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By JOYANNA LOVE/ Senior Staff Writer

Jemison has been given a favorable wastewater report for 2017.

Tyler McKeller of Living Water Services, a wastewater management company, presented the 2017 report to the Jemison City Council on May 7.

He said the wastewater plant was fully in compliance for the whole year, “which is awesome.”

“This attributes, of course, to great operations and also great support,” McKeller said.

He praised the work of Jemison employees that work with the company to keep the system in compliance.

The report serves “as a snapshot” of the year for the system, McKeller said.

The report also scores systems with a point for each wastewater event, such as sewage overflow, violations and the need for major renovations. The scale ranges from zero to 783 with the lower number being better.

Jemison accumulated 22 points.

“Basically, the only reason you got a 22 was because of age of your plant, so 22 years,” McKeller said.

There were also some major repairs done on two of the pump stations in the system. A filtration system is also being installed at one of the substations.

Some Jemison employees are pursuing wastewater certification to continue to insure compliance with wastewater regulations. Mayor Eddie Reed said this is something the city needs, but has not had in the past.

Reed thanked all of the employees that work hard to keep the city in compliance.

McKeller said sometimes things happen that cannot be prevented and cause a sewage issue.

“The thing that sets you apart versus a lot of other municipalities in the state is the response, and the way you handle a situation, clean up a situation and report it,” McKeller said.

This is the second year in a row that the city has received a positive wastewater report.

The council unanimously approved the report, which will be sent to the Alabama Department of Environmental Management.

The City Council heard an update from Brooke Elliott, engineering teacher at Jemison High School, on how well her students did at the Technology Student Association state competition.

“This has been the most successful competition that we’ve ever had,” Elliott said.  “Out of 100 schools, we had three gold place winners … one silver and three bronzes.”

Elliott thanked the City Council for their support and submitted a request for the City Council’s financial support of the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math program to continue.

Reed said this could be considered during the budget work session.

A work session to discuss budget planning for the new fiscal year, which begins in October, has been set for May 17.

Also during the meeting, the City Council approved moving forward with purchasing a computer server that will better meet the city’s needs.