Detroit Evening Report: Highland Park enters mediation talks with GLWA over $24 million water debt
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The Whitmer-Gilchrist Administration helped broker a tentative deal between the Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) and Highland Park last month to end a 10-year dispute over unpaid water bills.
Highland Park is entering mediation talks with the Great Lakes Water Authority to work out a plan to pay off its $24 million water debt.
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Highland Park Mayor Glenda McDonald says the city cannot afford to pay the debt and wants to seek Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection. McDonald declared a state of emergency last week over the city’s financial crisis.
Suburban leaders applaud the negotiations after Highland Park went to court to avoid paying off the bills.
Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller says Highland Park needs to be held accountable.
“I’m glad it’s coming to a head and I do think that the city of Highland Park needs to come to the table to resolve this as an honest broker,” Miller says. “Which means that they need to drop all of this endless litigation that has been going on for over a decade. And all the money they’re spending on attorneys could be much better spent by trying to pay their water and sewer bills.”
Miller says any funding offered by the state to assist Highland Park should go to the suburbs that helped cover the city’s water debt.
Other headlines for May 9, 2023:
- Michigan receives “C-” on infrastructure quality
- Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud to make State of the City address this month
- Detroit’s parks and rec hosting job fair this week
- DSO to celebrate Aretha Franklin this month
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