Dear Mr. Orr: Oakland County pens response to DWSD situation

On Monday, The Detroit News ran the article, Oakland County calls Orr’s criticism of water authority stalemate ‘desperate attempt to justify your deeply flawed proposal.’

However, Oakland County officials had submitted a seven-page letter and other documents to The Detroit News as part of the county’s ongoing issue with the Detroit Water & Sewer Department’s (DWSD) proposal that began months ago. Rochester Media has included the letter, written by Chief Deputy, County Executive Gerald D. Poisson and Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner Jim Nash, as well as the two other documents detailing the progression of the DWSD situation at the bottom of this article. Below are two paragraphs from the letter, dated April 7, 2014, that were omitted from The Detroit New piece:

“So talks continued. At a January 15, 2014 meeting, your team dropped a stack of documents on the table. During discussions on other issues, a Macomb County representative paging through the documents noticed that buried in that stack was a document dated January 2, 2014. That new document amended the December 17, 2013, proposed annual lease figure of $44 million by increasing it to $47 million. This meant the $1.760 billion diversion from the water and sewer system had grown to $1.880 billion. When confronted with the change, your team said they had “refined” their number.

… They made it clear that the lease agreement could not be terminated for the entire term, even for breach or default. They also repeatedly warned that the $47 million level, while never subject to reduction, could be increased if the Bankruptcy Court found it “unfair” to creditors of the City. These proposed onerous terms certainly elevated the need for Counties to perform extensive, comprehensive, pre-agreement due diligence.”

Kevyn Orr Letter 04-07-14

Response to Request for Confirmatory Due Diligence 3-20-14 1

Detroit_DWSD Counter (Occam’s Razor) Feb 18 2014 FINAL

Editor’s Note: All documents were provided to Rochester Media by retired Oakland County Commissioner, Sue Ann Douglas.

About Sarah Hovis

Freelance wordsmith, arts appreciator, grammar geek, sports spectator, stationery snob, and world traveler, Sarah charts her own course as the owner of saliho creative. She uses her creative mind and engaging dialogue to fearlessly bring the written word to life in print and online… all while keeping a watchful eye out for the next literary adventure. You can reach her at sarah@rochestermedia.com.

Comments

  1. Sue Ann Douglas says

    Thanks for posting this people need to understand what is happening so I hope that they take a few minutes to read the letter to Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr. The bottom line is that no matter what is done rates will increase.

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