(Photo from Visit Jackson)
- Some residents are skeptical, saying they have “heard it before.” “I’d be surprised if it all happened,” said a 73-year-old retired retail employee. “We’ve heard similar promises from past politicians.”
The City of Jackson unveiled a multi-phased $100 million infrastructure plan Friday morning to improve its streets and drainage as well as hiring additional road crews. A large portion of the funding is also earmarked to fight blight in the capital city.
Lorenzo Anderson, director of Public Works for the City of Jackson, said the city has signed $1.4 million in contracts for new equipment, adding that citizens can expect work to start next month.
In December, Mayor John Horhn asked the city council to declare more than 250 properties as public health and safety menaces. Recently, the council approved a $500,000 grass cutting contract to help combat overgrowth.
Anderson did say the department workforce is down compared to several years ago. Currently, the department has 145 employees, down significantly from when positions were eliminated after the water crisis developed four years ago.
The additional funding could allow the department to hire about 50 new employees, Anderson said.
“I understand the financial resources we have to have to get to that number again,” he said of the goal of returning to an increased Public Works staff.
Council member Vernon Hartley said Jackson is eliminating some positions as it works through a $23 million deficit.
“But Public Works is not one of those things,” he said, noting that the Jackson City Council is making the Public Works Department a top priority.
Anderson said the department is actively hiring employees to complete more than 400 street projects. He said additional employees are necessary for the city to pave its pothole-covered streets, work on its ill-timed traffic lights, and better manage its fleet of city vehicles.
When staffing levels are adequate, Anderson said, Jacksonians will see improvements in the city.
The multi-phased plan could mean that some projects will take more than a year and a half to complete.
Friday afternoon, Jackson taxpayers were pleased with the announcement, if it comes to fruition, they said.
Tina Conway has lived in Jackson for more than 30 years and “has heard it before.”
“I’d be surprised if it all happened,” said the 73-year-old retired retail employee. “We’ve heard similar promises from past politicians.”
While Conway took a jaded view, Larry Fitzgerald, a 42-year-old unemployed maintenance worker, was interested in the 50 or so new city jobs, asking for more details.
“The new jobs could help people. This area needs more good jobs,” he said, adding that the plan could help bring people to Jackson.
