Wayne County committee defers resilience-hub contracts, seeks upfront commitments and clearer funding details

The Wayne County Committee on Economic Development on its meeting session heard a presentation on a proposed countywide resilience hub network and voted to defer a package of related contract amendments and awards so staff can obtain clearer upfront commitments and funding details.

County sustainability staff, represented by Aaron Kelly of the Sustainability and Innovation office and project manager Cara Dietz, outlined a program to train community organizations — churches, neighborhood groups and local service providers — to act as "resilience hubs" during weather-related disruptions. "A resilience hub is an organization that is in contact with more vulnerable residents in our communities," Dietz said, describing hubs as local organizations that run everyday programs and can be equipped to provide shelter, resource coordination or recovery support when power or infrastructure fails.

Staff cited local hazard context as a rationale for the program. According to the presentation, the county faces significant flood and power-outage exposure; presenters said FEMA ranks the county highly for flood-losses and that, in 2023, an "average Wayne County resident spent more than 2,000 minutes without power," a figure staff used to illustrate local energy vulnerability.

Commissioners pressed staff on procurement, cost and long-term obligations. Commissioner Angelique Peterson Mayberry asked whether the model has been benchmarked elsewhere and whether Elevate Energy — the firm proposed for a contract amendment to help develop training and program materials — was the only vendor under consideration. Staff said they reviewed other jurisdictions (including King County and Minneapolis) and worked with the University of Michigan Dow Fellows Program; they also said Elevate was selected through competitive procurement and has a Michigan-based team working on the project.

Several commissioners raised concerns about investing in facility upgrades before organizations commit to serving as resilience hubs. Commissioner Kinloch argued the commission should require prospective hubs to agree in writing to provide hub services before the county invests in infrastructure: "They have to agree to be resilient hubs for a specific period of time," Kinloch said, urging staff to secure agreements "on the front end." Staff responded that the initial FEMA-funded approach emphasizes training first because many potential partner organizations do not currently provide these services as part of their regular operations; the package includes stipends for training and some facility-improvement funds (staff cited roughly $72,000 and about $65,000 in facility-related support for the cohort as examples during discussion and noted those figures were approximate).

Staff said the program model requires organizations to complete training, develop a community emergency response plan, and enter an agreement to join the county network; staff also said the contract language includes a post-contract facility presence requirement that was described in committee discussion as one additional year after the contract term (presented as two years) — creating an effective three-year commitment under the terms discussed at the table.

After extended questions about vetting, timelines and funding sources (presenters identified FEMA as primary seed funding and referenced ARPA and locally managed funds for facility improvements), Commissioner Kinloch moved and Commissioner Peterson Mayberry supported a motion to "pass for the day" items 6 through 17 — the package that includes the Elevate Energy amendment and related awards — returning the items to the department for corrections and clearer front-end commitments. The motion was put to a tablet vote and recorded as passing; committee staff indicated they will return revised items to the committee for formal consideration.

Votes at a glance: the committee approved the meeting minutes and carried routine items and notifications earlier in the session (minutes were moved by Commissioner Jonathan Kinlock and supported by Joseph Palomira). Items 1–3 (public meeting notifications) and items 4–5 (Guardian Building and 1st Street Parking Deck operating reports) were received or forwarded on file. The substantive resilience-hub package (items 6–17) was deferred to permit further department work.

The committee heard no public comments on the agenda items and adjourned after the vote. Staff said they will return with corrected materials and additional documentation about applicant vetting, funding breakdowns and contractual obligations before the commission acts on the contracts.