Credit steve carmody / Michigan Radio
The Flint city council has signed off on joining a $641 million settlement of water crisis lawsuits.
The council voted just after midnight after a marathon session Monday night to tap $20 million in insurance funds to pay the city’s share of the settlement.
The council voted for the resolution, despite concerns about how the settlement will distribute the funds to Flint residents who suffered health problems and other issues during and after the ill-conceived switch of the city’s drinking water source to the Flint River in 2014.
The river water was not properly treated with corrosion control, causing lead to leach from pipes into the city’s drinking water. The water source was switched back to Detroit’s water system in 2015, but by then the damage was done.
The Flint City Council voted Thursday to postpone a vote on the city s $20 million portion of the state of Michigan s proposed $641 million settlement stemming from Flint water crisis lawsuits.
Council members held lengthy discussions Thursday over approving the city of Flint s $20 million insurance payment that would go toward the settlement of a class-action lawsuit stemming from lead in household water pipes beginning in 2014, when the city switched water sources.
They agreed to discuss the issue Monday at a scheduled City Council meeting.
Concerns by some on the council include what authorizing the payment would mean for the city and whether the settlement itself was large enough to cover replacement of pipes and future lawsuits.
Flint Council votes to hire own attorney, delays decision to settle water crisis cases against city
Updated Dec 17, 2020;
Posted Dec 17, 2020
Kate Fields looks through documents during the Flint City Council meeting at City Hall on Monday, Jan. 14, 2019 in downtown Flint. Kaiti Sullivan | MLive.comKaiti Sullivan
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FLINT, MI The City Council is hiring its own attorney to represent it in matters tied to the Flint water crisis and will wait before deciding whether to join in a settlement of residents’ lawsuits against the city, the state of Michigan and others.
Council members voted 8-1 on Thursday, Dec. 17, to postpone a vote until its meeting Monday, Dec. 21, on whether to use $20 million from its insurance carrier to join the proposed $641-million settlement.