It was all about the Columbus Light and Water Department at Tuesday’s Columbus City Council meeting, with the utility receiving about $1 million for wastewater upgrades and also getting a new board member.
The council voted 4-2 to give CLW just more than $1 million from the city’s American Rescue Plan Act money, with Ward 3 Councilman Rusty Greene and Ward 6 Councilwoman Jacqueline DiCicco opposing.
At a May work session CLW General Manager Angela Verdell asked the city to consider giving the water department $1,013,500 to cover an ambitious list of upgrades. The biggest priority is modernizing the 22nd Street South lift station, which handles about two-thirds of the city’s waste water. Verdell the facility is more than 40 years old, and has badly degraded. It impacts customers in Wards 1, 4, 5, and 6.
CLW will also work on the lift station at MLK Drive, which affects Wards 3, 4 and 6. Finally, the city will rehabilitate old sewer lines across the city.
The total costs of the projects is more than $2 million, but Verdell intends to get the balance of the money from the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality in dollar-for-dollar matches.
MDEQ is overseeing the allocation of the state’s ARPA money for water and drainage projects.
The request was tabled last month after confusion about how much ARPA money the city had left.
Tuesday night Ward 5 Councilman Stephen Jones moved to give CLW the money, with a second from Ward 1 Councilwoman Ethel Taylor Stewart.
Greene, however, had other ideas and attempted to table the issue.
“This is a project that needs to be done, but that’s a whole lot of money for us to try to solve (CLW’s) problem,” he said. “I would like to explore every option that we can before we allocate this $1 million. Even if this puts it off a couple of weeks, the problem has been 20 years in the making.”
Greene moved to table, with a second from DiCicco. That substitute motion failed 4-2, with Stewart, Ward 2 Councilman Joseph Mickens, Ward 4 Councilman Pierre Beard and Jones voting no and Greene and DiCicco voting yes.
Jones’ original motion then passed by the same 4-2 margin, with Steward, Mickens, Beard and Jones voting yes and Greene and DiCicco voting no.
Gale appointed to CLW board
The council appointed Stephanie Gale to a five-year term on the CLW board.
Gale will replace longtime board member Jimmy Graham, who did not seek reappointment.
She was one of three applicants for the post. Former Golden Triangle Development LINK executive vice president for economic development Brenda Lathan and former Columbus Fire and Rescue firefighter and current contractor Michael Scott Swain also applied.
Gale is a nurse practitioner who owns The Clinic at Elm Lake. She had been married to the late Todd Gale, who previously managed CLW.
Stewart moved to appoint Gale, and was seconded by DiCicco. The motion passed 5-0. Jones, whose sister works for CLW, recused himself from the discussion and the vote.
Gale, who was not able to attend the meeting, told the The Dispatch by text message that she was looking forward to getting to work.
“I am thankful to the city council for giving me this opportunity,” she said. “I am looking forward to working with the other board members and the current general manager.”
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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