Committee advances $5,000 composting grant application to formal session

The Neighborhoods and Community Services Standing Committee voted to move a $5,000 Michigan Harvest Grant application to formal session so the full Detroit City Council can consider it.

What the grant would do: The Office of Sustainability and General Services described the grant as funding to continue and expand a pilot composting program launched with the Detroit People's Co-op. Alex Weatherup, assistant director of general services, said the grant would fund supplies and marketing to grow the resident drop-off pilot.

Pilot details and scale: Director of Sustainability Tafir Rushton told the committee the pilot has already processed about "4 tons of food scraps" and that the program currently contracts with a local hauler and sends most output to urban farms, including D Town Farms. Rushton said the pilot runs through April and that staff hope to scale by adding district drop-off sites and exploring city contracting for some compost use.

Why it required committee action: Council members asked why a relatively small grant — $5,000 with no city match and total project cost listed as $5,000 — had to come before council. Member Keller cited Detroit City Code section 17-4-2, which the law department said requires council approval for any application for federal, state or other grants with no monetary exemption. Councilmember Scott Benson made a motion asking the law department to provide a memo listing which grant levels require council approval.

Next steps: The committee advanced line item 6.2 to formal session with record dates for council consideration. The committee also assigned the law department to prepare guidance on council approval thresholds for grant applications.