Divided Council Votes Down Architecture Contract for Dearborn Administrative Center

The design of the new Dearborn City Hall was put on hold Tuesday after the Dearborn City Council failed to authorize a contract with Ghafari Associates, LLC.

With a 3-2 decision, the council voted down the approval of a contract in the amount of $208,400 to allow Ghafari Associates to provide design, engineering, and construction administration services for the building's final site plan.

Council President Thomas Tafelski and Councilman David Bazzy voted against the contract, stating that they do not want to authorize any money toward the project until Mayor John B. O'Reilly, Jr. is able to clarify their questions on renovation plans for the building, located at 16901 Michigan Ave.

Following the vote, Councilwoman Suzanne Sareini requested that the council table a decision to issue $5.5 million in bonds to renovate and relocate city offices to what will now be known as the Dearborn Administrative Center.

Speaking to Patch after the meeting, Tafelski said he believes the request to table the vote was purely political.

"I've never seen someone fall so hard on their political sword," he said. "The fact that we can't have a debate on the move to a new city hall shows that the mayor's rubber stamp goes very deep. Why do we even have budget meetings? We should just approve everything."

Tafelski said he understands the need to update the city's offices for longterm cost savings, however he said he would prefer that the city issue bonds to renovate and update its current location on Schaefer Road.

"Until there's an election and a new group of council members who can vote without looking to the mayor first, nothing will change. We'll continue to raise taxes and spend money," he said.

Mayor Jack O’Reilly said the council's actions would not jeopardize the project's timeline, and operations likely will begin to be moved in stages to the new city hall starting in early 2014.

"In the end it's the majority vote that matters," he said of the council's decision to deny a contract to Ghafari Associates. "You don't always get a unanimous decision on things, and that's fine. That's democracy."

"The council has legitimate questions that we will continue to address," O'Reilly continued. "Everything takes time, nothing happens immediately. This project is moving forward at a pretty good pace, but it's a big undertaking."

In response to questions about the status of the city's purchase agreement with Artspace, O'Reilly said a final agreement was sent to the nonprofit on Wednesday.

In a previous article, O'Reilly said Artspace agreed to pay $1.65 million for the existing city hall building, as quoted by a mutually agreed-upon appraiser. The nonprofit will also invest $17 million to renovate the interior of the building.

Councilwoman Nancy Hubbard and Councilman Mark Shooshanian were absent for Tuesday's meeting.