USA – Detroit city council approves bankruptcy related water authority deal
[JURIST] The Detroit City Council [official website] on Friday approved a deal to lease the city's water and sewage department to a new regional authority as part of the city's continuing effort to exit bankruptcy. After a 7-2 vote, the council approved creation of the Great Lakes Water Authority [official backgrounder, PDF], which will allow the city to take steps to fixing its water system which is dated and has seen a great deal of problems. The agreement will allow Great Lakes to work towards fixing the system, while giving the city control over the authority and allowing suburban counties to have more say in how it operates. Detroit will lease the system for the next 40 years at $50 million a year. Council member Andre Spivey stated [Reuters report] after the vote, "When you…