Jackson City Council Public Works Committee Meeting - March 4, 2026
Jackson City Council Public Works Committee Meeting - March 4, 2026
The Public Works Committee met on March 4, 2026, to discuss equipment purchases, illegal dumping enforcement, crew resources for potholes and drainage, traffic signal issues, and the One Percent Sales Tax program. Director Lorenzo Anderson and other staff provided updates and responded to council members' questions.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No formal public comments were made. Chair recognized neighborhood leader Ms. McGrafty McDaniels attending the meeting.
Discussion Items
- Equipment Update: Deputy Director James Caldwell reported that skid steers and trucks have been ordered. Skid steer delivery is approximately two weeks after purchase orders are issued; truck delivery is about four weeks due to custom builds. Excavators and a roll-off truck will be bid out. No equipment has arrived yet. The city is also inheriting a sidearm from Silent Waste currently being repaired.
- Illegal Dumping Unit: Councilman Foote introduced concerns about the disbanding of the illegal dumping unit by JPD. He emphasized the unit's effectiveness and plans to bring a resolution for reinstatement. Committee members expressed strong support, noting that illegal dumping remains a problem. Discussion included fines and the existing vehicle seizure ordinance.
- Breakdown of Crews: Director Anderson outlined current staffing: a maximum of three pothole crews (but often only one due to equipment breakdowns), one tree crew, and one construction crew handling drainage and storm drains. A dedicated drainage crew is recommended. CAO Taywerson confirmed that an ordinance is being drafted to hold utilities (including Jackson Water) accountable for timely restoration of utility cuts. Councilman Foote highlighted a dangerous pothole on Old Canton Road caused by a water valve leak.
- Traffic Lights: Councilman Foote raised frequent issues with traffic signals malfunctioning (blinking red lights). Director Anderson cited aging infrastructure, vandalism, and accidents. The city has six traffic staff including a supervisor, but no dedicated traffic engineer. CAO Taywerson agreed that hiring a full-time traffic engineer is a necessity and cheaper than relying on consultants. Discussion included potential studies to identify unnecessary traffic signals.
- One Percent Sales Tax: Director Anderson presented a handout of projects sorted by phase (1A, 1B, 1C, 2A, 2B, and bond projects). Councilwoman expressed constituents' disappointment about lack of representation for South Jackson streets. CAO Taywerson stated that a subcommittee will work with the 1% commission to reconcile the list and prioritize new streets, with additions expected soon. Discussion of commission membership: one term expired, mayor will nominate a replacement.
Key Outcomes
- City will pursue a utility cut ordinance to hold utilities accountable for timely repairs.
- Administration to work with 1% commission to include South Jackson streets in the project list.
- Council will consider a resolution to reinstate the JPD illegal dumping unit; coordination with new police chief.
- Hiring a traffic engineer deemed a priority; CAO will initiate recruitment.
- Future meetings will include follow-up on 1% sales tax structure and a discussion on Jackson Metro Water Authority.
- No formal votes were taken; requests for cost estimates for additional pothole crews were noted.
Meeting Transcript
Okay, let's try it again. Uh call this meeting to order of the public works committee of the city council. Uh we have a very aggressive uh agenda. Uh and are there any opening comments or remarks? I'd like to recognize one of my uh one of my favorite uh neighborhood leaders, Miss uh McGrafty McDaniels in the back. Okay, in fact to have her here listening in. Uh okay. Got a lot of a lot of interesting information. Uh Mr. Anderson, it's the public works director. You want to turn on your mic, sir. Uh are there any opening comments from you or the administration, Mr. Davidson? Anything? You got okay. Well, let's let's dig in. Equipment update, purchase and delivery. All right, uh good afternoon. I'm going to refer to me. Good afternoon, Lorenzo Anderson Public Works Director. Um you're talking about the blight information uh far as equipment and scheduling. Um I'm going to refer to uh Mr. James Caldwell, the deputy director for that. Yeah, uh, can we get a seat for Mr. Carwell up here, up here? Okay. If you don't mind, because I believe uh between the two, we're gonna ask you you two a lot of questions, and Mr. Carwell, we would like for you to be comfortable. Okay, the the first uh agenda item equipment update purchase and delivery. We've come a long ways between sitting down, we did uh a project, a pilot project in our neighborhood to find out what we would need for us clean up the size of the road and taking care of things, and now want to get an update. Where are we? As well as uh a couple of the ski steers we're looking at. I think two of the three, they're being implemented now. We had to get some um account information reset. So it kind of took a minute, but we're getting everything now going through the process. So I can't give you an actual delivery date because until I get the PO's to the actual vendors, I can't give a solid date. The vendors for the truck said it may be about four weeks before they come in, but that's about kind of regular time because they're custom trucks. Um so I don't have an actual delivery date, but about a month from time we get the PO's. Okay, and that's on the skid steer. Yeah. And the trucks. I talked to the vendor other day. He said he can have those back in about two weeks. Two weeks. Yes, sir. He said about two weeks for those. And then how long does it take to get the decals and markings and everything on it? Uh that's gonna be on us and our and our shop. I have to work with them, try to figure out how long it'll take, but we can probably hopefully expand that pretty fast. Okay.
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