Jackson Jambalaya

As a result of the lack of cooperation, everyone in Mississippi loses. This is a pretty clear example. EVERYONE's rates about to go UP, UP, UP!

The WRUA has NO CLUE what they are diving off into. Wastewater treatment is always cheaper at scale. Period. A 20 MGD plant, delivered and prepared to receive can not be built for $115 million. On top of that all of the current network must be re-routed to the new plant. This will easily be a $250 million ++ endeavor. It is completely misleading to say that the $350 million price tag for the Savanna plant rehab will only produce the current capacity. The upgrades in Phase 2 provide significant additional capacity. So, instead of spending $100 million to work with our neighbors and solve a regional problem our "stuff" is too good to be shipped to Jackson. And who is Bruce Stephens? The Rankin News says he is the only full time employee of the WRUA. But yet the filings for WRUA state they ah e $3 million, 1/3rd of expenditures on operational costs. 1 guy? But I'm not blaming him completely, because ultimately the problem is we have too many bond peddlers in a close proximity with pliable politicians. But hey, we can finally be # 1 in something...water bill costs!

Spread all the FUD you want but actions speak louder than words. Jackson did it to themselves.

Pappy, you might be right about all those costs. But, one thing you might underestimate, particularly if you don't live in Rankin County, is the total contempt with which most Rankin County residents view Jackson. Rankin County is made up of people who feel like they were driven unwillingly from Jackson. They are bitter - to a point of being irrational about it. My point here is that Rankin County might just not care that it is more expensive if they can get out doing business with the city of Jackson and have more control of their own future. With that said, if you are right about the costs, all of that should be part of the discussion.

I live in northeast Jackson and I will tell you that this is the problem with the officials elected by the low information crowd. These people feel they can strongarm others into there way or the highway deals. Look at the airport fiasco. When will black leadership learn that it's not black or white it's green.

As a rankin county taxpayer, I don’t want our county’s future development in the hands of Jackson.

Build the plant! Make Rankin Great Again!!!!

It gives me great pleasure to know everytime I take a dump, it goes to Jackson.

When was Rankin ever great to begin with?

This is an example of racist policies by the fine leaders of Rankin County. Continue to drain resources and support from the City of Jackson until it ultimately collapses. The Rankin County rednecks would rather pay twice as much to process their own turds instead of cooperating with Jackson to jointly improve the current waste water facility at a fraction of the price. Sad.

Can you blame us? Jackson refuses to allow West rankin to have any say. This is squarely on the shoulders of the leadership in Jackson.

deductive reasoning. no brainer. why let the crab pull you back into the bucket

9:34, I don't understand why you think the way you do. Rankin County is not an island. It's tied to the greater metro area. It's tied to the state capitol. It's tied to Jackson. As the metro area flourishes, so does Rankin.

Rankin water rates may triple. It will at least double. Jackson and Madison rates are going to double.

The reality is that it never should have been approved by MDEQ board. That was political.

As always, I will call Rankin counties bluff. Build it if you wanna.

@ 9:45 since the last 30+ years....

Better schools
Better roads
Safe shopping
Livable neighborhoods
No crime ( unless you dregs of Jackson & Hinds county slither in)

I could go on & on, but I know this probably taxing education level of the average Jackson resident, what with their "Certificates of Attendance"...…...

It is hard to stop the Carl Ray welfare plan.

Looking at the genius @ 9:45

When was Rankin ever great?

EVERYTIME JACKSON COMES OUT ON THE WORST 50 CITIES TO LIVE IN

Anything you have to say is moot, you destroyed Jackson, so live in your Dim-O-Krat utopia till the worst 50 cities comes next year and Jackson is again near top of the list. Isn't not being able to think for yourself wonderful? LOL, seems ole LBJ was right.

The state capital will move out of Jackson within 20 years.

Rankin water rates may triple. It will at least double. Jackson and Madison rates are going to double.

Prove that the water rates "will at least double" and "are going to double".

Then prove that the wasterwater rates "will at least double" and "are going to double".

PUT UP.

It shall then be known as the “Stankin’ Rankin Treatment Plant.”

When my water and sewer bills double and/or triple I will remember my supervisor, mayor and councilman who let this happen--and not in a good way. Flowood resident.

June 14, 2018 at 12:55 PM = Fake comment

Look, Madison rated will easily double flowood will increase much much more as a result of this. Jackson will also increase. It's a NO brainer!

My water bill in Brandon is already over $100 dollars a month which is very close to my electric bill each month. They blame it on sending waste water to Jackson????My water bill in Smith county is always $25 or less. I plan to move back to the country to get away from all these "city services 'taxes'.

Mr. PUT UP,
Newsflash. Bonds aren't free money. They are issuing a $135 million dollar bond. The total of all debt currently outstanding by WRUA is $41 million.(from their financial statement 2017) That would be 3x on debt. Second, this plant can not be built for the $115 million Mr Stephens is throwing out there. That is a convenient number that correlates well with the what Rankin County's share of costs for rehab at the Savanna St. plant will be(which is actually rehab + expanded capacity-186MGD). If you doubt this, Brighton Colorado just finished a 24 MGD plant for $417 million and Jefferson County, MO is almost complete with a 19 MGD plant for $280 million...but not done yet, so will be slightly higher. And there isn't that much data out there on NEW WWTP's of this size because its TOO EXPENSIVe to build new versus rehabbing large plants. So, I know Bruce Stephens is the Lee Iacocca of sewage, but there is no way that a plant of that size can be built and put in service for $115 million. Also, you will have to pay salaries of the personnel to run this plant, sludge removal costs, and the moment you turn it on you start repairing it. So, 3x higher on your bill is easily within reach. But I know, I know...we don't want to deal with Jackson...anyone, who has ever worked anywhere has had to go in to work and deal with people they don't want to and these politicians should have to figure out how to get along as well.

It's common sense that if multiple communities can share the cost/expense of a service, that will reduce the cost to each community and thus will reduce the cost passed down to all of their residents. I get that. But if you want me to share in the cost of something and share the risk and responsibility for it, then I would like to have a say, a voice, a vote on it. That's all the WRUA asked for, and Jackson refused. I'm not saying that the WRUA building its own plant is a good idea or doesn't come with it's own problems, but Jackson needs the WRUA customers and should have let them have a say in order t keep them. Now they've lost them, and everyone of us gets screwed in the process. Another failure of leaders to cooperate.

@2:17... That is the elected officials job...figure it out. Not get Poopy faced and take our ball and go home and increase the cost of an essential service to a level that will be detrimental to economic investment and destructive to household budgets. And ordinary Joe in Rankin County has 0 say in any actions of WRUA. Politicians have ceded themselves authority to issue bonds with NO say from the public. WRUA has no website, 1 employee and meets God knows when with the absolute minimum of public notice but will soon have almost $200 million of public debt.

"Anything you have to say is moot, you destroyed Jackson, so live in your Dim-O-Krat utopia till the worst 50 cities comes next year and Jackson is again near top of the list."

Woo-hoo! There's only 45 cities in the whole country rated worse than us! Go Jackson!!

Maybe the mayor of Pelahachite can straight this out for them.

Rankin County is not to blame for Jackson's demise.

@ 9:11 makes some good points


Rarely do these types of projects cost, or perform as advertised.

Nothing different here from the post above about the scam being done in JPS with the bond issue. Difference is - this time its the folks on the other side of the river that want to feather their nests (and pockets). Lots of total misstatements in the ED's statement: 1) the cost of complying with the consent decree is not shared with Rankin users; most of the consent decree costs are related to the collection system, not the treatment plant; 2) the estimated cost of the new treatment plant is grossly understated - and with each new proclamation the estimated cost is going down, which certainly doesn't match with historical development estimates; 3) ED fails to include the operating costs of their proposed new treatment plant in his "detailed" financial comparison - but is comparing it to the current operating costs of the shared plant; 4) City of Jackson has (very belatedly) offered a new governing structure that would provide appropriate seating of the various customers (W Rankin and Madison, along with Jackson) so the W Rankin would be involved in any expansion, renovation, or other operating decisions.

But - can't let those little facts get in the way when Carl Ray has been promising you he would get Congress to fund his boondoggle. Problem is, Carl Ray's stroke is much smaller than his mouth (or his belly, but that's a subject for another day). All CRF is interested in is a hefty fee off the construction project he's been trying to promote for decades.

1:17 - you need to check your sources who are probably trying to protect their backsides when they tell you to blame your "water bill on Jackson".

My water and sewer bill (not including garbage in the City of Jackson is less than $10/month. And your rates for sewer are the same as mine. I don't know who supplies you water, or what other charges might be included in your bill. Or for that matter, how much crap you deposit into the sewer system daily. But - if my water and sewer bills are $10 there is no way your claimed $100 bill is to be 'blamed on Jackson'. Check your local officials and see if they are trying to pass the buck so you won't question them.

2:17 (and 10:18) - you are operating on old information. Yes, former Mayor Yarber kept his head in the sand (or other places, depending on which one you are talking about) in refusing to give up any governance of the WWTP. But, in December 2016 he finally gave in and proposed a new governance with seating for all users - Jackson, Rankin and Madison.

Since then, current PW Director Bob Miller has attempted to work with the Rankin County users on a new structure to provide them positions on a management board - but has been rebuffed. This old saw about 'we don't have any say-so" was true with the Mayor that lost his reelection bid with 5% of the total vote.

If your only reason for wanting Rankin to spend several hundred million (much more than the low-ball crap number given here of $115 million) is the governing model, update your knowledge. That solution has been, and I assume remains, on the board for the taking.

As KF stated this is all Carl Rays deal. His money with Thad has dried up now it’s home to Rankin county to bleed them dry. Just a terrible decision for us in Rankin County

I live in Jackson and have been spitting nails over the $9o million Siemens boondoggle, which didn't do anything positive for the area except make a few folks rich(er). But this boondoggle could put the Siemens deal to shame! SMH!

Building a waste-water treatment plant is a no brainer. All you need to know is that poop goes downhill, and payday is on Friday.

This is not going to be good for suburban for real estate. This will be the AT&T of sewage in the suburbs. You will look at your ridiculous bill in addition to your mortgage and wonder how taking a sh*t in this country became so expensive right before you contemplate filling for chapter 11 bankruptcy.

This whole thing stinks.

Carl Ray is a snake in the grass... I've known things years. That guy is like a leech. Blood sucker!!!

Where the hell did all of these wastewater experts come from? And how the hell is a water bill in Jackson only $10 when I pay $60 in Flowood?

8:18, a $10 water bill would be on the high side for Jackson. Most people do not pay anything.

Ok here it is in a nut shell for all you know it alls that know nothing. The city of Jackson is incapable of maintaining any type of facility that requires compliance with a regulatory agency, they are under the EPA mandated consent decree for a reason and that is GROSS NEGLIGENCE. They have allowed the Savanna St. plant to fall on almost utter disrepair. The West Rankin Utility Authority attempted for years to try to be a part of the decision making body in regards to the plant but was told by Jackson officials that the would NEVER consider such a proposal and that they would make all decisions regarding the plant. Not until the EPA consent decree did West Rankin become serious about possibly building their own plant. West Rankin was going to be responsible for almost a third of the Savanna St. plants rehabilitation cost, this is NOT speculation this is FACT. This cost is going to be roughly the same as to build their own plant to which unlike Jackson, West Rankin will maintain it. The cost of this plant would be realized by West Rankin users through their sewer rates regardless whether they stayed at Savanna St. or not, the kicker is West Rankin will control it's destiny in regards to growth and cost of maintaining such a facility. Jackson blew OVER $500,000.00 in legal fees fighting West Rankin and only after exhausting every legal avenue did they come to West Rankin hat in hand with proposals more favorable to West Rankin at which time was the point of no return for West Rankin that had already acquired a NPDES permit and spent money on design and purchased the land. As for the Fella Bashing Carl Ray Fur, he actually tired to talk West Rankin into making a deal with Jackson in the beginning and was somewhat against the plant being built. Jackson officials have brought the EPA down on themselves by refusing to comply with NPDES regulations and in doing so have ultimately forced West Rankin to the steps that are being taken now