The Meridian City Council heard directly from employees operating the city’s freshwater and wastewater treatment plants Tuesday as it considers how to address staffing shortages across the city’s utility departments.
Utility Plant Operator for freshwater Ora Smith and Chief Utility Plant Operator for wastewater Yolanda Davis gave council members an inside perspective of the two systems and what is needed to address the issues.
Meridian’s wastewater system consists of two wastewater treatment plants, roughly 450 miles of pipe and 67 lift stations to help pump sewage through the system where needed, according to an analysis provided by Waggoner Engineering.
Problems with wastewater infrastructure is at the heart of a federal consent decree the city signed with the Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Justice and Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality in 2019, specifically Sanitary Sewer Overflows, or SSOs.
Deferred maintenance, a lack of formal policies and procedures and other issues contributed to the overflows, which risk untreated sewage mixing with groundwater sources such as Sowashee Creek. Allowing untreated sewage to contaminate groundwater is a violation of the federal Clean Water Act.
Outside of the consent decree work, Davis told council members staffing issues first identified in January continue to be a problem although the situation has improved. The wastewater department operates three shifts, she said, and currently has enough employees to cover that, but there are still vacancies needing to be filled.
As with other city departments, pay is a major factor in the wastewater department’s ability to attract and retain employees, Davis said. The department currently offers pay at around $20 per hour, she said, but $25 per hour is a more reasonable number.
One of the main drivers with the pay is where workers are located. The local pool of workers with the knowledge, experience and required certifications to operate the city’s wastewater and freshwater treatment plants is small, Davis said, which means the city needs to offer a salary that is worth the time and costs to relocate from another area or commute.
On the freshwater side, Smith said the department, which also consists of two plants and roughly 470 miles of people, is back on track after some problems earlier this year and intends to stay that way. The council in January approved an emergency repair to two mixers at the north water treatment plant that are used to remove iron from the water. Issues with both mixers had gone unaddressed leading to the need for the emergency work.
Looking forward, Smith said, it is time to start discussing projects to replace some of the city’s aging water lines. The current treatment plant on B Street was built in the 1950s and the plant near King Road and North Hills Street was built in 1995. Generally, she said, the lifespan of water lines is 25 to 30 years, which means the lines at both plants are due.
Tuesday’s discussion comes as the City Council looks to address staffing issues across the city’s utilities. In January, the council learned the departure of longtime Director of Utilities Jimmy Eckman had left a leadership vacuum that stretched current staff to a critical point.
Council members learned the city has good employees in both its wastewater and freshwater departments, but a lack of leadership has limited both utilities’ ability to consider the big picture. Waggoner Engineering’s Scott Phillips previously explained that the two mixers at the north freshwater plant are a good example of the problem with one mixer being broken for roughly six months prior to the emergency repair simply because no one knew how to go about getting it fixed.
The council has been asked to consider a one-year contract with Waggoner to bring in a management-level person for each of the wastewater, freshwater and line maintenance divisions to help guide city employees, recruit additional city staff and train up current workers to step into management roles down the line. The contract terms cap costs to the city at $92,500 per month or $1.1 million for the entire year.
Councilman Dwayne Davis said he wants the council to take a closer look at the current open positions across the three departments and evaluate which jobs need to stay and which can go. The city needs to pay more to attract workers, he said, while there are several open positions in the line maintenance department that have been vacant for a decade or more. Eliminating those positions is a quick way to free up money to fund the increased pay.
Having heard from the wastewater and freshwater departments, Councilman Joe Norwood Jr., who serves as council president, said the next step will be to hear from line maintenance about the needs of its department before making a decision.