The Detroit City Council held a budget hearing on March 16, 2026, for the Construction and Demolition Department (CDD) for Fiscal Year 2027. Director Tim Palozolo presented the department's priorities, including a rapid response team for youth facilities, a shift from demolition to preservation, and a proposed budget of $7.3 million for facilities maintenance and $10 million for capital improvements. Council members raised questions on workforce development, autonomous technology, contaminated soil, EV charging infrastructure, demolition reductions, and property preservation. Public comment focused on contaminated soil testing, mental health investments, and confusion over the health department's schedule. Several motions were passed to include items in the executive session and closing resolutions.
Put the priority first. And colleagues that have been asked that we do speak into the microphones. They did ask us in the back. Folks have been reaching out saying they can't hear us, and they've been having some audio challenges and potting us up. So if we can please speak into the microphone. Thank you. Thank you. Well, good morning. Good morning. Again, introduce yourselves, and the floor is yours to begin. Thank you. Good morning, Council President, Pro Tem and Honorable Council members. My name is Tim Palozolo. I'm the director of the construction and demolition department. And it is my honor and privilege to present Mayor Sheffield's budget for fiscal year 2027 for the construction and demolition department. We got to get the slide deck up. This is always the fun part. Yep. Apologies, give us a second. Good morning. All right, there we go. Morning. I actually like to begin with one of our priority initiatives for fiscal year 27. Next slide. In alignment with Mayor Sheffield's vision to support youth mentorship and workforce development program. CDD will create a rapid response team to address any repair and investigate any improvement to city facilities that provide after school programming to protect and promote a continuity of quality service for Detroit youth. During peak operational hours, we intend to staff uh those facilities uh with personnel on site and during off-peak hours. Our uh intended target is for teams to respond within one hour of notification of the c of the request or the issue. Uh our mission next slide is to enhance and improve the quality of life of Detroit residents through the maintenance, repair, and improvement of city facilities and assets, the securing of vacant and open residential and commercial structures, and the cleanup of residential properties, and finally the elimination of blakant vacant and bladed structures. Our core pillars are to provide a service that is first and foremost customer focused. We will begin and end every day with our customers' needs in mind. We will uh listen, we will ask questions, and we will engage our customers with honesty and appreciation. Next, we will be data driven. We will collect, utilize and share meaningful data about our services. We will collect the data that matters to our customers and ourselves. We will utilize that data to drive efficiency and effectiveness, and we will share data, our data to promote transparency and trust. And finally, we will be dependable. We will say what we'll do, and we will do what we say. We will show up and we will be present for our customers and for ourselves. I'd next like to introduce our operational units. First, we have our facilities' maintenance team with a staff of more than 50 skilled trades, project managers and supervisors. The facilities maintain maintenance team truly embodies the Detroit Hustles Harder Spirit. The team provides routine and preventative maintenance and manages both minor and major repairs for over 140 facilities across the city and includes recreation centers, transit centers, splash pads, comfort stations, police stations, and firehouses. On an annual basis, the facilities maintain maintenance team completes more than 6300 assigned tasks for an average of about 17 tasks per day. You can see the breakdown of tasks by trade group category, structural, electrical, mechanical, and plumbing. For fiscal year 27, we have proposed funding of approximately 7.3 million dollars for both professional and contractual services as well as operating supplies. The department utilizes outside contractors to supplement our current capacity when necessary, and also provide specialty services that we don't currently have in house. They are responsible for new construction and major rehabilitation projects. The Capital Projects team truly builds the assets of tomorrow today. They work in close consultation with the administration and client departments to align funding opportunities for and long-term service goals to deliver assets that truly work for Detroiters.