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Votes at a glance: Romulus council approves permits, contracts, purchases and budget amendments
Summary
At its March 24 meeting the Romulus City Council approved a package of permits, contracts and budget changes including event and street closure permits, multiple procurement awards, an appointment amendment to the TIFA board, election equipment purchases and a multi-item warrant totaling $1.27 million.
The Romulus City Council on March 24 approved a slate of permits, contracts and budget amendments covering public events, procurement of equipment, professional services, park improvements and an appointment amendment to the TIFA board.
Highlights
- Special event and road closure: The council approved a special event permit and the closure of Goddard Road between Sterling Street and Shook Road for a craft/vendor show on Sunday, June 1. Petitioner Constance Cox said vendors will use curb cutouts and Romulus Auto’s parking for overflow; vendors will pay $25 each, of which $7 will be a food voucher. The motion passed on roll call.
- Summer music and after-hours events: The council approved a no-fee permit for a downtown summer concert series (Hunt Street closure) and a related set of overnight closures for “After Sounds in our District” (Goddard Road closures) on specified June, July and August dates. Both motions passed on roll call.
- TIFA appointment amendment: Council approved an amendment to Resolution 25-062 to appoint Issam (Isam) Fikuri to the Tax Increment Finance Authority (TIFA) with a term to expire 11/30/2027. Councilwoman Abdo voted no, saying committee members should be Romulus residents; other members voted yes and the motion carried.
- CDBG contingency payment: The council approved a subrecipient Community Development Block Grant agreement with the Charter County of Wayne to reimburse the city $17,453 for contingencies on the Brant (Brent) Road project.
- Merriman Road landscaping: The council awarded RFP 24/25-07, a two-year maintenance contract for landscaping and irrigation in the Merriman Road Special Assessment District, to CQC Landscaping for $37,920 (transcript contained one instance of a typographical extra “000” which the city’s purchasing motion corrected to $37,920). Funding was confirmed in the Mayor Monroe Special Assessment Fund.
- Public safety procurements: The council approved piggybacking on an existing contract with Motorola Solutions to purchase one Motorola Avtec dispatch console for $41,737.25 (funded from the 911 service fund). The council also authorized modification of an awarded upfit bid (ITB23-24-15) to allow three qualified firms (Williams Emergency Vehicles and Equipment, Arrowhead Upfitters and ABS Storage) to perform police upfitting services; the award to all three was approved and finance staff said it will not increase budgeted funds.
- Technology, engineering and fleet purchases: The council approved a piggyback on Omnia Partners for 53 Microsoft Office 2024 licenses ($27,624.95) with authorization to continue annual licensing purchases, authorized a four‑year professional services agreement with Hennessey Engineering as an alternate engineering firm, and approved a piggyback purchase of a 2024 GMC Sierra 1500 crew cab pickup truck for $43,990 (motor vehicle capital outlay).
- Dominion ImageCast tabulators and election budget amendment: The council authorized purchase of three ImageCast Precinct 2 tabulators and ballot boxes from Dominion Voting Systems for $16,779. The clerk explained the city will receive a $12,000 HAVA grant reimbursement and a $3,000 trade-in discount; the council also approved a second-reading and final adoption of a budget amendment (24-25-14) totaling $26,779 to cover the purchase and additional election postage tied to precinct consolidation and mailing requirements.
- Playground equipment and other items: The council introduced a budget amendment (24-25-15) to use fund balance for $60,000 in capital outlay to purchase and install playground equipment at Mary Ann Banks Park and approved a study session request to discuss an honorary street sign dedication policy on April 14.
- Warrants: The council approved warrant 25-06, paying $1,271,143.94 across funds including major disbursements from the water and sewer fund and general fund.
Most motions were made by council members in support of staff recommendations and passed by roll-call votes. When council members raised questions (for example, about start dates or resident impacts), city staff from departments including Public Works, Purchasing and Finance provided clarifications during the meeting.
Below are the formal actions recorded at the meeting (motion text summarized where lengthy).
