Jackson Free Press

The Hinds County Board of Supervisors did not renew Interim Public Works Director Thelman Boyd’s contract, opting to appoint County Engineering Manager Charles Sims in the interim. At its Monday, May 17, meeting, Board President and District 3 Supervisor Credell Calhoun brought up Boyd's one-year contract, which lapsed in April, and introduced the motion not to renew the contract. He also asked County Administrator Kenneth Wayne Jones to advertise for the position.

District 1 Supervisor Robert Graham and District 2 Supervisor David Archie said Calhoun's move blindsided them and then brought forth counter motions in opposition but were unsuccessful each time.

"I make a substitute motion in this matter, and my substitute motion is that Mr. Boyd stays in position until we get to hire a full-time public works director," Archie said before the vote on the motion not to renew Boyd's contract. "I think it is incumbent on us to be good stewards as elected officials to make sure that the citizens of Hinds County are taken care of."

Graham said he believes that Boyd has done a great job since his appointment and asked Calhoun to explain the rationale for his move, which he declined to do.

"I'd like to say that I thought that, and I still believe that Mr. Boyd has done a great job and is doing a great job," Graham said. "And I want to go on the record as supporting him and what he has done. I have no idea as to why this contract is not being renewed for any particular reason."

"I want to make sure that Mr. Boyd and everyone else gets due process as it relates to when they've done wrong or what they've done right," he added. "I don't know, Mr. President, if you thought that he'd done something wrong, but I think that it could have been better for the board to be unified in what we are doing or why we are doing it, and he deserves an explanation."

Archie said his surprise at the move was because he believes Boyd has been "getting things done" and does not recall the board questioning his ability.

"I think that when he gets before us on his mic here, that that is the time to question his ability to do his duties," he said. "I haven't seen any of that taking place. The only thing that I have seen that's taking place is the motion that was just made. And I don't think that was a due process, not based upon the performance of the employee of Hinds County."

After Calhoun, District 4 Supervisor Vern O. Gavin and District 5 Supervisor Bobby "Bobcat" McGowan voted to not renew Boyd's contract, Calhoun introduced the motion to appoint Sims as interim public works director. But Archie put up a substitute motion "for Hinds County not to rehire anybody that works for Hinds County to take over the position of public works." That motion failed to garner the three votes needed to succeed, with Graham casting the only supporting vote with the others voting no.

After Calhoun set the effective date as immediately for the appointment of Sims as interim public works director, Graham made a substitute motion to "make the effective date after another individual has been hired." That motion also failed.

Water Supply Disruption in Jackson and Byram

Thousands of people in south Jackson and Byram are continuing to suffer low or no water pressure as the Siwell Road well system and TV Road well system are offline.

City of Jackson Public Works Director Charles Williams said at a media briefing on Tuesday, May 18, that contractors are working on the Siwell Road well system and might not see a resolution before Friday, May 21. He urged the affected residents to continue to conserve water. The City organized water distribution at 4 pm. on Tuesday at Siwell Road Middle School located at 1983 N Siwell Road in Jackson.

"As of this morning, the city of Jackson currently has four wells that are operating. TV Road and Siwell Road wells are currently offline," Williams said. "Siwell Road is one of our large wells, and we are concentrating our efforts right now on that repair, and then we're moving on to TV Road."

"Right now, we're basically assessing the situation while the contractors onsite are starting to break the well down to determine the actual cause of the failure," he added. "We also anticipate having a mitigation plan in place that we can quickly make the repair in order to have water restored to that area of Siwell Road by Friday. And that will be the best-case scenario, and then we'll move to TV Road."

He said that those affected include TV Road, Maddox Road, Raymond Road, Highway 18, South Siwell Road, Terry Road and Spingridge Road, which add to 2,000 connections.

"Those areas right now are probably experiencing low water pressure, which will continue to fluctuate over the next two days while we make the repairs to Siwell Road well system," the public works director said.

"Earlier today, the Department of Public Works reported that one of the wells on the Jackson Maddox Well System near TV Road was offline. Both a precautionary boil water advisory and a conservation notice were issued for the impacted areas. As of this evening, a second well at Siwell Road is also offline. As a result, the Jackson Maddox Well System is currently operating on four wells," Communications Manager Michelle Atoa wrote in a statement on Monday.

The City said on its Facebook page Tuesday that the Jackson Maddox Well System serves about 16,000 water connections concentrated in south Jackson and the City of Byram. "As the system continues to operate on only four wells, customers, particularly those at higher elevations, can expect to experience low or no water pressure in the impacted areas near these wells,” the post said. "The precautionary boil water advisory issued on Monday, May 17, as a result of the TV Road well disruption will be expanded to also include areas impacted by the Siwell Road well disruption."

The City has suffered two earlier disruptions in its water system in 2021. The February winter storm caused widespread outages; in April, a fire outbreak at OB Curtis Water treatment Plant affected many households.

Email story tips to city/county reporter Kayode Crown at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @kayodecrown.