Council committee approves diesel-filter cleaning contract; members press for more local outreach

The Public Health and Safety committee reviewed and approved contract 6007740 on April 13 to provide diesel-filter cleaning, repair and testing services for the Detroit Department of Transportation. The two-year contract for $140,000 was awarded to DPF Cleaning Specialists, a firm headquartered in Ontario.

Hillary Edwards of the Office of Contracting and Procurement described the RFQ process that led to the selection: four respondents applied, two did not meet minimum qualifications, one respondent was located in Pennsylvania (outside the 50-mile radius requirement), and DPF Cleaning Specialists and a Sterling Heights firm were the viable offers. Edwards said the Sterling Heights vendor’s bid was about 150% higher, so OCP selected the Ontario-based firm "based on experience and price."

"We went through the RF RFQ process, and there were 4 respondents," Edwards said. "The selected bidder is in Ontario... There were no Detroit respondents relative to this RFQ. It's a very specialized type of service."

Council members pushed OCP and DDOT for more proactive outreach to Detroit companies for specialized services. Member McCampbell suggested targeted needs assessments and vendor outreach to build local capacity for specialized maintenance work tied to new budget priorities.

The committee approved 6.16 by unanimous consent and sent the item to new business for formal processing. Members asked staff to return with more detail about outreach plans and whether the city can create opportunities for local firms to compete for similar, specialized contracts in future procurements.