Committee votes unanimously to explore water alternatives

On Thursday, April 3, the Oakland County Board of Commissioners Finance Committee voted unanimously 9-0 to support a resolution allocating $500,000 to study alternatives to the Detroit Water & Sewer System. This resolution #14064 was authored by Commissioner Jim Runestad and was presented to the Planning and Building Committee, where it passed, before being presented to the Finance Committee. These funds will be used to secure professional services and used to conduct a comprehensive study of the alternatives for Oakland County customers using the Detroit Water and Sewer system. Legal, financial and technical expertise are needed to conduct a complete evaluation of alternatives of the existing system and will be secured. In anticipation of future needs, the bi-partisan Finance Committee also voted to set aside $3 million from the current county fund balance in a new fund titled DWSD Evaluation/Alternatives to support the ongoing evaluation options. The funds appropriated of $500,000 will come out of the $3 million newly assigned fund. This action taken by the Finance Committee continues to support the negotiating efforts of Oakland County's administration and the Water Resources commissioner to look at all options including alternatives to the Detroit Water & Sewer Department services and the proposed creation of an authority by Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr. On Thursday, April 17, at 9:30 a.m. in the Oakland County Board of Commissioners Auditorium located at 1200 North Telegraph Road in Pontiac, the 21-member Board of Commissioners will vote on the appropriation of $500,000 for the purpose of seeking alternatives to the Detroit Water & Sewer System. The Oakland County Board of Commissioners will continue to work on behalf of citizens in Oakland County on this issue as well as seek solutions in partnership with the county administration and water resources commissioner when addressing the Detroit Water and Sewer System issue. Since February, the Oakland County Board of Commissioners Regional Water Authority study group has worked to seek answers regarding transparency of the DSWD, the 40-year proposed $1.8 billion investment request for the creation of the Great Lakes Regional Water and Sewer Authority, along with other issues ranging from rates to users parity. Members of the bi-partisan study group met with County Commissioners from Macomb and Wayne counties on February 11 to discuss the issue. They shared and gathered information among each other including information from top officials of County Executive L. Brooks Patterson and Water Resources Commissioner Jim Nash. Members of the bi-partisan Finance Committee include: Thomas F. Middleton, Shelley Goodman Taub, David Woodward, Helaine Zack, Nancy Quarles, Christine Long, Kathy Crawford, John A. Scott, and Jeff Matis. Members of the bi-partisan Water Regional Authority Study Group include: Commissioners Robert Gosselin, Mike Bosnic, David Woodward, Mattie McKinney Hatchett, Gary McGillivray, John A. Scott, and Shelley Goodman Taub. Published: Tue, Apr 8, 2014

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