FLINT, MI -- Seven months after signing a 30-year contract to purchase treated water from the Great Lakes Water Authority, the city still doesn't have one of the perks of the deal.

A spokesman for Gov. Rick Snyder says he has been waiting months for the city to recommend a Flint representative to the six-member GLWA Board of Directors, which is responsible for determining rates and other major changes within the water authority.

A spokeswoman for Mayor Karen Weaver said she's still in the process of vetting candidates, partly because of "the understandably strict qualifications for the board."

GLWA board members must have at least seven years experience in a regulated industry, a utility, engineering, finance, accounting or law; may not have been convicted of a felony; and can't have conflicts of interest related to themselves or certain family members doing business with the water authority.

"Mayor Weaver is committed to making sure that the city of Flint is properly represented on the GLWA board," spokeswoman Candice Mushatt said in an email to MLive-The Flint Journal.

Ari Adler, communications director for Snyder, said in an email that the city is "well aware that the governor has been waiting for a recommendation ... for several months now -- ever since the city council approved the GLWA contract."

The need for a city recommendation for a GLWA board member was raised at the last Flint Water Interagency Coordinating Committee meeting as well, Adler said.

GLWA's board is currently at capacity, but Snyder may appoint one member to the board, a spot which is currently filled by Craig Hupy of Ann Arbor, officials for the state and GLWA have said.

Adler said Hupy is prepared to step down from the position as soon as the city "provides us with a qualified replacement."

In addition to Flint, GLWA's current customers include the city of Detroit and Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties - each of which is represented on the board.

The 30-year contract with Flint includes the provision giving the city a voice on the board -- something that wasn't offered in initial contracts that were rejected by the City Council.