Grant To Fix Fraser's Sinkhole Suddenly Becomes A Loan In Senate Vote, Enraging Candice Miller
(WWJ) Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller is blasting State Senate Mjority Leader Arlen Meekhof for replacing a $3 million grant for the Fraser sinkhole with a $5 million loan.
The longtime Republican says the state House of Representatives and Gov. Rick Snyder's office have both shown compassion toward the city with a football field-sized crater that has disrupted lives and caused mayhem.
The House voted overwhelmingly to give Fraser the $3 million grant for a sewer bypass, but in the state Senate it's apparently a different story.
The Republican-led Senate voted 36-1 in support of the loan with many, including Ottawa County Republican Meekhof, saying local governments are responsible for maintaining their own infrastructure.
"You have a state senate majority leader, who by the way has the wrong job title because he's not a leader," Miller said. Shots fired.
She added the city would have to go and borrow the money to pay back a loan. "It's just ridiculous."
Meekhof insisted on replacing the state house appropriation with the loan towards fixing the crippled sewer line that led to the Christmas Eve sinkhole.
Miller fired several big salvos at Meekhof, including this one: "Term limits can't come fast enough for some people."
WWJ Lansing Bureau Chief Tim Skubick says Meekhof is putting his foot down on giveaways.
"He says basically if we did this for every community, if we opened the state's checkbook, every community wouldn't do anything proactive to avoid problems, they would simply wait for a crisis, come to the state with their hand out and we're supposed to give them money," Skubick said.
Miller says Meekhof is just "playing games."
Crews begin work next week on digging a 60 feet deep shaft the length of a football field to replace the damaged main. They bypass will keep raw sewage out of basements and Lake St. Clair.
"We have to build this thing or we end up discharging into the lake, and I am not going to let that happen," Miller said. "I don't care about Arlen Meekhof, he's certainly shouldn't have the title of Senate majority leader because what he's doing is not leadership, it's very arrogant."
