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Westland council approves three-year "as-needed" contractor list after debate on union status and markups
Summary
The City Council approved a three-year split award list for as-needed facility contractors to four firms after questioning over markup ranges and whether the companies are union shops. Council recorded a unanimous roll-call vote after administrators said prequalification does not confer extra bidding points.
Westland City Council approved a three-year, split-award contracting list for as-needed facility work, awarding prequalification status to Metro Elite Contracting, Soleil Building Company, Shaw Construction and Allied Building Service Company of Detroit LLC.
The administration told council members the list is intended to make procurement more competitive and efficient for large projects while retaining flexibility for smaller jobs. “Before, we had one contractor,” Director Awadi said. “We wanted to make this more of a competitive process and allow multiple approved vendors for those bigger projects.”
Council members pressed staff about whether prequalification would advantage those firms on future bids and whether any of the companies are union shops. Councilwoman Andrea Rykowski asked whether the split awards would lock the city into particular vendors for projects such as future fire-station work. Director Awadi replied that prequalification does not guarantee work or confer extra points on a later bid and that the city can still go to bid outside the approved list when appropriate.
Council also sought clarity on markup and local presence. Directors and staff reported Allied’s markup was clarified at 15 percent and that Shaw’s markup was listed at 10 percent; some firms have local offices (Soleil is based in Westland; Shaw is in Livonia; Allied and Metro Elite are Detroit-area firms), officials said. Staff emphasized the list is meant to provide a range of vendors the city can contact for large projects while continuing to use smaller local vendors for minor repairs.
After discussion the council called the question and approved the split-award list by roll call. Motion to move consent-calendar item I to new business 1a and to approve the vendor list was made by Councilmember Murkowski and supported by Councilwoman Sampey; roll-call votes recorded unanimous approval.
What’s next: The administration will manage awards from the prequalified list for projects within its procurement policies, and council members asked staff to keep providing details on which vendors are selected for specific projects and to notify council about large refunds or bond issues tied to development projects.
