Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba said is not “endorsing nor condemning” the new water billing rates that were presented by federally appointed third-party water administrator Ted Henifin in recent weeks.
“I think it should be something that our residents, (and) the city council should be very in-tuned with and understand before making any decisions,” Lumumba said. “I hope we have a well-informed decision-making process.”
The mayor said the new water billing rates will be placed on the agenda for the Jackson City Council’s Dec. 19 meeting.
The topic came up as Lumumba was talking about his reaction to the new lawsuit filed by garbage company, Richard’s Disposal, trying to block the city’s request for proposals for trash pick-up for 2024. Lumumba stated, as he did when he issued the RFP, that cost would be a main factor in the decision of which garbage company the city will select.
Now that water rates will also increase for residents, Lumumba said, it’s even more important for the city to find an adequate trash company for the lowest cost possible.
“It all goes hand-in-hand,” Lumumba said.
The mayor offered no comment on the latest lawsuit filed by Richard’s, other than saying the city will “operate in accordance to state law” and “in a way that is most helpful to the residents of Jackson.”
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Henifin presented the new rates on Nov. 17, saying he plans on speaking at a city council meeting before the end of the year. But he also noted, per the stipulated order that put him in charge of the water system a year ago, he does not need the approval of the mayor or the council to go forward with the plan.
“We are planning to move this forward in the format that it’s at,” Henifin said at the time.
Lumumba was asked about Henifin having the power to forgo approval from the city council about the new water rates. He said he will “leave the interpretation of the order to our city attorney’s office.” He also said he believes “there is some language (within the stipulated order) that if a decision isn’t made by a particular period of time that there is a recourse for the third-party administrator.”
“The specifics of that I’m not prepared to say. I don’t have that language in-front of me and for fear of misstating something, I won’t interpret that at this time,” the mayor said. “But as I said, we will abide by the stipulated order. We will see to it that it’s placed on the agenda, but that comes as a recommendation by the third-party administrator.”
According to page 11 of the stipulated order, even if the city council does not approve Henifin’s proposed new rate structure, he still has the “the full power and authority to adjust the Rates, Rate structure, and/or fees without the necessity of any actions on the part of the City Council.”
Henifin can do so without council approval if the rate has not been adjusted in the last 365 days.
A majority of residents, which are single-family households will see their water bills increase about 30 cents daily, or just above $2 per week, Henifin said when presenting the new water rates.
City’s street resurfacing project underway
Paving season in the city is now underway.
The mayor said for the next month and early into 2024 the focus will be to repave neighborhood streets. Previously, the focus was on repaving major streets and thoroughfares.
The streets currently being paved are within a certain distance of each other, in an effort to reduce the costs of moving construction equipment from street to street, the mayor said.
Street repaving has everything to do with the weather. If Jackson experiences a cold winter, the streets scheduled to be repaved will have to wait until 2024 when the weather warms up.
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“There is a period of time going into the new year that the asphalt companies shut down,” the mayor said. “We will initiate again paving efforts in the early Spring I believe…we’re trying to take advantage of as many streets as we can within this initial schedule.”
This is Phase 1A of the city’s “Street Resurfacing Project,” and includes 31 streets in Wards 3 and 7. The council approved the phase in early October. The first phase will cost the city just above $5 million.
“We’re excited that we’re finally venturing into neighborhoods with our paving efforts,” Lumumba said. “We want to make sure the community knows what is going on, not only for your safety as you avoid the paving areas. But we want you to know that our city is still working hard to make sure we address our crumbling infrastructure.”
