Jackson Water Manager Ted Henifin inked a six-month contract with Jacobs Engineering last week to operate Jackson's water treatment plants. WLBT reported Friday:
After numerous water crises in recent years, many of which were caused in part by a lack of staffing at Jackson’s water treatment plants, the city’s water manager says the facilities are now well on their way to being fully staffed.
That was a major takeaway from a Friday morning press conference announcing Jacobs Solutions had taken over operations of the city’s O.B. Curtis and J.H. Fewell Water Treatment Plants.
The facilities, Curtis in particular, have been ground zero for numerous issues that cut water service for tens of thousands of Jackson and Byram residents in recent years.
Interim Third-Party Manager Ted Henifin says the city’s plants now have a “full compliment of Class A operators,” something that brings the city into compliance with federal and state law, and removes a major factor contributing to the numerous interruptions in services that have left customers in the city scrambling for water not only to drink, but to flush their toilets.
“They now have a full compliment of Class A operators, so we’re not having to work people to death to make sure we have folks there,” he said. “So, we’re in great shape from a compliance standpoint.”
Jacobs officially began Monday. The company is currently operating under a six-month contract and will likely enter into a longer-term agreement later this year.....
Henifin estimates operations will run about $2 million a month.
For the first three years, he plans to cover those costs with federal funds.... Article.
28 comments:
Is this the landscaping and delivery company which has been incorporated for less than 2 years!!!!! If it is, don’t throw away your unused bottled water.
Sometimes I allow readers to show their stupidity and this is one of those times. Jacobs is a publicly traded Fortune 500 company with over 55,000 employees.
Here is the politically correct tie-in.
In the meantime, Jacobs has hired the majority of city employees working at the plants prior to their takeover and is currently advertising for other positions online.
“They’ve had a tremendous response to their advertisement for local talent in a variety of areas, including licensed operators that may have had a history of working for Jackson years ago and left for whatever reason to pursue something else,” he said. “So, they’re finding great local talent, not just in Jackson, but [from] surrounding communities and I think they’re getting responses from folks across the country.”
Siemens redux.
What's your problem with that? One of them they hired away from the health department. She knew her stuff and kept that plant functioning despite the idiots in City Hall for years.
Jacobs is a publicly traded company with about 55,000 employees. I believe they are part of the S&P 500. They have some quality people. They have moved in some folks, hired some from the city of Jackson, and hired some from the MS Health Department. This a good leap forward for Jackson.
I still think Henifin's idea of billing based upon property value is absolutely stupid, but the idea of bringing in a plant operator such as Jacobs is a good move.
Thanks for cracking the whip, Kingfish. The facts are clear that the water situation here in Jackson is fast improving. And I agree with you that the retrieval of former employees is bigly positive.
Why would someone from the Ms. Health Department (a state job with retirement benefits) leave to take a job with the sewage department????
"Jacob's ladder" I see what you did there KF.
Jacobs is a legit company. I’m surprised they didn’t hire Waggoner or another Neal Schaffer. They’ve been around this area forever.
@1:23 I know of at least 2 health department employees that are joining Jacobs. They will be working at the WATER plant, not sewage. They will be Jacobs employees, not Jackson employees. I'm guessing they are leaving for more money.
@1:49 Both Waggoner and Neel Schaffer are good companies. However, I don't believe they operate water plants. Jacobs will be the licensed operator of record for both OB Curtis and Fewell.
...
Nothing says I R AN AMITER like:
Interim Third-Party Manager Ted Henifin says the city’s plants now have a “full compliment of Class A operators,”
Protip: They need a full complement of operators to properly run things, not more verbal strokes!
The facts are clear that the water situation here in Jackson is fast improving.
Besides the Jacobs hiring, and Henifin's propensity for self-puffery, what other facts are present that the situation is "fast improving"?
Why didn't our "I am always right and you are a racist" Mayor hire them? Do they have the OVERWHELMING number of their employees qualified and white (God forbid)?
Jacobs ability to find and hire qualified employees outside the CofJ employee ranks completely SHATTERS Antard Gumflapper's too oft repeated excuse narrative that those sort of people resources are not available in the metro and/or Mississippi. Do not believe a f'ing thing Mayor Incompetent says about anything.
This one makes sense - Jacobs is a quality firm.
What is being overlooked is that the czar has hired the infamous IMS to a contract to take care of the massive number of "small" (less than 24 inch lines) leaks throughout the city.
One has to wonder what sense that makes. Guess it could be worse, could have been Socrates, although it is a good possibility that IMS will now hire Socrates to do the work.
Well, all us Jacksonians had better buckle up and get ready for the next decade of the Czar's rule, since it looks like the House is going to kill any hope we have of the system not being run by Jackson and not being run by this third-party intervenor, along with the federal courts.
True, for now the system is working - something it has only done once before in the last decade which was last fall when the state ran it. But do we really want to rely on Judge Wingate being the water and sewer control, and Henefin maintaining his residency here for the next decade?
A chance exists for a good long term solution to this mess - getting the city out of being involved and also getting it under some form of local control rather than the EPA, Dept of Justice, Federal Courts running it, but the House doesn't want the controversy.
Damn what a loss.
Each pipe break, water or sewer, provides an opportunity for pollution and/or bacteria in the water supply, downstream from the break.
So Ted, I look forward to twenty+ crews replacing miles of pipe, night and day.
I don't drink Jackson water. At least we don't have to fish for food to eat out of local Choke water streams.
Did the contract to hire Jacobs pass through JXN Water?
I don't understand why the salaried manager formed a for-profit on December 7, 2022. If he is taking a salary, and running contracts/operations through his solely-owned company, wouldn't that be double-dipping/self-dealing? Or was Henifin actually hired by hiring JXN Water?
@3:13 didn't you get the memo? Infallible Ted made the decision. It must be a great one!
KF, I wanted to thank you for keeping us updated on everything going on. I trust your site and just wanted to let you know your work is appreciated.
I see what you did there, Kingfish. You cast that plug out under the willows and when somebody took the bait and struck, you kicked in with your usual bull-shit and rammed it up his ass.
You're the master at baiting. No doubt.
Will you ever, ever, ever move on from Antar, Jackson's water problems, sewage and inner-city crime? All that monotonous bull shit will not continue to float this blog.
6:06 - No way your post would suffer the wrath of Kingfish's radar. Kiss ass posts are always welcome here.
I would like to say that Kingfish is an honorable man, a man among men, a beacon in the darkness and a credit to his community. This will ensure my post will survive.
@7:07
This blog has broken more news stories before our friends at WLBT and WAPT are allowed to talk about it. JXN is dying everyday. People are dying, businesses are dying, and infrastructure has been dead for a while. The Rankin County better thans and the Madison County better offs will continue to make this page thrive. There is a lot of brutal honesty on this site. Some people just can’t handle the truth. Crime, sewage, and JXN’s criminal neglect of infrastructure will always be a topic for discussion until there is none to speak about.
It is way more than sewage 7:39PM, Jackson is polluting an entire river with untreated sewage all the way to the gulf. It is criminal and the Federal government is doing nothing to stop it.
1:23pm Feb.27
Because our State bureaucracy has been filled by politicians with too many people who are not attracted to public but are supporters or relatives who need a JOB.
Also,it's likely because some people's idea of job satisfaction isn't determined by money alone. They prefer working with competent people in their profession and not some relative or appointee. And, they like solving problems to endlessly arguing and trying to "climb".
I remember well a lot of good people leaving a certain agency here when a retired military officer with zero background in the agency's science and math based work made every work day a nightmare. He was all about politics and worse,making sure everyone he was in charge of every decision including the strength of the coffee. He didn't know much about making coffee either.
@3:19 - You obviously have no idea what you're talking about.
Those asking why Antar didn't hire more and better qualified people? He didn't have the federal money that just flowed in. Antar was offering professionals a $35,000 salary. If Jacobs is finding qualified people, I guarantee it's at market rate salaries.
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