City officials D. C. bound

By Eloria Newell James, community@leadercall.com

May 16, 2008 09:52 am

— In a special called meeting of the Laurel City Council Wednesday, officials have finalized the list of those planning to travel to the nation’s capitol next month to discuss the city’s water line and sewer line problems.
The status of the City of Laurel’s infrastructure has been a concern for the city for several months.
In January, city officials announced plans to construct an eight-plex softball facility with hopes of the revenue from the facility being used to make some much needed improvements to the city’s infrastructure within a year.
Then voters signed a petition prohibiting the sale of the bonds that were needed to fund the construction of the facility without an election. So, city officials abandoned the project.
However, Councilman Manuel Jones and several other city officials said the problem concerning the city’s aged water and sewer lines still exists.
That concern is now taking city officials to Washington, D.C. next month to meet with the state’s Congressional leaders concerning this matter.
During a unanimous vote Wednesday, the city council approved the travel expenses of the city’s Chief Administrative Officer Gary Suddith and City Council President George Carmichael.
Jones, who is chairman of the city’s Public Safety Committee, and Laurel Mayor Melvin Mack had already committed to the endeavor.
During Wednesday’s meeting, Ward Six Councilman Johnny Magee said he has been asked by some constituents if city officials “need to travel to Washington. ... They want to know is it more effective to go to Washington to talk to the Mississippi delegation.”
However, several council members along with the mayor voiced their support of the trip.
Mack said some other mayors and city officials in other cities have gone to Washington “and came back with $15 million” and another “went and came back with $19 million.”
“I wish we could get our Congressmen to come here and talk to us,” the mayor said. “The next best thing is for us to pack up and go to Washington.”
Ward 1 Councilwoman Willie Lavonne Evans said she knows that visiting Congressional leaders in Washington has been beneficial to other groups.
Jones agreed.
“We need to go to the source, and the source is in Washington,” Jones said. “We can’t keep sitting behind this desk and just talk about the problem.”
Jones said the city is repeatedly repairing the water and sewer lines, which is not economically feasible.
The councilman said the economic impact of the city’s infrastructure needs national attention.
“Talking about it is not going to get it fixed,” Jones said. “We’ve got to take action and one of the ways to take action is to go to Washington. .... Because raw sewage and burst water lines are a safety hazard for the citizens of Laurel.”
All seven council members voted to approve the travel request for the trip, which is scheduled for June 8-12 for the purpose of seeking assistance from Mississippi’s congressional delegation for environmental and transportation issues.