Politics & Government
Dearborn Councilman Wants New Vote on Architecture Contract for City Hall
The city council may vote on the contract with Ghafari Associates, LLC. at its April 30 meeting.
A decision on whether or not the city should . for design and engineering services at the new city hall may come back before the Dearborn City Council on April 30.
The council voted 3-2 in favor of awarding up to $208,400 to Ghafari Associates at its meeting on April 16, however council bylaws require four votes to approve any item before the council, so it failed.
Council President Tom Tafelski and Councilman David Bazzy voted against the contract.
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On Friday, Debra Walling, attorney for the city of Dearborn, confirmed that Bazzy filed a motion to reconsider the vote at the council's next meeting.
According to Wahling, any member of the city council who is on the prevailing side of a vote for a particular agenda item can request a motion to reconsider the vote within three business days after the council meets.
Find out what's happening in Dearbornwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Because there were only five members of the council present on April 16 and because the motion was defeated in a 3-2 vote, Bazzy was on the prevailing side, Wahling said.
She said the councilman did not include an explanation with his filing his petition, however he is not legally required to do so.
Speaking to Patch.com, Bazzy said that while he previously voted to approve the purchase of the former ADP building at 16901 Michigan Ave. for the Dearborn Administrative Center, there are some issues he wanted to clarify prior to Tuesday's council meeting. He declined to publicly state what those issues are, however.
"There were issues (with the new city hall) that I wanted to clarify. I had the opportunity to talk to Chief of Staff Mark Guido and Mayor O'Reilly for an hour on Friday, and I felt that the contract with Ghafari Associates was important enough to bring back for the council to reconsider," Bazzy said.
According to council rules, the city council must pass Bazzy's petition for reconsideration with four votes on April 30. If it is approved, the council would then immediately vote on the contract with Ghafari Associates, LLC.
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