VBT DDA decides to rebid landscaping for Ecorse/Belleville

At its regular meeting June 23, the Van Buren Township Downtown Development Authority decided to rebid its landscape work for the corner of Ecorse and Belleville roads.
DDA Executive Director Susan Ireland said there was some confusion with the bids and so, in fairness, the DDA decided to reject the bids it had and rebid.
“It’s the fair thing to do,” Ireland said, noting she didn’t want any criticism of the DDA over the process.
Bid opening was on June 22 and two firms submitted bids: Cadillac Asphalt bid $267,644.29 and WH Canon Inc. bid $266,000.
The DDA’s cost estimate had been $315,687, including the Wayne County permit fee.
James Allen, Director of Design for the DDA’s planning consultant McKenna Associates, said while the two bids are close, WH Canon’s bid price included $38,155 for excavation of all plant beds to install new plant mix, one lawn fertilization, and two mows. Cadillac Asphalt’s bid did not include this service.
Allen recommended approving WH Canon to provide landscape services for a fee of $286,000, which includes a 10% contingency fee of $26,000 for any unforeseen additional expenses. The contingency fee, if needed, was to be administered by Ireland.
Allen noted that WH Canon has an excellent reputation with past projects that included: Milford DDA Streetscape, Campus Martius, Ford Road – Canton DDA, and Greenfield Village.
But, Allen’s recommendation memo had a typo, stating WH Canon had bid $260,000 instead of its bid of $266,000, which still was the lower bid. So, the contingency fee was wrong, as was the total. However, Canon was still the low bidder.
This was the confusion, plus the extra work listed, that made the DDA decide to rebid.
Present at the meeting was Randy Brown who runs a local landscaping business and works in cooperation with Cadillac Asphalt.
In other business at the June 23 meeting, Ireland reported:
• The sidewalks are under construction along the north side of the I-94 North Service Drive and hotel management is happy. She said Davenport has 45 calendar days for substantial completion and 70 calendar days for final completion;
• The township’s electrician was due to be at the Belleville/Quirk Road Monument area on June 23 to provide a cost estimate to bring the electric there up to code (and avoid the issue the DDA had with the holiday display in 2014) and to replace the lights that shine on the monument with LEDs. Changing the lights to LEDs will be more efficient, she said.
• The opinion survey is now ready to get public input on use of the property the DDA bought at 10101 and 10151 Belleville Road. Those signed up for the DDA newsletter will get it and it will be available on Facebook, as well. Grass-cutting on the property has been put on a regular rotation, she said. Also, the 34th District Court workers were not able to help clean up the property since workers lacked the skill needed to determine what should be cleared and what saved. There are some old plantings that cannot be replaced, including a yellow iris that no longer can be purchased and a Tulip tree or vine that was brought here from Rhode Island. Pioneer Landscaping will present a proposal on the best way to manage the landscape;
• The test of the emergency sirens on June 6 went as planned and the sirens will be tested on the first Saturday of each month; and
• A meeting has been scheduled by the DDA Finance Committee to review a proposal from Commonwealth Associates on Belleville Road Rights-of-Way Acquisition.
In other business at the June 23 meeting, the DDA:
• Heard DDA member Carol Bird, a Realtor, report that she has given an offer to purchase real property to the people who wanted to sell to the DDA, but they are too busy to reply right now. She said she will keep trying, but they didn’t say no to the DDA’s offer;
• Heard McKenna consultant Paul Lippens give a presentation on the Belleville Road Walkability Audit he was working on. Members of the DDA planned to walk the area with him on June 25 – an hour-long walk and then a brain-storming session. He pointed out incomplete sidewalk connections, crosswalks lacking on all four intersection crossings, variations in sidewalk quality and width, sidewalks that end in grassland, major barrier/no facilities across I-94, and “goat trails” that indicate places where sidewalks should be. He said the Belleville Road corridor has a high potential for continued development as a walkable Town Center; and
• Heard DDA Deputy Director Lisa Lothringer report on email and Facebook promotions for the DDA district, as well as a printed welcome map and an insert to be placed in the DDA pocket folders for employees who are being relocated to this area. Constellium submitted a request for this type of information for the workers who are being relocated from its Wixom facility to its VBT facility.