Highway 11 Expansion Discussed at Utility Authority Meeting
On Thursday the Board of Directors of the Pearl River County Utility Authority held their monthly.
The first matter discussed by the board was to move the time of which the board will meet for the summer months. The meetings are currently held at 3:30pm on the third Thursday of the month. Director Marcia Johnson moved to have the meetings moved from 3:30pm to 5:30pm, due to daylight savings time. Johnson’s motion received a second, and the motion passed. The new scheduled time for the Utility Authority Board of Director Meetings is now 5:30pm on the third Thursday of every month.
The Board then listened to the concerns of Lori Olgelsbee, a Picayune citizen. During the hard freeze in February Olgelsbee suffered a water leak on her property which is serviced by PRUA. Due to the leak Olgelsbee explained to the board that her usual $60 bill went up to $1,400.
The leak and equipment damage was investigated by PRUA, and secretary Brenda DeArmas told the board Olgelsbee’s sewer could be forgiven, but that would still leave nearly $600 worth of water, and forgiven that could prove more difficult. After further discussion the board moved to revisit the matter during the April meeting so that they could investigate additional ways to navigate Olgelsbee’s problem.
Next, Executive Director Ray Scott presented the current revenue and expenses to the board. Scott explained that last month the water revenue was $300,000 of the expected $338,000, and that although February is typically a low water month, the water revenue is currently up 3.8%, and that sewer revenue is even up a half of a percent higher than last year.
Later, Scott gave a break down of the installation of a four-inch bypass manifold at 2100 Sheppard Boulevard. According to Scott, the water line has filled with sand making it impossible for the work crews to get a camera through it for inspection purposes, leaving them only with the option to dig that line up and bypass the area because it’s next to a transit water line. Brooks Wallace, a representative from Dungan Engineering, explained to the Board that they have been unable to make repairs to the line due to the amount of rain we’ve received in recent weeks, but he expects the work to be completed soon.
Wallace then proceeded to the Highway 11 expansion project and explained that 95% of the precursory designs involving the relocation of the sewer mains are complete. However the final plans for the relocation of the sewer main lines are complete and will be sent to the Mississippi Department of Transportation soon.
According to Wallace bids for the work could be presented to the Board as early as next month’s meeting.
The next Pear River Utility Authority Board of Directors meeting is set for April 19 at 5:30pm.
