Commission to receive long-awaited data on projects
Jackson’s one-percent oversight commission could soon have the information they need to again approve spending money.
Public Works Director Robert Miller said he will soon provide oversight officials with the oft-requested, but never delivered “project reconciliation.”
“I intend to have that information pulled together for the commission shortly, hopefully by the next meeting,” he said.
The commission meets on the second Wednesday of the month.
The “reconciliation” will essentially break down how one-percent funds have been spent to this point, including what projects have been completed, which ones are in the design phase, and which ones have not been started.
The commission did not approve any major projects last year, in part, because they wanted a better picture of what had been spent and what had not.
The commission oversees how Jackson spends a one-percent infrastructure sales tax. The tax has generated more than $53 million, of which about $37 million has been obligated, according to city records.
Confusion sprang up last year after data revealed the city, under former Mayor Tony Yarber, had moved funding from some projects to fund cost overruns on others.
Around $700,000, for example, was moved from the second phases of the Eastover Drive water main replacement project and Riverside Drive reconstruction project to pay for overruns on a Robinson Road bridge replacement.
All projects were part of the first-year master plan, which the commission approved in 2015.
Commissioner Ted Duckworth is looking forward to receiving the information.
He has been requesting the data for months, but requests have gone unfulfilled.
Duckworth alluded to a need for the reconciliation at the February commission meeting.
“Everyone is trying to give (the city) grace to get through the water crisis,” he said.
Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba took office in July, and almost immediately hit the ground running.
Days after his inauguration, the city had to deal with flash flooding in Belhaven, as well as a major broken water main along Riverside Drive.
And in January, Jackson officials were given another major test when multiple days of sub-freezing temperatures wreaked havoc on the city’s water system.
More than 300 water main breaks resulted as a result of consecutive days of arctic temperatures, leading to system-wide losses in water pressure and city-wide precautionary boil water notices.
The commission did not meet in January as a result of the crisis. The board also did not meet in December because of holiday conflicts.
Miller joined the city in October, after being tapped by the new mayor to be public works director.
“We wanted (Miller) to take a couple of months to get his feet under him. He had the water crisis. Now it’s time to refocus,” Commissioner Jonathan Lee said.
The data will be needed as the commission draws up a long-term master plan. Miller revealed the basics of his proposal in February.
The plan includes focusing on immediate needs in 2018 and 2019, while at the same time pulling together data to map out needs for the following 10 years.
