The Wayne County Committee on Public Services approved contracts to place five engineering firms on as‑needed rosters and assigned larger spending ceilings to two firms to support an ambitious stormwater asset‑management effort.

Clerk read items 2–6 asking the committee to approve three‑year contracts with a one‑year option to renew for Wade Trim Associates, Fishbeck, Thompson, Carr and Hoover (as listed in the packet), OHM Advisors (Orchard, Hiltz & McCliment, Inc. DBA OHM Advisors), Baker and Associates, and AECOM Great Lakes. County staff said a qualifications‑based RFQ drew 16 responses and the evaluation team selected the top five firms for the roster; two firms were given larger ceilings to reflect specialized capacity for stormwater mapping and other programmatic tasks.

“Based on their expertise … that’s the reason why we have $4.5 million for AECOM and Fishbeck,” the county director explained, describing a qualifications‑based approach in which proposers submitted resumes and experience rather than cost bids. Staff said the as‑needed contracts are intended to let the county call on firms for specific scopes rather than run a full procurement for every small project.

Commissioners pressed why three firms had $2 million ceilings while two firms were set at $4.5 million. The chair requested procurement provide an explanation of how the ceilings were determined and asked that documentation be supplied to the committee before the full board takes up the items. The committee voted to make that condition part of the record.

County staff linked the higher ceilings to a stormwater program the department described as a six‑pronged effort (street sweeping, catch‑basin cleaning, detention‑pond work, roadside ditching, county drain management and pump station rehabilitation). The director said the program requires work the county has not previously performed at scale — mapping and video inspection of storm assets and GIS recording so future projects can be planned and contractors engaged efficiently.

“We think we have about 57,000 [catch basins] — it could be 55, it could be 60,000. We don’t know,” the director said, noting the county has already inspected roughly 4,000 catch basins to date and will log condition, material and elevation to support future capital projects.

The committee asked for procurement’s written rationale and scoring materials showing how capacity and qualifications mapped to ceiling assignments. That documentation must be delivered to committee members and the committee chair before the items advance to the full board.CLOSING: The committee approved placing the firms on rosters but added a requirement that procurement provide an explanation of how the $2 million and $4.5 million ceilings were set before the full board considers the awards.