Highland Park could miss deadline to sign water debt agreement, again

Today is the deadline for Highland Park to sign a final settlement agreement that would erase millions of dollars in debt it owes the Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA). It’s unlikely an agreement will be signed before the deadline passes.

Highland Park City Council still needs to vote on whether to sign the agreement, which is already signed by GLWA. As of Tuesday morning there was no meeting scheduled. The parties have missed three other deadlines. The previous deadline, Feb. 20, was the same day the council tabled a vote on the agreement.

Outlier reached out to City Council President Jamal Thomas to find out why the council is not voting on the settlement. Thomas declined to comment.

The final settlement agreement would erase a previous judgment against Highland Park and dismiss other litigation. The city is estimated to owe GLWA about $55 million in unpaid water bills and wastewater fees. The settlement would also call for the state to fund water infrastructure improvements in the city.

A tentative settlement agreement the three parties signed in October is in place until the final agreement is signed. Highland Park changed water rates in January to meet the terms of the initial agreement. The new fees raised residents’ bills across the board.

Outlier Media checked in with residents to see how they feel about the final settlement agreement.

Victor Thomas, a bishop at Faith Tabernacle Church, said he supports that councilmembers didn’t vote on the settlement agreement because he thinks they didn’t know what was in it yet. “I don’t want them to vote on something that they don’t have an understanding on or… we as citizens are not well informed with,” he said.

City attorneys received the final settlement agreement on Feb. 14. During a City Council meeting the next week, councilmembers complained they had only a few days to go over the document before the meeting. A GLWA spokesperson told Outlier that drafts of the agreement have been exchanged by lawyers for Highland Park, the state and GLWA since November.

Alexis Ramsey is a homeowner, the former chairperson of the Highland Park Housing Commission and the former president of the Highland Park School Board. She said by not approving the final agreement last week, the council was flirting with the possibility of homeowners having to pay off the massive water debt through property taxes.

“They failed to do what they needed to do in order to protect us,” Ramsey said. “And my fear is that there’s a strong possibility that this levy may come, and we all lose our homes.”

Another homeowner, Kenneth Woolridge, saw his water bill went up 75% between December and January. He said signing the settlement agreement still leaves residents like himself vulnerable.

“Even if the State of Michigan came down and helped out, and stopped the lawsuit from going through, your bill is still going to go up. So, it’s a no-win situation,” Woolridge said.

Mayor Glenda McDonald has been directing residents with issues paying their bills to assistance programs .

Marquise Rutledge, a renter, said it’s unfortunate that the settlement agreement means increasing water bills for residents. But he gets why it has to happen. “They gotta make they s— back somehow,” he said. Rutledge thinks that the city should sign the final agreement. “Highland Park has been down for so long, and it has been hard for people around here, so I believe they should wipe that debt.”

Homeowner Dan Hollowell acknowledged that if the settlement agreement isn’t signed, then the city is at risk of having to pay millions of dollars in debt. Still, he was frustrated. “But that’s not my fault! That’s not my fault!”

City officials have said the vast majority of residents paid their water bills during the decade-long dispute with GLWA. However, they said that the city’s aging infrastructure caused the system to leak water and rack up additional unpaid charges.

When pressed for what Highland Park officials should do then, Hollowell said, “The solution is what they’re doing. You have to take money from people that don’t have it to give.”

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