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Council approves water‑department supervisor amid complaints about billing oversight; mayor touts cost savings
Summary
Council authorized a water‑department supervisor paid from the water fund (salary up to $72,000) after council discussion about billing oversight, staffing separation, and customer complaints; the mayor also highlighted recent contract reviews that identified approximately $230,000 in savings.
The Dearborn Heights City Council voted Nov. 13 to create a new water‑department supervisor position funded from the water enterprise fund, with a salary cap reported as up to $72,000 depending on experience.
Councilman Hassan Saab moved the addition, which supporters said aims to separate finance/control duties from day‑to‑day customer service and reduce the number of escalated resident complaints. Council discussion stressed the need to define the position in job descriptions and indicated an ordinance change may be required to make the post a department head rather than a union role.
The mayor described persistent high‑stakes billing problems and frequent resident calls about unusually large water bills and said a dedicated supervisor would free finance staff to focus on reconciliations and citywide financial oversight. “We need management,” the mayor said, describing prolonged phone traffic and an instance where a commercial customer had a very large water bill.
Council approved the motion by voice vote; the record shows the motion was seconded and the ayes prevailed. No individual roll‑call tally was recorded in the minutes at the meeting.
Separately, in council comments the mayor outlined a series of internal contract reviews and personnel audits that he said produced identified savings (he described about $230,000 in savings found in the first 34 days of the new administration) and proposed hiring an in‑house grant writer to pursue additional state and federal funding. The public works director also reported the water‑meter replacement program was about 64.5% complete and urged residents to schedule meter change appointments to help stabilize billing.
The council did not adopt a detailed ordinance for the new supervisor at the meeting; staff were asked to coordinate with HR and corporate counsel on required ordinance changes and job descriptions.
