Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud discusses the selection of a vendor to remove log jams from the Rouge River, using American Rescue Plan Act grant money, during a June 8 mayoral briefing to the City Council.
By SUE SUCHYTA
Times-Herald Newspapers
DEARBORN – The City Council approved a bid award to AREA Excavating and Construction June 13 for Rouge River log jam removal to mitigate flooding, utilizing American Rescue Plan Act grant money.
In the past, the Department of Public Works was able to keep the river free of debris and log jams, but the river has been subject to neglect during the past seven years, Mayor Abdullah Hammoud said in a May 31 memo to the council.
During an on-site vendor survey of the stretch of the river impacted by the bid, more than 70 log jams were discovered between Gulley Road and Michigan Avenue.
In the May 31 memo, the mayor said the lack of maintenance was exacerbated during the 2021 flooding, when part of the Dearborn Hills golf course and private property were destroyed.
“In the two years following the flood, an effort by volunteers, city employees and a private contractor had little impact throughout the Rouge River,” Hammoud said in the memo. “Forty thousand dollars was expended to remove one log jam behind the golf club house. For this reason, this contract will remove all log jams from Gulley to Michigan Avenue, allowing DPW to maintain the riverway from here on out.”
The contract, for $925,000, will be funded by the Recreation and Parks facility fund project ARPA25 and the Flood Mitigation and Green Initiatives sewer fund project ARPA85 allocations.
Pending the swift removal of the log jams, it is hoped that the front nine holes of the Dearborn Hills golf course may reopen before the end of the season.
The ARPA25 project, with a $10 million total grant amount, has allocated more than $1 million to date for Recreation and Park projects, including ballfield upgrades, water boilers at Dunworth Pool, air handling coil replacements at the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center and for splash pad improvements at Crowley and Hemlock parks.
The full allocation of APRA85, more than $5.2 million, is also still available.