Flint City Council talks damage claims, housing rehabilitation, ‘loud booms’

Flint, MI — Flint City Council’s April 24, 2023, Special Affairs Committee meeting lasted four hours, with discussions focused on damage claim payments and housing rehabilitation.

In the following Flint City Council meeting, Council voted to pass 10 resolutions and three appointments through its consent agenda.

A resolution drafted by Councilman Quincy Murphy and amended by Council calls for a Title VI complaint to be filed to the Environmental Protection Agency, Environment of Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE), as well as to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Explosives regarding “loud boom” noises that are occurring in the third and fourth wards.

“I don’t know what it is. I’m clueless, I’m concerned,” Murphy said.

The resolution states that the city should take “necessary actions to research and determine the cause of the loud boom noise so that residents can live in a safe and decent neighborhood.”

Loud ‘booms’ in Flint’s Rollingwood neighborhood leave residents in fear

Fourth Ward Councilwoman Judy Priestley said she has been hearing complaints about a loud boom noise since she was elected.

“There’s some reports that some foundations have been damaged as a result, and I know that there are other areas in the country where there are these types of loud noises and they found no resolution,” she said. “But if we don’t go out and search, how do we know that this is the same?”

Damage claim funds

Council voted to move a resolution to the Government Operations Committee regarding damage claim payments following the overloading of Pump Station #5 earlier this month.

All members voted to send the resolution back to committee except for Murphy, Councilmen Eric Mays and Councilwoman Jerri Winfrey-Carter.

The resolution, which was proposed by Mays, would set aside $200,000 for those whose homes were affected by capacity issues at the pump station following storms and flooding in early April.

However, City Attorney William Kim said that there is already a process in place for damage claims and that the funds for those claims were far more than the $200,000 Mays was proposing.

Councilman Dennis Pfeiffer said he was against the proposal going to the regular council meeting given that information.

“We already have a process and that fund arbitrarily never runs out of money in the past because of damage claims, why would we have to add to that?” he said. “So for those reasons, I don’t think I can support that.”

Councilwoman Eva Worthing also voted to send the resolution back to committee, saying that it needed to be rewritten.

“It’s not very long, it’s not very specific,” she said.

Housing rehabilitation

Council voted to enter into a $650,000 contract with Genesee County Habitat for Humanity for owner-occupied housing rehabilitation in the Choice Neighborhoods Area.

The funds will allow $20,000 per home to do exterior renovations.

The requirements for homeowners to benefit from the funds is that they have to be up-to-date on their taxes and water bills, and they have to have insurance on their home.

The areas the renovations would affect surround Atherton East and South Flint.

Flint’s Planning and Development Director Suzanne Wilcox said with council’s approval, contractors for renovations could start being selected through Habitat for Humanity within the next 60 days.

Everything else

Council voted to send the appointment of Dr. Khalid M. Ahmed to the Hurley Board for Hospital Mangers for a five-year term, starting April 30, 2023 and ending April 30, 2028, to the Government Operations Committee. His appointment was recommended by Mayor Sheldon Neeley to replace Frances Gilcreast, whose term expires April 30, 2023.

The potential appointment was sent back to committee over a concern raised by Pfeiffer about it being a conflict of interest, as Ahmed is the Chief of Staff at the Hurley Medical Center, according to his résumé.

Otherwise, Council approved the following resolutions and appointments:

• Council voted to appoint Sherri Miller to the Water System Advisory Council, a council that has the purpose of improving transparency in Flint by developing materials and advising the water system on public awareness and education efforts.
• Council voted to appoint Peterson Cullimore to the Water System Advisory Council. 
• Council voted to appoint Mona Munroe-Younis to the Flint Planning Commission for the remainder of a three-year term, replacing Elizabeth Jordan. Munroe-Younis’ term will end on March 1, 2024.
• Council voted to accept $16,000 from the State of Michigan for the City of Flint Police Department to use for Basic Law Enforcement Training Academy scholarships and salaries for employed recruits.
• Council voted to accept a $1,421,911 grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to support the development of replacement housing with the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative Transformation Plan.
• Council voted to accept a $3,082,341.50 grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to address housing needs of those experiencing or at-risk of homelessness, those fleeing domestic violence or human trafficking and other vulnerable populations with a high risk of housing instability.
• Council voted to pass a change order to the Park Partnership Agreement between the City of Flint and the Genesee County Parks and Recreation Commission to allocate $175,000 for the purpose of mowing city parks.
• Council voted to pass a change order for the purchase of a pumper firetruck in the amount of $219,658, for a total amount of not-more-than $909,658.
• Council voted to authorize a $272,559 purchase to AIS Construction Equipment Corp. for the purchase of excavation equipment, at least one compact excavator, two equipment trailers and one compact track loader.
• Council voted to approve a change order to a contract with Zito Construction Co. for an additional $30,000. The funds will come from Flint’s Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery/American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to cover additional valves, valve manholes and longside service bores needed while the company installed the water main on Miller Road.
• Council approved a $150,480 purchase from McKim & Creed, Inc. for services related to surveying and identifying undetected water leaks.