A water improvement project aimed at correcting brown water and low pressure concerns in Hattiesburg Ward 2 was announced Monday morning by Mayor Toby Barker and Councilwoman Deborah Delgado.
Barker said the concern in that area was voiced almost three years ago.
“Over the course of the past three years, the city has endeavored to take steps to reduce the occurrences of brown water for many of our neighborhoods,” he said. “This was a complaint of the East Jerusalem neighborhood back in June 2018, when we had a town hall meeting there to discuss infrastructure. Residents reported many cases of brown water and low water pressure. These concerns have been echoed in subsequent meetings and phone calls to our office.”
Barker said groundwater problems occur for several reasons, but the most likely is the lack of adequate lines. Others include lines that don’t adequately circulate, improper water main connections, and mains that are not upgraded.
“Today, we announce a $1.4 million project that will upgrade the water lines throughout the East Jerusalem neighborhood,” he said. “The core objective is to replace the undersized lines, which are between one inch and three inch, with properly-sized lines of six and eight inches.”
Barker said the water improvement plan is the largest project in the last five years in any neighborhood.
Delgado asked the New Jerusalem residents to bear with the work that will be done.
“During this time of work being done in our neighborhoods, we would ask that the residents of the Jerusalem community bear with us as we seek to improve the services that the city provides to you,” she said. “We are excited about this project because it's one more step toward the goals and objectives of Twin Forks Rising Community Development Corporation, whose No. 1 priority is to improve our neighborhoods holistically.”
Delgado said different improvements are needed.
“We don't only need infrastructure,” she said. “We need housing; we need human development. But this infrastructure helps us to begin to lay the groundwork for what will come again. Bear with us as we seek to improve our community.”
Barker said the city is continuing to make improvements in different areas.
“We're certainly living in challenging times,” he said. “However, today's announcement reminds us … our city continues to make progress. We continue to accomplish things and move into our value of continuous improvement. Our core objective is fostering progress in every neighborhood of the city.”
Construction began late last month and about a year is expected to complete the improvement because it is such a large project.
Also attending the announcement ceremony were Oseola McCarty Youth Center. Executive Director Janet Baldwin and City Engineer Lamar Rutland.