Dearborn City Council, Mayor to Conduct Work Session on Severstal Donation

The Dearborn City Council put the brakes on an $8.5 million corporate donation from Severstal North America to the city at its meeting on Tuesday.

Councilman David Bazzy requested that the council table the resolution, which would have authorized Mayor John B. O'Reilly, Jr. to enter into an agreement on behalf of the city to accept the donation to fund the redevelopment of the Dearborn Administrative Center. The donation was also earmarked to fund a Veterans Memorial Park next to the DAC and contribute to the Artspace renovation of the current city hall.

The council also tabled a resolution authorizing O’Reilly to execute a purchase agreement, covenant deed and closing documents with Artspace for certain parts of the city hall building.

Both resolutions passed 5-1, with Councilman Brian O'Donnell absent, and Council President Tom Tafelski voting in opposition.

City officials have verbally agreed to sell city hall to Artspace for $1.65 million, however the council has yet to approve the contract. Artspace plans to renovate the building's interior for 45 artist apartments and studios.

In requesting to table the resolutions, Bazzy said he feels the council needs more information to move forward.

"There's a lot of information being published that is not correct," he said. "I think it would be to everyone's benefit to conduct a work study session on these issues in order to have the best information in front of council."

Several audience members voiced their opposition to using the Severstal donation for a new city hall.

Kristyn Taylor, a council candidate, said the council needs to carefully consider the issues, especially since Artspace has not received federal grant funding that it plans to use to buy city hall due to the government's sequester.

"These types of decisions affect everybody. People have come out here to ask the council to hold more meetings so that we can get more information and be informed on what the best decision is for our city," she said.

Taylor said until now, she feels citizens have been kept in the dark about the Severstal donation.

"I have heard several council members state in the past that they wouldn't approve the plan (to move city hall) until we have a check in hand. Some of the money from Severstal is allocated to Artspace for funding building studies of the current city hall," she said. "In the end, we wouldn't have a check in hand, we would be writing a check to Artspace."

She urged the council to consider needs before wants, like the two closed outdoor pools, and the closed Snow Branch Library the city is trying to sell.

Tafelski said a study session open to the public will be scheduled in the near future, where O’Reilly will share more details about the Artspace project and the Severstal donation.

Addressing rumors about the city's contract with Artspace, O'Reilly said the contract has gone back and forth between the city's attorneys and Artspace, but nothing has been finalized.

"There's no secret, this information has been out there," he said.

Speaking to Patch.com after the meeting, resident Mark Lane said he feels some of the $8.5 million should be used to help renovate and reopen the city's Hemlock and Whitmore Bolles community pools. The pools were closed in 2011 due to budget cuts.

"We were told two years ago that the city didn't have the money to sustain the pools, and at the time there was no mention from anyone about a donation from Severstal," he said. "Where's the transparency?"

Lane said that it would take roughly $2.5 million to rehabilitate all of the city's pools.