Jackson Free Press

Jackson City Councilman DeKeither Stamps is catching a lot of flack for voting to stop a change order that would have funneled additional funds into the pockets of Hemphill Construction, the company the city has hired to rebuild Fortification Street. He's also receiving some praise.

The Ward 4 councilman has fielded calls, texts and emails since he and Councilwoman LaRita Cooper-Stokes, Ward 3, combined to shoot down the measure July 30. With a 2-2 vote, the council denied an additional $151,000 to fix a clogged drainage pipe in the name of fiscal responsibility.

"I didn't understand the criticism at first," Stamps said. "When I was running for this position, people asked me to clean up our system, be more responsible with their tax dollars and help hold people accountable, so we will have a more efficient system."

Cooper-Stokes did not give a reason for opposing the measure. Council President Charles Tillman, Ward 5, and Melvin Priester Jr., Ward 2, both supported the additional funding. Councilwoman Margaret Barrett-Simon, who represents Ward 7 (where the project is located), and councilmen Quentin Whitwell, Ward 1, and Tony Yarber, Ward 6, were absent.

Hemphill Construction's original bid for the project was $8,988,961, nearly three times the city's annual street-resurfacing budget, to reconstruct 1.2 miles from Farish Street to Greymont Avenue. The work included replacement of water and sewer mains, including a 24-inch water main on Jefferson Street between Fortification Street and Manship Street. It also provided for Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant sidewalks, changing the street from four lanes to three lanes between Jefferson Street and Greymont Avenue, replacing six traffic signals, adding traffic-monitoring cameras and fiber-optic communication wires, and installing decorative lighting fixtures. Phone calls to Hemphill project manager Tim Temple were not returned by press time.

The problem that has caused the city to ask for extra money arose when construction workers found a 42-inch water drainage pipe clogged with 30-plus years of trash.

"Basically, we have this pipe that is completely clogged beyond what we can handle," Public Works Director Dan Gaillet said. "We have asked Hemphill Construction to clear the pipe and to put up fencing around the construction site where we have trenches—some of which are 7-feet deep—that we don't want to risk having anyone fall into."

That work would cost the city $151,000, but if Stamps has his way, the Rankin County company won't get it.

"When I voted 'no,' I wasn't voting against the Fortification Street project," Stamps said. "I'm voting against us not doing the right thing and working to make the city more efficient.

"My question is this: I don't think we're in the position to write $151,000 checks for plans that were passed without a 1.5 percent contingency plan. Where is the $151,000 going to come from? What are we going to cut to make up for that? Those are the questions I have to have answered before I raise my hand and vote 'yea.'"

Hopefully, the project won't be delayed forever. All three of the absent members have been proponents of the project in the past, and because the vote ended in a tie and rather than a defeat, the change order will probably appear on another meeting agenda in the near future.

If the right council members are at that meeting, the city council is likely to pass the increase, even without the answers Stamps would like to have.

Meanwhile, business on Fortification Street is suffering. T. Francis, general manager of Fenian's Pub, said he was "very upset" to hear that a vote from the city council could delay the completion of construction.

"The traffic has definitely affected our business," Francis said. "Our daytime sales and happy-hour sales are down 8 or 9 percent. It's particularly hurting our daytime business, because people aren't taking Fortification (Street) to dodge traffic anymore. They are detouring and taking different routes to get home."

When the city first came to the businesses to sell them on the project in August 2012, Francis said city officials told them the project would take 18 months. While a February completion date isn't yet out of the question, not approving the change order could delay the project.

"If we don't get it approved it could prolong the process," Gaillet said. "We have enough work over there to do to keep us busy for a while, but eventually we'll need to get that work done, and it's just not something we can handle in-house."