The Three Rivers City Commission will meet tonight at 6 p.m. at Three Rivers City Hall (333 W. Michigan Ave.) with a full agenda on tap, and a citizen rally concerning the cost and quality of the city’s water expected.
As of publication time, Tuesday’s agenda includes a Three Rivers Police Department pinning ceremony for longtime detective and recently named Deputy Police Chief Sam Smallcombe, as well as special exception use permit requests from two marijuana establishments (Cannabis Outlet, 745 S. US-131, and Gramz Three Rivers, 223 N. US-131).
See the complete agenda below or visit the city website for more details:
Rally details
The Three Rivers Clean Water Campaign is seeking relief from recent rate increases of city water and sewer bills, as well as action that addresses the city’s drinking water itself, which exceeds the federal limit for lead contamination. The group will also be seeking water filters for every Three Rivers resident that may not already have one or doesn’t have the means to acquire one of their own.
“We all have a basic human right to access clean, safe water,” Three Rivers resident Casey Tobias said. “I work with poor and (unhoused) people every day. Where can they get filtered water? They can’t afford bottled water. What are they supposed to do?”
According to a press release issued by the campaign, the group will be pushing for a rollback of water and sewer fees approved by the Three Rivers city commission, which were adopted, in part, to address the city’s lead lines, as well as fund ongoing water treatment, and future local infrastructure projects.
Following the Flint water crisis, Michigan cities were required to replace all lead pipes in their water systems over a 20-year period, and at the time local municipalities were largely expected to foot the bill with no help from the state, the burden of which largely fell on the shoulders of citizens.
In 2021, in an interview with Watershed Voice, Mayor Tom Lowry said the city estimated Three Rivers has approximately 1,000 unidentified lead service lines, with the city expected to remove 50 lines annually over 20 years with each line removal costing about $10,000 for a grand total of $500,000 every year until 2040.
Alek Haak-Frost is executive editor and publisher of Watershed Voice.
