Mount Clemens moves to pursue drinking-water SRF loan and starts engineering work with Fishbeck

The Mount Clemens City Commission voted to adopt a resolution authorizing the city to apply for a Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) loan to connect the city to the Great Lakes Water Authority regional drinking-water system and named the city manager as the authorized representative for the application. The commission also approved a retainer agreement with Fishbeck Engineering to begin the initial design and engineering work needed to meet the SRF schedule.

City Manager Mr Shipman told commissioners the SRF application is part of a project to connect Mount Clemens to the Great Lakes Water Authority and noted the application deadline is June 1, 2023. The loan amount printed in the transcript is unclear; the amount is recorded as "garbled" in the meeting record and is not specified in this article. Staff said a subsequent formal design agreement with Fishbeck will establish final scope and fees.

Commissioners discussed the public hearing Fishbeck held as part of the application process and staff described the retainer as a nonbinding step that allows engineering work to begin; the agreement was approved "subject to revisions acceptable to the city attorney," per the motion approved by the commission. The retainer was described as an hourly-rate retainer that precedes a formal design and bidding contract.

The motion to adopt the SRF resolution and the later motion to approve the Fishbeck retainer each passed by roll call. The meeting record shows the following members voting "yes": Campbell, Forier, Hammond, Crap, Rick and Vorhees; Commissioner Dempsey was excused. No commissioners voted no or abstained in the recorded roll calls for these items.

Next steps: staff will finalize the SRF application materials for submission by the stated deadline and return with a formal Fishbeck design agreement that will include detailed scope, schedule and contract terms.