I have been seeing all of the comments on Flint’s water and I am deeply concerned about the issues people are experiencing. We all share the same goal of having safe and affordable water for Flint. Working on this is my top priority because I care about how families are being affected with the water quality and the high bills. I recognize that there are a lot of concerns about safety and the challenges continue with restoring customer confidence. The bottom line for me is that we have to have clean and affordable water for everyone--my family and I drink and use the water every day. It is urgent to bring in an independent expert team to ensure the water is safe and the system is efficient. And we need to continue to have open dialogue so everyone has a full understanding of the issues and challenges and we come to agreement on the best solutions going forward. After being at the City Council committee meeting earlier this week, I am being asked about going back to the Detroit system because the water quality issues are being attributed to the Flint River being the source. I agree that the river is harder to treat but what we need to do is make investments in our own system at the treatment plant and on fixing the older pipes throughout Flint. Going back to Detroit and paying their premium is a very high cost scenario. It’s a million dollars or more per month for Detroit water based on our past experience and what the County is paying now. This would only compound the water cost problem. We do need to do a much better job of communicating and being more transparent--including posting test results and sharing information about pipe breaks and conditions that might affect the water quality. Timely notices have to be put out going forward and I will do everything I can to make that change and the new City website will help. There are a lot of challenges with the conversion and the entire community is going to have to be offered more opportunities to be involved. I think we proved with the master planning that all of us working together will get better results that any one doing it on their own. My door is open and I am paying attention to the concerns that are coming up. I am willing to do everything I can in these circumstances and I think if we work together we can get through this period and be ready to connect into the new pipeline next year.
Posted on: Sat, 10 Jan 2015 02:53:14 +0000