Flint City Council approves funds to help residents with foreclosure, again postpones trash contract

Flint, MI — Flint City Council approved nearly 30 resolutions at its meeting on Oct. 23, 2023, including one to help residents at risk of foreclosure.

Council approved $50,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to Legal Services of Eastern Michigan for the purpose of providing assistance to low-income residents facing foreclosure or eviction.

The proposal first appeared before council last week, after news surfaced of a Genesee County public auction that sold 230 foreclosed, occupied homes to a developer in mid-September. Of those, 190 homes are located in Flint.

Though Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley proposed the resolution in response to the auction, at the Oct. 23 meeting, City Administrator Clyde Edwards said that the funds could go toward anyone in Flint who is facing foreclosure or eviction — not just those whose homes were sold in September.

Council Vice President Ladel Lewis and Councilmembers Quincy Murphy, Judy Priestley, Candice Mushatt and Eva Worthing voted to approve the resolution.

At the time of the vote, no other councilmembers were present. Councilman Eric Mays had been escorted out previously by three police officers after receiving and appealing multiple warnings from Lewis, who was chairing the meeting.

Councilmembers Jerri Winfrey-Carter, Tonya Burns and Dennis Pfeiffer left their seats after Mays was escorted out and did not return for the remainder of the meeting.

Trash contract sent back to committee, decision deadline set

While council voted down a contract extension with Priority Waste, LLC at its Oct. 18 finance committee meeting, a new resolution for the extension was added to the body’s Oct. 23 agenda.

Waste Services Coordinator Heather Griffin told city council at the latter meeting that she had wanted the contract decision to be made by Sept. 30, 2023 so she could have time to sort out all of the logistics on her end.

However, now nearly a month past that deadline, she said that one of the groups potentially providing grant funds for free recycling carts to Flint residents sent a letter saying that the council has to make a decision by Nov. 30, 2023, or the city risks losing the funding for the carts.

Should council approve the contract, the city would receive a $1 million grant from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) for recycling carts, and another grant for $2,492,000 from The Recycling Partnership, Inc. for recycling and trash carts.

Priestley made a motion to move the resolution back to council’s finance committee.

“There’s still so much controversy over this contract,” she said. “I think that the safest thing for this is to send it back to finance.”

She added that she’s not sure if she will vote in favor of the contract at its next appearance, since it uses $2 million of the city’s ARPA funds to make up for residents who have not paid the assessment fees for trash.

“The reason we’re not meeting the needs of the budget is that we’re not getting all the money, all the revenue in,” Griffin explained. “And so that money is going to help those residents that have not been able to pay.”

Councilmembers Lewis, Priestley, Murphy, Mushatt and Worthing voted to send the contract back to council’s finance committee. Mays, Winfrey-Carter, Burns and Pfeiffer were not present for the vote.

Everything else

• Council approved minutes from the Dec. 19, 2022, Jan. 9, 2023, Jan. 23, 2023, Feb. 13, 2023, Feb. 27, 2023, March 13, 2023, March 27, 2023, April 10, 2023 and April 24, 2023 meetings.
• Council approved an informational letter from The Recycling Partnership regarding the recycling program grant package.
• Council approved a communication from Sam Muma, the president of Local 1600 Union, supporting the Priority Waste contract extension.
• Council approved the appointment of Phillip Moore as Flint’s Chief Financial Officer.
• Council approved the re-appointment of Louis Hawkins to the Downtown Development Authority for the remainder of a four-year term ending March 31, 2027.
• Council approved the appointment of Samantha Farah to the Historic District Commission for the remainder of a three-year term ending March 31, 2026.
• Council approved the appointment of Cade Surface to the Historic District Commission for the remainder of a three-year term ending March 31, 2026.
• Council approved the appointment of Jon Mason to the Building Code Board of Appeals for the remainder of a three-year term ending March 1, 2026.
• Council approved the appointment of Megan McAdow to the Historic District Commission for a three-year term ending March 31, 2026.
• Council approved the appointment of Joshua Brown to the Flint Planning Commission to fill the remainder of a three-year term ending March 31, 2025.
• Council approved $225,000 in ARPA funding for Court Street Village for paint projects.
• Council approved a resolution expressing its support for the lane reduction of Court Street and 5th Street, from Ann Arbor Street to the intersection of 5th and Court Streets with Lapeer Road.
• Council approved the mayor’s strategic budget plan for the 2024 fiscal year.
• Council approved a $41,752 change order for removal and replacement of the bridge of Fenton Road over Thread Creek, bringing the new total to $173,610.
• Council approved a $100,140 contract with the Michigan Department of Transportation for the removal and replacement of the Fenton Road bridge over Thread Creek.
• Council approved a $134,000 purchase to Office Depot for office supplies.
• Council approved a $109,800 agreement with the Crim Fitness Foundation for community-based mindfulness training, using grant funds for Flint Resiliency in Communities After Stress and Trauma (ReCAST).
• Council approved a $109,807 contract with Michigan State University for program evaluation of Flint ReCAST, using Flint ReCAST grant funds.
• Council approved a $150,022 contract with the Genesee Health System for community-based behavioral health trainings, using Flint ReCAST grant funds.
• Council approved a $187,272 agreement with the YWCA Greater Flint for the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI), using SAKI grant funds.
• Council approved a $472,449 contract with the Greater Flint Health Coalition for Flint ReCAST Program Implementation.
• Council approved a $1,003,486 amendment to the Fiscal Year 2024 operating budget for additional funding for information technology services equipment and professional service accounts.
• Council approved a $11,850 grant acceptance from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) for the Cedar Street Reservoir and Pump Station Projects.
• Council approved a $41,361 change order for additional purchases to Weinstein Electric for electrician staff, bringing the total to $111,361.
• Council approved a $150,000 purchase order to Ferguson Enterprises, Inc. for water main and water service parts through fiscal year 2026, bringing the three-year total to $450,000.
• Council approved a $375,000 purchase order to the Detroit Salt Company for bulk salt.
• Council approved a $43,000 settlement in the Jessica Kirby v. City of Flint, et al, case.
• Council approved a $90,000 settlement in the Kevin Thompson v. Michael Cochrane, City of Flint and Progressive Marathon Insurance Company.
• Council approved a $195,000 settlement in the Jason Cate v. City of Flint, et al, case.
• Council approved the appointment of Lynn Sorensen to the Flint Planning Commision through March 31, 2026.
• Council approved $50,000 in ARPA funds to Legal Services of Eastern Michigan for the purpose of providing assistance to low-income residents facing foreclosure or eviction.
• Council postponed indefinitely a resolution that would suspend City Council Vice President Ladel Lewis from council responsibilities for 90 days.
• Council postponed indefinitely a resolution that would suspend Councilman Quincy Murphy from council responsibilities for 90 days.
• Council tabled a resolution to its next council meeting that would have allowed Flint businesses to sell alcohol between 7 a.m. and noon on Sundays.

Council voted to send the following appointments to its next governmental operations committee meeting:

• The appointment of Robert Kittel to the Downtown Development Authority for the remainder of a four-year term ending March 31, 2026.
• The appointment of Freda Williams to the Ethics and Accountability Board for the remainder of a six-year term ending June 26, 2026.
• The appointment of Jeffrey Hawkins to the Local Officers Compensation Commission for the remainder of a seven-year term ending June 30, 2028.
• The re-appointment of Gwen Huddleston to the Hurley Board of Hospital Managers for the remainder of a term ending April 30, 2027.

Council voted to send the following back to its finance committee:

• A resolution approving a brownfield plan that would bring 16 new homes to Flint’s Carriage Town neighborhood.
• A resolution that would authorize a contract with Priority Waste, LLC. that would end June 30, 2028. The contract total for a fiscal year would be $6,722,407.80, bringing the overall total to $26,889,631.20