Officials have voted to create the Great Lakes Water Authority and put the Detroit water system under its authority. The vote of the board was 5 to 1. Macomb County voted no. The plan was created under the Detroit bankruptcy. A number of conditions must be met in the next 6 months to complete the deal. Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel says he’s disappointed and that the suburbs could have gotten a better deal. The Macomb County representative, who is from the city of Sterling Heights, was voted off the selection committee of the Water Authority. Hackel says the motion to put the Macomb member off the board was advanced by the Wayne County representative. The other 5 members voted yes.
Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson and Mark Hackel were both on The Frank Beckmann show Friday morning. Patterson speculated as to why Macomb County was taken off the board. Hackel was clearly not pleased with the situation.