Springfield — The City Council voted to adopt an ordinance authorizing a contract for abatement and demolition with GreenTrack LLC and a related supplemental appropriation, and added new diversity and outreach conditions after extended debate.

The ordinance as introduced authorized contract PW260831 for demolition and abatement and a supplemental appropriation not to exceed $977,857.28 for Public Works. Councilors spent more than an hour debating a roughly $300,000 difference between the lowest bid and the recommended contractor and pressed purchasing and legal staff for documentation of bidders’ past minority and local hiring.

Why it matters: Councilors said they were balancing two priorities — fiscal stewardship of city funds and the council’s stated goal to drive minority and female participation in city contracts. Several councilors said the city should use its procurement dollars to build the local union pipeline; others warned about the public‑safety risk of delaying demolition of court‑ordered vacant properties.

“I'm gonna be a no vote. This feels yucky, and I'm not comfortable with it,” said Alderman Williams, referring to the cost difference between bids. Several other aldermen said the higher award price reflected the city putting money behind a diversity objective.

Contractor response and evidence: Sam Schafer of Schaefer Excavating, a lower bidder, addressed the council and disputed claims that his firm had no minority workers on past projects. “The first thing I want to say is the truth matters,” Schafer said, and told the council his team expected roughly 20% minority participation on the current job. Purchasing staff reported that Schaefer’s earlier certified payrolls showed no recorded minority/local participation on a prior demolition contract, while GreenTrack’s prior contracts showed minority participation in the mid‑20s.

The amendment: To reconcile competing concerns, the council adopted an amendment that kept the award to GreenTrack in place but added three enforceable items: (1) a commercially useful function (CUF) outreach to local unions to secure local workforce participation prior to any work; (2) a 45‑day window for that outreach to occur before work begins; and (3) a 33% minority participation goal for the project. The amendment passed on roll call (8 yes, 1 no). The ordinance as amended passed thereafter (vote recorded in the transcript as 7 yes, 2 no).

What happens next: The amended contract requires GreenTrack to document outreach and to report workforce participation through the city's certified payroll system. Council members said they expect the Purchasing Office and Public Works to monitor performance and apply contract remedies if the contractor fails to meet the outreach requirement or falsifies reports.

Context and background: Councilors discussed options that included rebidding the project, holding the item in committee, or amending the contract on the floor; concerns about litigation and protest rights were raised during the discussion. Several aldermen urged staff to consider updating procurement documents to require more detailed good‑faith effort documentation at the bidding stage.

The council moved on to its next agenda item following the vote.