Category: General News

In an effort to expose our elected and appointed commissioners to all facets of the processes and procedures that we follow at the BGJWSC, staff held a series of presentations that we referred to as Commissioner Orientation Day. These meetings, which occurred on both February 2nd and 16th of 2017, were recorded to serve as a training aid for both new staff and new commissioners. As they may be of interest to the public as well, the videos are now available on our YouTube channel and linked below.

Any comments or questions that you may have can be directed to the speaker featured in the presentation, to a commissioner or to our Public Information Officer, Jay Sellers at 912.261.7123 or jsellers@bgjwsc.org.

The videos of the 2017 Commissioner Orientation Day are as follows: (more…)

The Brunswick-Glynn Joint Water & Sewer Compliance & Legislative Committee has approved the release of five new industrial draft permits for public review and comment. These permits have been drafted pursuant to the Code of Federal Regulations, 40 CFR Part 403, the Glynn County Water Use Ordinance, Article III & the City of Brunswick Water Use Ordinance, Article III. The industrial pretreatment permits outlines the steps the industries will follow in treating and monitoring their wastewater discharge as well as the steps Brunswick-Glynn Joint Water & Sewer Commission will follow in enforcing the regulations on permitted Industrial Users to the Sewage treatment plants.

A copy of the five industrial pretreatment permits are available to be viewed by the public at the main office of the Brunswick-Glynn Joint Water & Sewer Commission, 1703 Gloucester Street, Brunswick, GA 31520.  The permits will be available for public review and comment between the hours of 9 AM and 3 PM, Monday through Friday, until April 22, 2017.  Any citizen interested in reviewing the draft industrial pretreatment permits and/or commenting on them may contact Angela Walker, Pretreatment Compliance Coordinator at Academy Creek Wastewater Department at 912-261-7143 to arrange a time for reviewing the permits or visit the main office and ask to view them.

These drafts are also available for download here in the Adobe Acrobat Reader PDF format:

KING_PERMIT_Effec May-1-2017C
PINOVA_FINAL PERMIT_Effec May-1-2017C
QCP_FINAL REVISED PERMIT_Effect May-1-2017C
RICH_FINAL PERMIT_Effect May-1-2017C
SGHS_FINAL PERMIT_Effec May-1-2017C

Summary

The BGJWSC was the victim of fraudulent financial transactions between May and June of 2016. During that time, $40,986.96 in unauthorized transactions was charged to us via counterfeit checks and ACH payments. Our banking services provider, BB&T, assumed responsibility for covering all charges as a benefit of our contract with them and the BGJWSC was not held responsible for any of the loss.

This fraud was perpetrated by using the routing number and account number from one of our authorized checks intercepted by persons of interest. Any payment made by check is potentially exposing you to the same risk.

How were we made aware of the fraud?

BB&T Bank notified the BGJWSC Finance Division staff regarding a suspicious duplicate check number at the end of May, 2016.

How quickly did the BGJWSC react?

Our staff immediately responded by researching all recent payments to determine validity of the transactions.

How many paper checks were forged?

Three fraudulent paper checks were presented for payment and accepted by the bank. These charges were applied to our account but reversed by July, 2016.

How many ACH transactions occurred?

Thirteen ACH transactions were created. These charges were applied to our account but reversed by July, 2016.

There were more attempts made beyond this amount which were rejected by the bank automatically.

What indications are there that this fraud has crossed state lines and involved the FBI?

As the matter is under local investigation, we are unaware of FBI involvement and cannot comment.

Has the suspect been identified and the funds accounted for?

The BGJWSC has been informed that, as the case is ongoing and the BGJWSC has no further stake in the matter, reconciling the lost funds will be coordinated between investigators and BB&T Bank.

Were we adversely affected in any way, whether short or long term?

This happened so quickly that every bona fide payment sent was honored and no fees were assessed to the BGJWSC. Every recipient expecting an authorized check from us received the funds as they expected to.

What safeguards are now in place to prevent the fraud in the future?

As of June, 2016 when the fraud was identified, we activated an arrangement with our banking services provider, BB&T, which involves reporting the payee, amount and check number of all checks issued. We receive notification from the bank on any transaction that is unauthorized, giving us the opportunity to approve or reject suspicious transactions.

To protect the integrity of the ongoing investigation, any other details regarding the persons of interest and recovery of the funds is being communicated between the City of Brunswick Criminal Investigation Division and BB&T Bank and cannot be discussed.

Printable Press Release: Check_Fraud_Situation

I’m encouraged by the light turnout at our first series of quarterly town hall meetings.  Members of our commission and staff met with the public at Brunswick’s Howard Coffin Park recreation center on Wednesday night and at the St. Simons Island Casino on Thursday night. As we only had three citizens attend on both nights and only received questions via email from four citizens that were unable to attend, that’s a clear indication to me that your concerns have either been met by our other customer service efforts or you are satisfied with the level of service that we are providing.

You can view both town hall meetings in their entirety on our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNTOqVVMpe1PbRohKlysvIg. Each video begins with a message from our Executive Director, Jimmy Junkin, followed by questions from the audience and then questions submitted via Facebook or email. Please subscribe to our YouTube channel to get notified when we add additional videos.

We are committed to striving for improvements in all areas of our service to you. We have formed a team referred to as the Public Information & Customer Relations Committee to investigate and institute changes that will have a beneficial impact to all of our customers. We invite you to attend that committee meeting, which kicks off at 2:00 PM this afternoon, Tuesday, February 28, 2017, in the Commission Chambers at 1703 Gloucester St.

Sincerely,

Jay Sellers
Public Education and Systems Analysis Manager (Public Information Officer)
1703 Gloucester St
Brunswick, GA 31520
Office: 912.261.7123
Fax: 912.261.7178
Email: jsellers@bgjwsc.org

Every day is a celebration of diversity at the BGJWSC. We’re proud of the well-trained, dedicated staff that we employ to serve our community 24 hours a day, 365 days every year. Whether you are a rate payer or a visitor to the community, you benefit at home, work or play from the hard work performed by our staff made up of varied ages, races, genders, nationalities and backgrounds.

We recognize that our agency, our community and our country would look vastly different if not for the work performed by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his partners, efforts that ushered in the changes that came about during the civil rights movement in the 1960s. We honor the legacy of Dr. King on the federal holiday reserved in his name which takes place each year on the third Monday in January.

We encourage you to take this opportunity to join others across our nation in recognition of the struggles faced by this vital figure in the modern era.  The Corporation for National & Community Service, a U.S. Government agency, has resources available to assist you in meeting a tangible need or a need of the spirit by engaging in local service projects that “strengthen communities, empower individuals, bridge barriers, and create solutions.”

Though our administrative offices will be closed Monday, January 16 in honor of Dr. King, crew members, such as the ones featured above with their sanitary sewer vacuum trucks, will continue to be available to assist you around the clock by calling our after-hours number, 912-634-0258.

For your consideration, please review the agenda for the Committee Development Workshop for JWSC Commissioners from 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Friday, January 20, 2017:

BGJWSC_Committee_Development_Workshop_Public_Notice_January_20,_2017 – Posted 1/12/17

Despite our efforts to make the matter clear through our previous posting on December 30, 2016, Pump Station 2032 Initial Project Briefing, the Brunswick News reported on January 6, 2017 that the project will reduce Frederica Road to one lane. This was reported by the Brunswick News in error. Rest assured that the BGJWSC has no plans to reduce traffic on Frederica Road to one lane. All work on Frederica Road will be safely managed in the shoulder of the road outside of either lane, as was the stated plan. Our initial project briefing indicates side streets that will affected by the project and approximate time periods, dependent upon construction progress.

Please trust that any updates and/or deviation from these plans will be posted here prior to the commencement of each phase of work in order to keep you completely and accurately informed.

In observance of the National Christmas Holiday, the BGJWSC administrative offices will be closed all day on Friday, December 23, and Monday, December 26, 2016. Offices will reopen at 8:00 am on Tuesday, December 27, 2016.

All emergency services will still be available during this time. For assistance with water or sewer service interruptions, please call our after-hours number, 912-634-0258.

Featured below: Luke Orser-Schwalm, Customer Service Manager, and Dana Whitmore, Customer Service Representative

Making progress in our efforts to be more timely and transparent with the community, BGJWSC commission meeting videos will now be made available via YouTube.  Yesterday’s meeting is embedded below and we have provided a link to future meeting videos on the bottom of the right sidebar.

Video and audio quality is limited, due to the recording hardware being utilized, but efforts will be made to improve quality, where feasible. Where time is permitted, meetings will be posted on the same day the meeting occurs. Otherwise, videos will be posted within 24 hours.

We understand that attending our bi-monthly meetings at 2:00 pm on the first and third Thursday of each month may not be convenient to you. You are welcome to forward any questions or concerns that you may have to the following staff and we will seek to respond as quickly as possible or may include your concern on the agenda in one of our commission or committee meetings.

Executive Director: Jimmy Junkin – jjunkin@bgjwsc.org

Deputy Director: Tom Boland – tboland@bgjwsc.org

Public Information Officer: Jay Sellers – jsellers@bgjwsc.org

This is to set out the reasons why I chose to resign from the Board of Commission for the JWSC and take on a new responsibility of working as the Temporary Deputy Director. I only had one more year to serve on the board and I did not plan on seeking another 4 year term. However, I did want to use all the knowledge and experience I have gained in the last 3 years to continue to benefit JWSC.

I have served on the Board for three years. Nearly nine months of that time has been as the Acting Executive Director. This was more than a full-time 40 hour week, as broken water and sewer lines often choose nights, holidays and weekends to break. This was during a crisis time at JWSC because we had lost our full-time director. JWSC is a 24 hour, 365 days per year business that could not go leaderless. Some people wanted to hire a consultant to come in to manage the JWSC. We felt that by the time they figured out what was going on we could have a new director. Some suggested using a current staff member to double up their work task. We felt that this only leads to neither job getting done properly.

Seeing this emergency problem, Commissioner Don Elliott and myself agreed to take on the task of guiding JWSC during this crisis until a new director could be hired. We both have been in leadership position in the military where we were responsible for hundreds of personnel and millions of dollars of assets and budgets. Having committed ourselves to service on the board we chose to take on the task of running the JWSC, at no compensation, until we hired a new director. This advertising, vetting, scheduling interviews and then finally contracting with the successful candidate took nearly six months. We then had to give the new director a few weeks to give his former employer notice of his taking a new job.

One of the most important things that Mr. Elliott and I learned during this period is that it is not a “one person” job. With over 140 employees, three waste water treatment plants, numerous drinking water production facilities, hundreds of miles of water and sewer lines, over 30,000 customers and a $28,000,000.00 budget, it is a job that needs constant attention.   (more…)