Next week, Flint city officials plan to sit down with contractors interested in replacing lead service lines.
The city would like to remove 15,000 service lines, but for now they only have enough money to replace about 400.
Mayor Karen Weaver admits her “Fast Start” program has been slow to reach its second phase, partly because the sity wants to give smaller, local contractors a better chance to win contracts.
“That is why we slowed down the process, to make sure the groupings for the lead service line replacements were smaller,” says Weaver, “so local businesses would have an opportunity to bid on that. We had to level the playing field.”
The “request for proposals” posted last week has already undergone some minor changes and more may come after city leaders sit down with contractors next week. The bids are due in two weeks.
City officials expect the work to begin in about a month.
