Detroit awards $7.9M lead line contract, dismisses bid protest over equalization credits

Detroit awards $7.9M lead line contract, dismisses bid protest over equalization creditsThe Detroit Water and Sewerage Department's Board of Water Commissioners rejected a contractor's demand to stack procurement credits, clearing the way for a major lead service line replacement project in Chandler Park and sparking an upcoming revision to the utility's bidding rules.

The board approved a $7.9 million contract with DMC Consultants, Inc. for lead water service line replacements in the Chandler Park neighborhood.

LGC Global Inc. protested the award, arguing its joint venture was unfairly denied stacked equalization credits under the utility's 2023 procurement policy.

DWSD Procurement Manager Marquisha Welch and General Counsel Scott McGriff affirmed that the utility's past practice prohibits stacking credits on top of the 5% to 9% joint venture allowance.

The utility plans to present substantially revised procurement regulations to the board next month to clarify bid protest procedures and eliminate policy ambiguities.

In a separate unanimous vote, the board approved a $1.44 billion five-year capital improvement plan for FY 2027-2031.

The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) Board of Water Commissioners voted 5-1 on April 15, 2026, to award a $7.9 million contract to DMC Consultants, Inc. for lead water service line replacements in the Chandler Park neighborhood, dismissing a bid protest that challenged the utility's procurement rules. The award for Project WS755 followed a debate over a bid protest filed by LGC Global Inc. Don Blevins, representing LGC Global's joint venture, argued that DWSD failed to apply a 6% joint venture equalization credit to their bid and improperly blocked the firm from "stacking" additional credits for being a small Detroit-certified business. Blevins contended that the utility's written 2023 procurement policy explicitly allowed for multiple credits to be combined. DWSD Procurement Manager Marquisha Welch acknowledged that the 6% joint venture credit was mistakenly omitted from LGC's initial evaluation. However, after recalculating the bids with the 6% applied, DMC Consultants remained the recommended awardee. Welch emphasized that DWSD policy and past practice strictly prohibit stacking other equalization credits on top of the joint venture credit. She noted that the joint venture credit was significantly increased in 2023—from 1% to between 5% and 9%—specifically to encourage business partnerships, making additional stacking obsolete under current departmental practices. General Counsel Scott McGriff supported the procurement department's stance, pointing out that LGC Global had previously won joint venture contracts from DWSD under the exact same interpretation without receiving stacked credits. During the discussion, Commissioner Kinloch questioned the alignment between the utility's written policy and its administrative practices, noting that ambiguities create problematic bid disputes. In response, McGriff announced that DWSD is currently drafting substantial revisions to its procurement regulations. "We are in the process right now of substantially revising our procurement regulations, particularly around bid protests and other items," McGriff told the board, adding that the updated rules will be presented at next month's meeting to close existing loopholes. Following the discussion, the board voted to accept the protest in part—acknowledging the missing 6% credit—but rejected the demand to stack additional credits, clearing the way for the $7,969,391 contract with DMC Consultants. In a separate, unanimous vote, the board approved DWSD's five-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) for fiscal years 2027 through 2031. The $1.44 billion infrastructure package allocates $664.5 million for the water supply system and $784.4 million for the sewerage disposal system over the next five years, alongside a combined FY 2027 capital budget of nearly $233.7 million.