An appropriations bill that gained final passage in the Mississippi Legislature this week will provide $300,000 to the city of Charleston for water system upgrades.
State Rep. Tommy Reynolds announced the funding award Tuesday afternoon, not long after both the House and Senate had voted their approval of the second conference report on Senate Bill 2969.
That measure, which provides money for fiscal 2021 operations of the state Department of Finance and Administration, had the more than quarter-million-dollar Charleston prize tacked on in a conference committee.
The section that specifically allocates the Charleston funds orders that it be used to pay the “costs associated with the replacement of water pipes and upgrades and improvements to the city’s water system and related infrastructure.”
“Willis Engineering had identified four streets where this work is needed,” noted Reynolds. “Some of these pipes are 50 to 60 years old, and their useful life is over.”
The legislator said the city could not have afforded the work otherwise.
“I am very, very pleased,” Reynolds said. “I appreciate our colleague, Sen. Sarita Simmons, who supported this measure, and our other colleagues, as well.”
In the waning days of the 2019 legislative session, Charleston was awarded an $800,000 appropriation that was added in conference to a funding bill for the Department of Transportation.
That money was designated to move water and sewer infrastructure in Charleston after City Engineer Robert Willis informed leaders that a then upcoming street paving project might cause significant damage to weak and worn-out utility pipes.
