Jackson Free Press

The city will be left holding what could be a $100 million bill if it does not move to regionalize its sewer treatment facility in the next few months, according to Council President Ben Allen.

"This is the most important issue the city council will face as far as the economic future of Jackson," Allen told the JFP on Tuesday.

The city's waste treatment plant is old and getting older, by Environmental Protection Agency standards. More modern treatment plants further process raw sewage to make it less damaging to rivers, but the Jackson facility's waste is still too dangerous for the EPA to allow more than a few thousand gallons to be dumped into the Pearl River each day. Jackson's current plant has already reached the limit it is allowed to dump, and the strain on the plant to process more waste is only growing each year, with Madison and Rankin counties wanting to pipe more and more wastewater to the facility.

Both cities currently pay Jackson for treatment, but some cost of the upgrades to the Jackson plant will be passed on to Rankin and Madison, both of which are already considering building their own treatment plants.

Should adjacent counties part ways with Jackson, the city will be left to finance its treatment upgrade on its own.

Allen and Ward 6 Councilman Marshand Crisler say that neighboring counties would prefer to cut costs by entering into a regional authority with the city, chipping in on renovating the plant. A new plant could improve the quality of the waste water and handle increased volume, but if the city renovates the plant under a regional authority, it will have to give up ownership of the facility to the authority. In any case, the city does not have much time to make a decision on a regional authority.

"The thing is, we have to start this now because Rankin is getting tired of waiting on Jackson, and they're beginning to procure their own property (for a plant) themselves," Allen said. "What I'm trying to do now is get the city administration to realize the problem and get off their butts. They're acting like there isn't a problem."

Chief Administration Officer Robert Walker said the city administration does not necessarily share Allen's sense of urgency. "I have not had any extended conversation with the mayor about this, but we obviously have to meet and find out what the facts and numbers are. Then we can make an informed decision in terms of where we should go from here," Walker said. "We talked … yesterday to see where we should go from here, but I can't over-emphasize the importance of the city of Jackson making an informed decision about what the next steps should be. In order to do that, we've got to have more information."

Previous Comments

ID

91383

Comment

I don't think it takes a rocket scientist to figure out that swift action is warranted here. Can our fair city afford to pay $100 million for a treatment upgrade without some help? Ummm...nope.

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2007-02-21T21:17:49-06:00

ID

91384

Comment

Yet more mismanagement from Melton and Company. I hope the citizens of Jackson are happy with what they've elected.

Author

Ironghost

Date

2007-02-21T22:05:47-06:00

ID

91385

Comment

hold on. before you guys blame it all on Melton this has been kicked down the street for years. Wyatt first editorialized about this in the sun years ago and it has been ignored by each administration. Having said that, I think Melton will ignore it like he always does. Its not flashy enough for him and requires him to focus longer than 30 seconds.

Author

Kingfish

Date

2007-02-21T23:33:24-06:00

ID

91386

Comment

Kingfish, please do your research before you blatantly accuse all administrations of ignoring this issue. I especially would like for you to examine the Johnson plan for this issue. Remember, this was the man who had a vision and a plan for the city and there is so much evidence of the seeds he planted. Also, remember that Johnson was a visionary with the ability to write grants, identify funding sources and deliver a positive message about the Citizens of Jackson and our City. These and other attributes landed him as the President of the National Black Mayors Association and as a consultant to the National Mayors Group. Other people in the country knew/know and appreciate these talenta; however, this community was not safisfied until it elected its first Black DUMBA$$. Please don't tell people not to blame Melton. Who in his right mind would want to put any money into his draining river. Maybe this is the wake-up call that we need. If Walker is waiting on an "informed decision from Frank Melton," he wil be like Frosty the Snow Man once the sun hits. Where there is no vision; the people perish.

Author

justjess

Date

2007-02-22T11:48:51-06:00

ID

91387

Comment

PS. In the words of my GMother, the Sh!t has hit the fan.

Author

justjess

Date

2007-02-22T11:53:17-06:00

ID

91388

Comment

Would it not benefit Madison and Rankin to join with Jackson to solve this problem? I would think that it would take Madison and/or Rankin at least 100 million to build a facility of their own...right? Where can I find out more information on this subject...anyone?

Author

Big Tee

Date

2007-02-22T11:56:53-06:00

ID

91389

Comment

My point is that this issue has come up before with previous administrations. That is plural, not singular. Harvey was also notorious for dragging his feet on projects that involved other counties/cities. My point is that this problem has been festering for years and for various reasons it still has not been addressed. Visions and plans are nice but you do need action at some point. We didn't get any actual work on this from Ditto or Johnson and likely will not under Melton. Big Tee: You are correct but at some point they get tired of waiting for Jackson and like I said, this has been an issue for probably at least 10 years.

Author

Kingfish

Date

2007-02-22T12:04:30-06:00

ID

91390

Comment

This is another exapmle of how we would benefit from combined city/county government.

Author

Willezurmacht

Date

2007-02-22T12:11:45-06:00

ID

91391

Comment

you got it. Aint happening. Too many egos and fiefs.

Author

Kingfish

Date

2007-02-22T12:22:53-06:00

ID

91392

Comment

"Yet more mismanagement from Melton and Company. I hope the citizens of Jackson are happy with what they've elected. Posted by: Ironghost on Feb 21, 07 | 9:05 pm" Don't you talk about them like that. Show frankie some RESPECT. He knows what he's doing because he's "not your regular kind of mayor..." All those silly numbers are just a bunch of mumbo-jumbo anyway. If you people would just "let the man do his job..., we'd be in utopia. Or, at least a really broke police state.

Author

Cliff Cargill

Date

2007-02-22T12:26:26-06:00

ID

91393

Comment

I know it wont happen, but we can all wish, cant we? Well--I CAN forsee a scenario where the city is forced to restructure; if all the bonds it has been issuing (maybe including a few tens of millions for the sewer plant) cause the city to become insolvent- expecially considering the shrinking tax base within the city limits. It has happened to other cities before.

Author

Willezurmacht

Date

2007-02-22T12:28:10-06:00

ID

91394

Comment

Cliff Cargill, your melton humor fascinates me. Maybe we can make some "I let the maya do his job and all I got was........" Tee Shirts. Maybe this could be a City fundraiser.

Author

justjess

Date

2007-02-22T12:39:48-06:00

ID

91395

Comment

Right back atcha jess, that's funny!

Author

Cliff Cargill

Date

2007-02-22T12:42:56-06:00

ID

91396

Comment

For the record, I attended several ward meetings during the Johnson Administration. This issue was not something that was swept under the table. The fuel plant on fortication (in the curve) was discussed regarding upgrading to stop the discharge. the O.B. Curtis plant on the reservoir also was discussed and as far as I can remember contracts were awarded for the upgrades. Adam this may be something you can check on as a follow-up. I don't have all the details but for sure I know this was a major issue during the previous adminstration. And as always the current adminstration is not focused on grant writing, federal funding or anything that relates to progress.

Author

maad

Date

2007-02-22T12:50:12-06:00

ID

91397

Comment

I remember hearing that problems were evident at that plant during the Ditto administration.

Author

Willezurmacht

Date

2007-02-22T12:57:11-06:00

ID

91398

Comment

look, I'm not saying it was ignored. I know it was discussed for years. However, it still has not been handled. Plans and discussions are nice and useful but at some point actual action has to take place and it hasn't and I put that on several administrations and the city council.

Author

Kingfish

Date

2007-02-22T12:58:06-06:00

ID

91399

Comment

When Johnson left office in 2005 the city had completed the design of the water production facility upgrades. The city had received bids for the OB Curtis Plant and bids had not yet been received for the JH Fewell Plant. The estimated cost for the two projects was $75 million and would have brought total water production capacity to 75 million gallons per day. If memory serves me correctly, the city had issued revenue bonds to pay for this. Also, the Johnson administration spent $14 million improving the Savanna Street wastewater treatment facility. Johnson also completed a detailed sewer system evaluation that identified approximately $98 million in priority repairs needed in the system and his administration was in the process of developing an implementation plan to address the repairs to the system as well as identifying any capacity deficiencies when he left office.

Author

thabian

Date

2007-02-22T13:26:02-06:00

ID

91400

Comment

nice to know. and it won't be done under this administration either.

Author

Kingfish

Date

2007-02-22T13:45:21-06:00

ID

91401

Comment

Hopefully, we will be getting a new maya in a couple of months. Then something will happen.

Author

Ray Carter

Date

2007-02-22T13:46:18-06:00

ID

91402

Comment

Ray...come on! A new Mayor that will handle this as well as all the other issues of the city without going crazy and/or killing themselves? Who Marshand Crisler? Ben Allen? Speaking of which...does anyone know if Harvey wants his old job back? My wife and I saw him in Penn's fish house the other day fro lunch and I should have asked while we were waiting on a fresh batch of fish to come out:-)!

Author

Big Tee

Date

2007-02-22T14:28:02-06:00

ID

91403

Comment

Thanks Tabian for providing this good information!!

Author

maad

Date

2007-02-22T14:40:02-06:00

ID

91404

Comment

Just to try and keep the record straight: Fewell Plant - Water Treatment Plant Curtis Plant - Water Treatment Plant Savannah St. Plant - Wastewater Treatment Plant (sewage) There are two additional smaller sewage treatment plants here. All bonds are covered by revenue with some reserves for upgrades and maintenance. Parts of Madison County will be processed by a yet-to-be-built plant for those areas of the county which naturally drain away from the Pearl River and toward the Big Black River. West Rankin County utilizes sewage treatment through the City of Jackson. An agreement was reached under the Johnson Administrtion to continue this arrangement for some several (perhaps 20) years when they realized how much it would cost their rate payers to build and maintain their own sewage treatment. Is the property being aquired in Rankin County for Brandon or for who? Will this proposed plan impact West Rankin's agreement? These are the important questions. Currently, I believe that the City does not accept sewage from Brandon and other areas of Rankin County. The MDEQ usually does not like several smaller plants and prefers a regional approach but I am sure politics could effect this. With all the prospective development in Jackson and additional housing, the future of sewer collections is bright. Therefore, upgrades to the Jackson treatment facilities should be feasible. Councilman Allen needs to balance the positive growth potential for Jackson with the 'sky is falling' attitude toward our infrastructure. At least there is potential revenue for sewer and water treatment but how about our streets?

Author

ChrisCavanaugh

Date

2007-02-22T14:58:09-06:00

ID

91405

Comment

I dont mean to cause confusion, but anyone who is interested can search the EPA database and find MANY documents relating to this facility as well as several in the metro area which have been receiving warnings for well over 20 years.

Author

Willezurmacht

Date

2007-02-22T17:15:28-06:00

ID

91406

Comment

The other sewer treatment plant owned by Jackson is the Trahon Plant, near Byram. Yes, Brandon sends its sewage to Jackson, as does Flowood, Pearl and Richland. As Rankin County growth continues, the need for an expanded Savannah plant or Trahon plant or a new Rankin County plant becomes apparent. West Rankin can terminate the agreement with Jackson in 2015 and build its own plant, as long as it announces this intention in 2012. They are optioning property for a plant now. Jackson will not want to give up control of its aging plants, but it is definately in the best financial interest of the residents of Jackson, who will have to pay increased rates for sewage treatment if Jackson alone has to upgrade its plants. Really, it is a misnomer that Jackson will be giving something up. Jackson would become a part of a regional authority, like Dallas, Seattle and others, where better water quality is achieved by all communities by coming together to build a state of the art plant. In those communities, each city is guaranteed that its needs for growth will be met. If Jackson hopes to be able to grow along the Byram-Clinton corridor in the future, a key to keeping the City viable, then this will be the way to go.

Author

PostMaster

Date

2007-02-25T18:16:36-06:00