Flint, Michigan — Soon, people living in the north of the city won’t have to go all the way downtown to pay for city bills or get some police services.
The city of Flint has plans to open a new service spot. It’s going to be at 4813 Clio Rd., where an old bank used to be, right in Hallwood Plaza. This means folks in the north part of the city can soon handle city payments and some police stuff nearby, instead of traveling downtown.
City of Flint to open the new location on January 16
The city of Flint official confirmed they are going to start this new place with a big opening event on Tuesday, Jan. 16. After that, it’ll be open from 10 in the morning till 6 in the evening, Wednesday to Friday, and from 10 in the morning till 2 in the afternoon on Saturdays.
The Mayor of Flint, Sheldon Neeley, talked about this at a news conference on Wednesday. He said that people living on the north side of Flint won’t have the hassle of going far for paying their city bills or taxes anymore. This new place is going to be really helpful, especially for elderly Flint residents and those with disabilities who still pay their bills the old-fashioned way.
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Right now, older people have to park on the street, usually at meters close by, and then walk about 200 yards or more to get to the service area in City Hall. After that, they still have to wait in line just to pay a bill. This situation made the city officials start looking for a way to fix this problem.
“We found a need for individuals in the city of Flint to be able to have a more convenient way, especially with our senior citizens inside the city of Flint, to be able to pay their utility bills and having extra additional hours of operation,” Neeley said.
“And so, what we’re doing here is not cloning the hours of operation that we have downtown. But we’re enhancing our level of service here through the drive-thru location, and people will be able to come here to pay their water bills and utility bills,” he added.
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The Flint City Council agreed earlier to rent the property from Hallwood Plaza LLC. This came after Neeley’s team decided to spend around $108,000 on rent and other costs to get the building ready.
Instead of using the city’s part of a national opioid settlement fund, as first thought, the money to run this place is coming from police seizure funds.
The city plans to keep this lease until December 31, 2024, as the officials mentioned on Wednesday.
The new location won’t just be a place for people to pay their bills, with both drive-thru and walk-in options, but it’s also going to be part of the city’s fight against drugs. Neeley mentioned that they will have Narcan kits there, ready to give out to people who need them.
“We’re going to partner with the treatment centers regarding opioids,” Police Chief Terence Green said. “So, that’s going to be our main objective here — to reduce those deaths (and) have an opportunity for individuals in the community to make contact with the police officers that will be here full time, and also have some type of sense of security as far as visibility of a police officer on the north side of Flint.”
This new spot located on Clio Road is the first of its kind in Flint, according to Neeley, but it might not be the only one. The mayor didn’t say no to the idea of setting up similar spots in other parts of the city.