Synder in Flint with $30M promise to pay residents' water bills

FLINT, Mich. (WJBK) - Instead of Washington DC, Gov. Rick Snyder spent the day in Flint rolling out a $30 million promise to help pay people's water bills. He's also calling for more studies to be done, before any of the city's lead pipes are dug up.

"I don't think we should have to pay for water until they get it right, at all," said resident Eric Marland.

Snyder will lay out his plan to lawmakers next week, and it will only pay an estimated portion. For example, water that has been used drinking, cooking, bathing, and washing hands would be included. But water used for flushing toilets, watering lawns, washing clothes and other purposes will still fall on the residents.

"Right now I have a house that I'm redoing," Marland said. "I don't even have the water on, it costs me $70 a month just to have the water service there."

Marland and other Flint residents came to the fire station Wednesday to pick up bottled water, paint a small picture of their everyday life.

"You take a shower once a week and hope you don't get lead poisoning from it going through your skin," Marland said.

"We can't afford to use bottled water all the time to bathe in," said resident Linda Cochran. "It is impossible. I come up here every day."

Gov. Rick Snyder had a press conference this afternoon in Flint where reporters had raise their hands to get questions answered by him.

Michigan is sitting on a surplus, and FOX 2 asked Snyder on what's being done to fix this problem permanently.

"We're taking care of the issues in the sequence that they need to be addressed," Snyder said. "The evidence from the researchers and scientists say, you recode the pipes first, you do the infrastructure study, and then you make decisions based on that. And I think you'll see next week that I'll be proposing a significant investment in flint in addition to today."

Flint Mayor Karen Weaver said the people's costs also needs to be addressed.

"It is what the people need as far as services and supports right now," she said. "And what they'll need in years to come, and so that's even bigger."

Marland doesn't seem to have much confidence is what Snyder is saying.

"They keep putting it off. they don't really want to say anything so they're not held responsible on what's going on," he said. "Just fix it."