Flint, MI — Flint City Council held a special meeting on Sept. 18, 2023, during which it voted to approve a host of resolutions that had originally appeared on the body’s Sept. 11 agenda.

The special meeting was held after council failed to accomplish any city business at multiple meetings last week, one of which Flint’s city administration called itself in an attempt to get the council to vote on matters it deemed “urgent city business,” including a homeless shelter contract and an emergency repair at Flint’s water treatment plant.

“We called a special meeting on Sept. 14 for the purpose of resolving time-sensitive matters that impact the public health, safety, and welfare of Flint residents,” Flint City Administrator Clyde Edwards said in a prepared statement after the meeting. “After the council again failed to act, the administration was forced to take steps to ensure that Flint residents did not suffer as a result, and we have done so within the boundaries of the law as allowed by city ordinance.”

Ultimately, council voted to indefinitely postpone the resolutions Edwards said had been handled by the administration using emergency protocols last week, including: a resolution for a $135,908 emergency repair for the Water Pollution Control influent chamber repair; a resolution authorizing $25,000 for the Shelter of Flint; and a resolution authorizing $378,000 for a purchase order to Lake Star Construction for the lead remediation project for the Lead Based Paint Hazard program.

Here’s what else council did at its Sept. 18 special meeting:

  • Council approved a resolution to accept a $70,368.36 Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant.
  • Council approved a resolution to provide $3,450 in funding from the Neighborhood Planning grant fund to Friends of Berston and the Genesee County Land Bank to purchase properties for a development project.
  • Council approved a resolution for $39,000 worth of purchase orders for OBC HVAC services.
  • Council approved a $300,000 contract with Brown & Sons, Co. for an annual supply of auto parts, bulbs, breakers, sprays and filters.
  • Council approved a $350,000 change order with Industrial Applied Technologies for the Water Pollution Control East Tank Cleaning, bringing the revised contract total to $920,000.
  • Council approved $428,245 for a Flint Police Department contract with Complete Towing for towing and storage services.
  • Council approved a three-year, $6.9 million contract with Inliner Solutions, LLC. for sewer relining services.
  • Council approved a public hearing for 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 9, 2023 regarding the Carriage Town Neighborhood Project’s brownfield redevelopment plan.
  • Council approved a the allocation of $330,000 of Opioid Settlement Funds to the Office of Public Health.
  • Council approved the tentative agreement between the city and AFSCME Local 1799.

Council voted against two resolutions that would have suspended City Council Vice President Ladel Lewis and Councilman Quincy Murphy for six months.

Councilmembers Eric Mays, Jerri Winfrey-Carter, Tonya Burns and Dennis Pfeiffer voted for the resolution suspending Lewis, while Lewis and Councilwomen Judy Priestley and Candice Mushatt voted against it. Murphy and Councilwoman Eva Worthing were absent for the vote.

For the vote on Murphy’s potential suspension, Mays, Winfrey-Carter, Burns and Pfeiffer voted for the resolution while Lewis and Mushatt voted against it. Priestley, Worthing and Murphy were absent for the vote.

Council also voted to send resolutions to its various committees:

  • Council sent a resolution to its finance committee that would have authorized a $30,222 change order to the contract with Sorenson Gross for the Dort Pump Rehabilitation Project.
  • Council sent a resolution to its governmental operations committee that would implement a lane reduction of Court Street and 5th Street, starting at Ann Arbor Street and going until the intersection with Lapeer Road.
  • Council sent a resolution to its finance committee that would allocate $225,000 in ARPA funds to paint projects in Court Street Village.

Flint City Council’s next meeting is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 25.

Sophia is Flint Beat's City Hall reporter. She joins the team after previously reporting for the Livingston Daily and the Lansing State Journal, along with some freelance work with The New York Times....

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