Committee approves emergency demolition contracts and asks law department for clearer cost-recovery reporting

The Public Health and Safety standing committee approved a series of emergency residential and commercial demolition contracts on April 13 and asked the Buildings & Code and law departments for clearer documentation about owner contact and how the city seeks to recover demolition costs.

The approvals included contract 3091362 (commercial alteration at 5645 Livernois, DMC Consultants, $38,747) and multiple emergency residential demolitions that were approved and sent to formal recommendation. Committee members repeatedly asked how the city notifies property owners and whether the city is able to recoup costs after demolition.

Nick Payne, planning and strategy manager for the Construction and Demolition Department, described the mechanics of the department’s procurement process: the department moves after Buildings & Code issues an emergency demolition order and provides a signed emergency letter, and inspectors correspond with property owners prior to initiating demolition-related procurement.

Chief enforcement officer Arthur Russian said the department typically contacts owners by mail and, when possible, follows up with any other available contact information. "We basically, reach out to the property owner, via mail," Russian told the committee, adding that notices are posted on properties as well.

Jason Harrison of the law department summarized legal follow-up when the city seeks to recover costs: once the city has incurred demolition costs, the law department can file a cost-recovery lawsuit in Wayne County Circuit Court and the Detroit City Code requires a 30-day period after invoicing before suit. "Generally speaking, we can file a cost recovery lawsuit once the city has incurred cost at the Wayne County Circuit Court," Harrison said.

Council members sought data on how much the city actually recovers. The chair proposed quarterly reporting to enable oversight and to evaluate how consistently the city pursues cost recovery. Harrison acknowledged prior reporting to the council’s budget hearing and agreed to provide supplemental figures on recovery dollars and consider converting those figures into a success rate.

Several items were brought back where key information was missing (for example, knockdown dates for specified properties), and the committee asked the administration to include law department personnel when the demolition items return for further discussion.

The committee approved multiple demolition contracts by motion and sent them to formal with recommendations to approve. The chair said the committee will pursue improved transparency through a tracker of communications and quarterly recoupment reports.