By STEVEN CALHOUN/Staff Writer

Jemison received a nearly perfect score in 2016 on its sewage system.

Tyler McKeller of Living Water Services presented a report on the city’s sewage system to the Jemison City Council on April 17. According to McKeller’s report, the point scale goes from 0-783, with zero being a perfect score.

Jemison scored a 20, and these points were given only due to the age of the system, according to McKeller.

“Nobody’s ever going to be perfect,” McKeller said. “[Your score] is fantastic. There are a lot of municipalities that are not in that shape.”

The city could nearly triple its current load and still be running below full capacity, according to the numbers presented by McKeller. A filter and some other small changes might be necessary to accommodate growth while keeping a good score, but the infrastructure is mostly in place already.

“The more businesses you want to bring here, we have plenty of room in your wastewater plant,” McKeller said. “If you want growth, sewers are attractive to big businesses.”

The city also signed an ordinance giving approval to the Alabama Department of Transport to upgrade to LED traffic signals at the intersection of Alabama 191 and U.S. 31. The upgrade comes at no cost to the city and saves Jemison about $30,000 before energy and maintenance savings are calculated, according to Reed.

City clerk Sylvia Singleton and court clerk Tammy Miller presented options for a new computer system for the city’s office to the council. The current system was last updated in 2002. The duo said the new system would save time and bring the city up to date with current technological trends.

“This is as much a need as anything else in the city,” councilman Rex Bittle said.

Hardware and software upgrades are being considered. The council accepted the clerks’ presentation and will discuss the issue further in another meeting.