Contractors hired by the Oakland County road commission to construct a $43 million administration building are worried. Road commissioners put the project on hold in February.
“There is a huge effect on our business, both in terms of manpower and income. And it is not just our business but those of many other contractors that were counting on this project to be a place for their manpower and to produce income,” said Mike Gagnon, who is overseeing construction as vice president at Frank Rewold & Sons in Rochester.
The road commission approved the delay at the request of Oakland County Commission Chairman Dave Woodward on Feb. 20. The road commission and county commission operate independently and are funded separately.
Woodward wanted road commissioners to consider alternatives to bring together employees who have worked for decades at locations in Beverly Hills and Waterford. The new administration building planned at 2420 Pontiac Lake Road in Waterford Township would have brought them under the same roof in 2026.
Road Commissioner Nancy Quarles voted against the delay on Feb. 20.
“I didn’t have enough information. The motion was put in front of us just minutes before the vote,” she said. “The project is too large for me to agree to a delay until I have more information.”
Her concerns include additional costs the road commission might incur whether the project goes forward or is canceled – and what a cancellation would do to the companies that signed construction contracts.
But she’s heard nothing from McPherson or Woodward about the decision-making process since Feb. 20.
“The project has been in the works since last August and we, along with all the other contractors, were counting on it,” Gagnon said.
“We and all those contractors must find new work to keep employees busy and to produce the income needed to keep the doors open and the company profitable,” he said. “That is not easy to do when projects take such a long time to develop.”
He said the suspension of work throws the project schedule into question. If completed on time, the building would have been ready by August 2026.
“We are in a very challenging economic climate and prices are changing daily, what does that mean to our contracts and our ability to fulfill the contract?” Gagnon said.
He wants to get the project back on schedule as soon as possible.
Others who signed contracts for the project did not respond to The Oakland Press calls and email or, like engineer Stan Richard, assistant vice president at the transportation-tech company Integral Blue, declined to comment.
Charles Hart, a Hubbell, Roth & Clark vice president and engineer, responded to The Oakland Press email to explain that his company’s work on the new administration building started in December and is expected to continue for several years, through the design and construction phases. He declined to elaborate on the effect of the delay.
Woodward said he is mapping out a plan and talking to the sheriff’s office, administration officials in homeland security and county commission staff.
He said he expects a decision before the end of May, if not sooner.
“It’s better to make a decision before we drop $40 million,” he said.
Road Commission Chairman Eric McPherson said he hasn’t talked to Woodward about the project. He’s been talking with the road commission’s managing director, Dennis Kolar, adding that he and fellow commissioners will make a final decision once they have more information.
He said he has not talked to Quarles or the third road commissioner, James Esshaki, because he doesn’t want to violate the state’s open meeting rules.
“Once we’re together, we’ll have a discussion,” he said.
Oakland County road commission delays $43 million new building
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He said the issue has made it clear that road commission meetings should be documented with audio or video recordings and possibly livestreamed, but that decision won’t be final until later this year.
Craig Bryson, the road commission’s spokesman, said the board didn’t discuss the new building at their March 6 meeting and there have been no internal staff discussions on the project’s future.
County Commissioner Bob Hoffman tried to add a discussion on Woodward’s road commission request to Tuesday’s county commission meeting agenda, but the motion failed on a voice vote.
“I want to know by what authority Dave Woodward made his request,” he said.
The next road commission meeting is 9 a.m. Thursday, March 20, at the Beverly Hills administration office. The meeting agenda includes nearly two dozen items. The new administration building is not specifically listed but may be discussed under the agenda’s new business. The agenda is online at https://www.rcocweb.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_03202025-332.