Jackson Free Press

Some members of the Jackson City Council are nervous about a proposal to establish a regional wastewater authority they fear could hurt the city's own sewage system, one of the biggest money makers for Jackson.

Hinds County is in the early stages of planning for a wastewater system for the long-planned Byram-Clinton Parkway, an 18-mile corridor proposed as multi-lane route between Byram at Interstate 55 South, extending northwest to the Norrell Road interchange at Interstate 20 in Clinton.

Council members first learned of the proposal, which would require legislative action, through an email on New Year's Eve. Keith Turner, an environmental attorney with Watkins & Eager who represents the West Rankin Utility Authority and the Hinds County Board of Supervisors, said the legislation is under development and would not be filed until later on in the session, when lawmakers consider so-called "local and private" bills.

The draft language of the bill would give establish a board of directors made up of public entities choosing to participate. As proposed, the authority would have the power to construct, expand or decommission waste water systems within Hinds County as well as issue bonds to finance projects.

Mayor Tony Yarber expressed "great pause" about the plan during a recent presentation at City Hall.

"It is one of the only enterprises we have," Yarber said, referring to the water system, which is one of the top revenue-generators for the city's coffers. "We must be concerned we don't give away the store."

Together, the city collected $83.8 million in revenue from the water-sewer enterprise fund in the last fiscal year. The city got another $221,000 in sewage disposal fees from Madison and another $38,920 from disposing of Ridgeland's sewage.

Jackson's officials worry about losing customers while still needing to treat the same amount of wastewater at its three treatment facilities that together treat approximately 50 million gallons of water per day.

Turner said the new system would only be for newer developments outside the city limits that Jackson, legally, cannot service. Nor would the legislation obligate Jackson to participate in the authority; the county could move ahead with building a new wastewater system on its own.

"There's not intent or effort to try to take anything from Jackson. We're not trying to take Jackson's stuff," Turner told the Jackson Free Press.

Turner said, ideally, the Byram-Clinton corridor would use two wastewater plants, one to the north and another to the south. The southern plant would discharge to the city's Trahon plant, which serves south Jackson and is currently using only about half of its capacity of 4.5 million gallons per day. The authority could be a customer of the Trahon facility, Turner said.

City officials asked about the composition of the authority and whether smaller municipalities would have the same power as Jackson, the state's largest city with a population of more than 170,000 people.

The council also seemed to worry most about what would happen if Jackson did not participate in the proposed authority. If the authority builds a new treatment facility and siphons off current city customers, it could spell financial calamity for Jackson, which is already struggling to find funds to comply with a U.S. EPA Consent decree while addressing other infrastructure needs.

"Here's the rub: If these other municipalities are not involved, it leaves us holding the bag," council President De'Keither Stamps of Ward 4 said of the consent decree.

Turner said some of the council's concerns are putting the cart before the horse because even if the Legislature approves the bill this year, the municipal members would still need to create the authority administratively. Turner said the idea is to help smaller communities in the area struggling with wastewater disposal (he declined to cite specific examples) pool their resources rather than have to build their own, individual sewage treatment plants.

"We're not trying to put anybody out of business. If those municipalities don't want to join, they don't join," Turner said.

The city council placed the proposal in the Budget Committee, which Ward 2 Councilman Melvin Priester Jr. chairs.

Priester called the proposal "an opportunity for a conversation" between the city and Hinds County. However, citing a conflict of interest because his family's firm represents Hinds County in some matters involving the Byram-Clinton Parkway, Priester declined to talk in detail about the proposal and said he would abstain from voting on the proposal.