The Three Rivers City Commission has authorized the hiring of “special counsel” to provide expert assistance as it works to respond to an order from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to make improvements in the city’s water supply.

In action Tuesday evening (December 1st), the commission authorized City Attorney Pat O’Malley to utilize the services of James Enright, an attorney with Miller Johnson, a Grand Rapids law firm with extensive experience dealing with DEQ.  The move came in response to a verbal update from O’Malley who said the City Charter grants authority for hiring special counsel and recommended that Enright be enlisted to help.

The commission also voted to request the DEQ to hold a public hearing regarding its order for the city to undertake immediate improvements to the city’s water supply to assure that residents and businesses are provided safe drinking water that meets state standards.

The order, announced by DEQ Director Steven Chester on November 13th, requires the city to continuously disinfect its public water supply through interim use of existing chlorination equipment while a permanent water treatment system is designed, permitted and installed.

In issuing the order, DEQ said Three Rivers has a long history of violations involving the presence of total coliform bacteria in the city’s water supply, and is one of very few systems of similar size in Michigan that does not chlorinate as a means of disinfecting water prior to distribution to customers.

O’Malley said he would contact Enright, tell him the city wants to go ahead and request the public hearing, and ask him to appear before the commission during its next meeting on December 15th.  He also suggested that Enright talk with the DEQ about the public hearing and represent the city during the proceeding.

Regarding his recommendation to secure Enright’s assistance, O’Malley said, “We don’t want to plunge into this unless there’s a reasonable belief that we can be successful.”  He also said he wants to “make sure the city commission understands all the options.”

Fourth District Commissioner Carolyn McNary wondered about waiting to hire the special counsel until after the hearing and said, “We have a lot of qualified people here who are working towards the same goal.”  O’Malley explained the nature and purpose of the hearing and said the DEQ will be there to answer questions, “but mostly to listen,” thus giving the city “an opportunity to present to them.”

Commissioner-at-Large Daryl Griffith said, “I very much want to have as many knowledgeable experts as we can have on our side.  I think we’ve got an uphill battle to start with.”  He noted that the commission did not take action earlier in the year to put the chlorination issue on the ballot to get input from voters.  He said, “I think that would have weighed heavy on the state.  We chose not to do that at that time and I really regret not doing that so I don’t want to pull any punches at this point.  I want to see all the experts we possibly can, at least for this first public hearing.”

O’Malley estimated the cost for the special counsel – at the rate of $240 an hour plus mileage expense – would be between two-thousand and three-thousand dollars “to go all the way through the public hearing.”  Should the commission decide to pursue an administrative appeal, the additional cost could be $7,500 to $10,000, and a second appeal to Circuit Court could add another $7,000 or $8,000 in expenses.  In another cost reference later in the meeting, Griffith cited an engineering report indicating a preliminary construction cost associated with chlorination of $150,000 and said, “That’s not a small amount of money you’re talking about.”

During the commission’s November 17th meeting, O’Malley indicated the DEQ has three options with the order following the public hearing – modify, rescind or adopt it without modification.  And he said, “The clear message from DEQ is you’ve got to do something and, if you don’t, this order becomes final.”

In commenting Tuesday evening about his conversations with the DEQ enforcement officer, O’Malley said, “I’ve had a good feeling that they have not done this before and they want to establish their territory, what they can do properly, and, by the same token, I get the impression they want to be fair about it.  I think the communication will be good, rather than confrontation.”