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Livonia council approves library chiller contract over objections about $371,000 plumbing line-item
Summary
After debate about timing and a $371,000 plumbing replacement estimate, Livonia City Council voted 6–1 to award a contract for a new civic center library chiller; council members cited long lead times and the cost of renting temporary equipment.
The Livonia City Council voted 6–1 to approve an award of contract for installation and commissioning of a new ground-mounted air-cooled chiller at the Robert and Janet Bennett Civic Centre Library despite concerns from one council member about a large plumbing line-item and the approaching colder months.
"We've been dealing with this issue for two years," Councilmember Morgan said in favor of approving the contract, urging action to replace failing compressors and to avoid continuing rental costs. The council heard technical details from Brandon Kritzman, principal at Detroit Architectural Group, who said the chiller had been ordered and was expected to arrive around Oct. 7 and that vendor installation would take roughly three to four weeks.
President McCullough said he wanted more time to study the drawings and the extent of plumbing replacement before authorizing the full contract. McCullough flagged a line item listing "$371,000" for "remove and replace plumbing per drawings for chiller installations, start up and commissioning" and asked for another set of eyes on the plans. "I just would like to study it a little further," he said.
City staff and other council members pushed back that the engineering department and architect had vetted the bid process and that continued delay would carry added costs: staff noted a roughly $12,000-per-month rental fee for the temporary chiller and said the city has already spent significant amounts on temporary solutions. Councilmember Donovic (who supported moving forward) said the lowest qualified bidder had come in at about $433,000 and called delay "kicking the can down the road."
On the record: the council debated timing, contractor readiness and cost breakdowns before taking the vote. The motion to approve the award carried 6–1, with President McCullough recorded as the lone no vote.
Next steps: staff will proceed with the vendor selected; the architect and engineering staff will manage scheduling to accept delivery and begin installation. The council did not vote to send the item to committee of the whole after the substitute motion to approve prevailed.
