Contractor is top earner from road repair fund

Last winter’s record snowfall paid off well for Platinum Landscaping, Inc.

By Charles Sercombe
Each year Hamtramck receives a little over $1 million from the state to help repair our streets.
The money comes from a fund called Act 51. Besides street repairs, the money can be used for general street maintenance, such as snow removal and patching, construction of roads, sidewalk repairs and tree removal.
Recently, The Review filed a Freedom of Information Act request to see what that fund was spent on and who was paid for the years 2013 and 2014.
We also asked for clarification through City Controller Bhama Cairns, and we heard back from City Manager Katrina Powell, who said in an e-mail that all future inquires about the city need to go only through her.
In the fiscal year of 2013, Hamtramck received $1.2 million and in 2014 it received $1.3 million from Act 51.
In both years the biggest recipient was Platinum Landscaping, Inc.
Platinum provides several services, such as lot maintenance, tree removal and trimming, pothole repairs and snow plowing and street salting.
For the past several years the company’s work assignments and invoices were overseen by former Director of Public Works Steve Shaya, who had been a former employee with Platinum before being hired by the city.
Last summer, The Review uncovered, but did not report, that Shaya was likely more than just a former employee of Platinum.
Through Shaya’s own admission, he told Emergency Manager Cathy Square that he is the uncle of the company’s owner, Omar Nakash. Square fired him in August.
In 2013, the company was paid $364,162 from the Act 51 fund.
The other big payout went to a cement company called Audia Construction, which was hired to replace many sidewalks throughout the city. That company earned a little over $324,000.
Most of Platinum’s bills for 2013 were for tree removal, which went hand-in-hand with the sidewalk repair program. That program caused a backlash from some in the community who said many of the trees did not need to be removed.
In 2014, Platinum’s payment shot up to $816,023.
But that sudden increase was due to one thing: Last winter’s record snowfall of about 93 inches.
The company was kept busy plowing and salting for about three months. Platinum was contracted to only plow and salt about dozen streets, which included all emergency routes.
At one point, however, the city’s side streets became nearly impassable and Emergency Manager Cathy Square ordered the company to expand plowing. But that work was aborted after streets in the northeastern part of the city had been cleared.
Square said she halted the job because it became too costly to continue.
Platinum continues to provide services to the city.
But the scope of those services may be reduced in the months ahead.
Mark Ragsdale, the Director of Public Services, told The Review, before City Manager Katrina Powell told department heads they could no longer talk to the media, that his department is taking over pothole repairs.
He also said that he is looking into purchasing equipment to do snow plowing and street salting in-house.
He said his department can do the job for less money “and clear all the streets.”
He said another option would be to partner up with another community or the public school district.
While Act 51 funds go a long way in offsetting the city’s general fund, not all of it is spent each year. As of recently, there is a $2.3 million balance for Hamtramck to tap into.