved the Wayne County funding agreement for $27,004 intended for the Community Center Ice Arena, ratified the FOPLC contract that covers two years with 3% wage increases in each year and approved term contracts for playground surfacing, jail-cell epoxy floor work for the police department and construction management services tied to a CDBG parking-lot rehabilitation project.

Why it matters: together, these votes commit county grant money and city spending for maintenance, public-safety labor costs and community facilities that affect parks users, people who use the Community Center Ice Arena and municipal operations. The police labor agreement also increases recurring personnel costs and adds two holidays to the police schedule.

Votes at a glance

Wayne County parks funding agreement — Community Center Ice Arena Motion: Authorize a funding agreement with the Wayne County Parks Division to accept $27,004 for improvements to the Community Center Ice Arena and authorize the mayor to sign the agreement. Outcome: Approved (unanimous roll call) Discussion: Council member Jerry Reiner asked whether the money was restricted to the community center or available for other parks; the mayor and staff clarified the award is for repairs at the community center. A staff memo described the county allocation as $27,004 pending approval by the parks division and Wayne County Commission.

Police union (FOPLC) tentative agreement Motion: Approve the tentative agreement between the City of Lincoln Park and the Fraternal Order of Police Labor Council covering a two-year period ending June 30, 2027, and authorize final execution. Outcome: Approved (unanimous roll call) Key terms reported on the record: 3% wage increases in each year; added holidays (Juneteenth and the day after Thanksgiving); $150 per-employee uniform allowance increase; $1-per-hour detective differential; increase in on-duty death benefit life insurance to $100,000 (on-duty only); shift differential raised from $0.50 to $0.75 per hour. The city estimated the two-year cost at about $164,000 and said most of that increase is wages.

Playground surfacing (term contract) Motion: Award a term contract for purchase, delivery and installation of engineered wood fiber playground mulch to Superior Ground Cover Inc. at $35.50 per cubic yard; pricing held through Dec. 31, 2026. Outcome: Approved (unanimous roll call) Budget: Funds to come from account numbers listed in the parks maintenance and CDBG parks accounts.

Police department jail-cell epoxy floor project Motion: Award the police jail-cell epoxy floor replacement to CNS Construction Management; total not to exceed $29,920 (CNS base bid $27,200 plus 10% contingency). Outcome: Approved (unanimous roll call) Discussion: John Kazoo, presenting, said Concrete Floor Treatment Inc. submitted a lower base bid ($18,881) but did not meet the solicitation because it priced the work as a single entry rather than two separate time windows the department required. Kazoo said, "I'm asking, on behalf of the police department that the work be awarded to CNS Construction Management and the price tag to be $29,920 which includes 10% onto their base bid of $27,200." A council member asked whether the lower bidder could do the work in a single day; staff and the police chief said the department could not vacate the facility for a single full-day shutdown and could only make half the jail available at a time, requiring multiple entries.

CDBG parking-lot rehabilitation — Hennessy Engineering Motion: Approve Hennessy Engineering Inc.'s proposal to provide design and construction management services for the CDBG parking-lot rehabilitation project; total cost on the record: not to exceed amounts stated in staff documents. Outcome: Approved (unanimous roll call) Discussion/clarification: The presenter referred to two slightly different figures in the meeting record: a staff presentation said "the total cost is not to exceed $106,600," while the formal resolution text read "not to exceed $100,600." When asked during the meeting whether the larger figure had already been included in previously approved project costs, the presenter replied, "It is." The record therefore contains an internal inconsistency on the exact not-to-exceed figure; the council approved the Hennessy scope while acknowledging the figure was part of the project's budget.

What was discussed but not decided - Consent agenda items were approved by roll call earlier in the meeting (routine minutes, license renewals, training attendance approvals). These were not debated on the record.

Discussion and next steps Council and staff separated discussion items (questions about scope and bidders) from decisions (the roll-call approvals). Council members asked for clarifications about where county park millage funds were directed, how playground mulch pricing would be charged to parks and CDBG accounts, the police department's operational limits that affected the epoxy job schedule and the apparent discrepancy in the CDBG construction-management not-to-exceed amount. Staff confirmed the county allocation was for the Community Center and that the Hennessy work would move forward under the approved not-to-exceed budget line already in project accounting.

Who spoke on the record Speakers cited in votes and discussions included Mayor Tobin; council members who participated in roll calls and questions (Councilpersons Nichols, Ross, Salcedo, Zor, Dupree, Baer); John Kazoo (presenter on several capital projects and procurement matters); Jerry Reiner (asked about scope of park funding); and the police chief (provided operational constraints on the jail-cell work). Public comments and non-vote agenda items (fire-department report, farmer's-market notice, community announcements) occurred later in the meeting and are not summarized here except where they intersected with an action.

Ending The council closed the meeting after approving the listed items and moved on to routine reports and citizen communications. Several community events and departmental reports were presented afterward, including a multi-thousand-unit smoke-detector initiative described in the fire chief's quarterly report and an announcement from the Lincoln Park Farmer's Market about a seed-distribution event.