Category: General News

  • Jay Sellers Selected as Public Information Officer

    sellers_168x210I’d like to believe that you would choose to make use of our services even if you had other options. 

    That’s one of my core philosophies and it affects how I’ve handled my involvement with day-to-day operations over the 8 years that I’ve been with this organization. The services that you expect to receive, whether you’re making a cake for your kids or giving them a bath, should be reliable and meet or exceed standards of health outlined by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Georgia Environmental Protection Division of the Department of Natural Resources. We take these standards seriously and actively protect you from the dangers that have recently befallen other utilities, such as Flint, Michigan. I’ve personally visited utilities in other countries, such as Venezuela and Mexico, and know first-hand how lowering your public utility standards can have a devastating impact on public health. Rest assured that the JWSC takes our responsibility to protect you and your family seriously. It’s our number one concern.

    You’ve no doubt been aware of our constant media presence over the past couple years. Some of that news has been good, reflecting the progress that’s been made to the utility infrastructure, and some had been very unpleasant. With new leadership at the helm and renewed vision across all levels of management, it is my heartfelt conviction that we are moving in the right direction for being able to sustain long term growth while also being able to effectively maintain existing systems and services. We will operate with the utmost professionalism and transparency. We welcome communication with us via our customer service office, here at our website, and social media (such as Facebook and Twitter).

    We want to give you every opportunity to have your voice heard. 

    As one means to assist with this mission, I am honored to announce that the JWSC has selected me to serve the community as the Public Information Officer. Technically, my title is Public Education and Systems Analysis Manager. My responsibilities will be three-fold: IT Manager, Emergency Planner, and Public Relations. While all three will receive my attention, I believe what matters most to you at this time is the public relations aspect. We want to do our best to communicate to you as accurately and as timely as possible everything that you need to know to have confidence that we are operating with transparency and honesty.

    To shine a light on our staff, I’ve had the opportunity to get to know each member of our team of 140 technicians, analysts and administrators well enough to say that they are highly motivated, very skilled and focused on providing you with the services that you expect each and every day. We have a top notch employee training program and we’re anxious to find even better ways to become more effective. I’d like to see our staff so well educated that they could choose to work anywhere but so well treated here that they wouldn’t want to leave. 

    Our Commissioners and management team would also like to extend to you an invitation to attend any of our board meetings, held twice a month on Thursday afternoon. We will also be engaging you specifically once a quarter at a town hall meeting, providing updates on upcoming projects and hearing from you to help us ensure that your needs are being met. Recognizing that life is sometimes so busy that attending one of our meetings will be difficult for you, we’ll be looking at ways for you to stay connected with us using other available means, such as streaming our meetings, if possible. 

    We believe that the water and sewer services that we deliver are the life-blood of both the residential and commercial communities within Brunswick and Glynn County. We want you to share in that understanding that we are as vital to you as you are to us.

    Sincerely,

    Jay Sellers

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  • Holiday Schedule – Thanksgiving 2016

    turkey

    In observance of the national Thanksgiving holiday, the BGJWSC administrative offices will be closed on Thursday, November 24th & Friday, November 25th. We will reopen on Monday, November 28, 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.

  • Veterans Day Holiday Schedule – November 11, 2016

    16poster_lowresIn observance of the national holiday celebrating veterans of United States military service, our offices will be closed this coming Friday, November 11. Office hours will resume on Monday, November 14, at 8:00 a.m.

    We will have emergency field staff available during the holiday.

    Those interested in a history of Veterans Day can view that at the Veterans Administration website here: https://www.va.gov/opa/vetsday/vetdayhistory.asp

  • Canal Crossing Golden Valve Wrench Event – Thursday, November 10, 2016 @ 1:00 p.m.

    Unifying the Brunswick-Glynn Joint Water & Sewer Commission Water Systems

    golden-wrench-event-banner

    The Brunswick-Glynn County Joint Water & Sewer Commission proudly invites you to the “Golden Valve Wrench Event” taking place 1:00 p.m. Thursday, November 10, 2016 in front of the parking lot of the future Sam’s Club at Canal Crossing Shopping Plaza, located behind the RaceTrac at the corner of Golden Isles Parkway and Canal Road in Brunswick, GA. All are invited to attend. Some seating will be provided. Arrive early and meet BGJWSC staff plus other community leaders.  The turning of the “Golden Valve Wrench” will unify two formerly separate major water mains within the BGJWSC system.

    This event is being hosted by the BGJWSC in celebration of not only the continued progress and success of the Canal Crossing Shopping Plaza, which is being developed by Dr. John Callaway and other area partners, but also to showcase the efforts of the long-standing commitment and efforts of the BGJWSC in our aim to join the City of Brunswick and Glynn County water systems that have remained structurally separate, until now.  Both local government entities made the agreement to service all area customers through the formation of the combined independent local BGJWSC beginning in January, 2008.  This water main combination is critical in order to provide the required fire flow volumes for the Canal Crossing development and will also provide redundancy across both systems in the north mainland area in the event of service outages. This combination helps avoid costly individual fire booster systems required by fire code to reduce the loss potential of commercial entities with the area.

    Following necessary application to the Georgia Environmental Protection Division of the Department of Natural Resources for the system combination and subsequent approval, the BGJWSC has made all preparations necessary to join the systems.  Cooperation from the Georgia Department of Transportation was also crucial for the necessary permitting to extend the mains underneath the GDOT Spur 25 right-of-way.  Additional sanitary force main improvements were also included to prepare for the long planned redirection of wastewater flow from the North Mainland to Academy Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant. 

    Timely completion of this connection was essential for the successful opening of stores and restaurants filling the Canal Crossing Development.  Only through the commitment of resources, cooperation between the BGJWSC and Glynn County Board of Commissioners, vision of Dr. John Callaway and support from the Brunswick and Glynn County Development Authority and Brunswick-Golden Isles Chamber of Commerce, could this project have succeeded.

  • Sewer Demand Survey – Lift Station Basin 2032

    Survey General Instructions and Information

    Please Note: This survey only pertains to Sewer Basin 2032 on St. Simons Island.

    Currently work is proceeding to upgrade assets within the 2032 sewer basin which will increase the sewer capacity available allowing added sewer connections. In the event sewer tap fee demand exceeds the quantity being provided by asset upgrades, a lottery will be conducted. Therefore, a lottery number will be assigned to your receipt.

    Please complete the survey and check the appropriate category for the interest you have in tap fee purchase. Please check only one box. If you have multiple homes or building which you are ready to commence construction on, please complete a separate form for each structure if they are on separate parcels.

    Once the form is completed, please return this form to the BGJWSC Business Office at 1703 Gloucester Street by end of business October 31, 2016. If the structures to be built are requiring no more than a one-inch water meter, please bring a check in the amount of $5,085.00 per water and sewer tap fee sold, otherwise bring a check and be prepared to issue one based on the meter size being requested.

    Along with each sale of sewer tap(s), a hold harmless agreement must be signed or executed which protects the BGJWSC in the event that time delays in adding sewer capacity in the 2032 sewer basin which occur outside the BGJWSC control.

    For Builders/Owners purchasing taps, the purchaser must provide proof of having a valid building permit for their taps within 90 days. Otherwise the tap(s) purchased will be invalidated and a refund will be issued less administrative fees for handling the transactions.

    A pdf version of this survey document can be accessed and printed BELOW. In addition, a basin map of sewer basin 2032 on St. Simons Island can be pulled up along with a table of all parcel identification numbers in that basin along with their street address. If you are in doubt as to whether your property is affected by this notice and survey, the table can be pulled up to see if it is listed. If it is not listed and you believe it could be in error or if there are any other questions regarding this survey, please contact Tiffany Tiner at 261-7139.

    SSI_Basin_Map (Adobe Acrobat Required)

    2032_Basin_Addresses (Microsoft Excel Required)

    basin_2032_wastewater_survey_10-25-16_edited (Adobe Acrobat Required) (Posted on 10/28/16)

  • Hurricane Matthew Recovery Efforts Underway

    The Brunswick-Glynn County Joint Water & Sewer Commission (JWSC) is a small organization of less than 150 serving a customer base of over 30,000 accounts in a community with a population over 80,000. We aim to provide the best service that we can at a price that is reasonable. There are some things that we do well and some things that we know need improving.

    One of the focuses of the JWSC management team is to ensure that the systems in place to provide you service are not overwhelmed to the point where they don’t work effectively. You’ve seen that focus being developed in our recent tap fee revision and sewer connection allocation policy. We’re still striving to ensure that we can sustain the increasing growth that we’re seeing develop within the community. I believe that we’re on track for that progress.

    Another of the core focuses of our team is employee development. We already have a highly skilled, highly motivated work force that strives to reliably bring sufficient quantities of safe drinking water to our customers and convey the wastewater to our three treatment plants. You will see changes in the structure of our organization in the coming months as we work to provide greater levels of service to the community. Even now, I’m proud of the dedication to the task shown by our staff. All of our first responders worked with little rest for days on end. Our Operations Analyst, Jay Sellers, has been posting photos of our staff in their native environment working hard this week to maintain services during Hurricane Matthew and to restore services to our customers once it passed. Those pictures can be viewed here: http://www.facebook.com/jaysellers

    Lastly, we’re focused on increased transparency and accountability. We know our strengths and we know our weaknesses. We will improve in any way that we can. Our philosophy is one of continuous improvement – always self-examining in search of better ways to improve services and minimize costs to provide those services. We welcome your feedback and invite our customers to be present at our public commission meetings.  I also want to extend an invitation to our customers to communicate privately with me or any member of our management team on how we can serve you better.

    All of our attempts to restore services following Hurricane Matthew would have been in vain without the assistance, cooperation and communication with other outstanding partner agencies in our community and across our state. This is not an all-inclusive list, so we apologize in advance if we left anybody out, but the following groups should be recognized for their response efforts. We’ve included their website address and Facebook page, where known.

    Glynn County Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency –

    City of Augusta Utilities – (special thanks for providing much-needed generators and a self-powered lighting station) –

    Georgia Power Company –

    Glynn County, including Police, Fire, EMS, 911 Center, GIS, IT and Public Works –

    City of Brunswick, including Police, Fire and Public Works  –

    Georgia Army & Air National Guard

    U.S. Army Core of Engineers

    FEMA

    Georgia Emergency Management & Homeland Security Agency, especially the staff, both full-time and temporary at the State Emergency Operations Center –

    National Weather Service –

    National Hurricane Center

    We’d also like to give special thanks to local area businesses, churches, non-governmental organizations and others that worked long hours to ensure that our first responders stayed fed throughout the incident, including Sea Island Company, Bennie’s Red Barn, Salvation Army, Copper Pig, Millhouse…I know that I’m unaware of some groups, but those come to mind immediately.

    Please have confidence that our mission is to ensure public trust in our services. We are working day and night to make that happen and thank you for the gratitude that has been shown to our staff and all of our local first responders following Hurricane Matthew.

    Sincerely,

    Jimmy Junkin
    Executive Director
    On Behalf of the Board of Commissioners of the JWSC

  • Administrative Office Opening – Tuesday, October 11, 2016

    Our administrative office at 1703 Gloucester St is officially open for walk-in business as of 12:00 noon today, Tuesday, October 11, 2016.

  • Administrative Office Closure Monday, October 10 and Tuesday, October 11

    Due to property damage brought on by Hurricane Matthew, the administrative offices of the Brunswick-Glynn County Joint Water & Sewer Commission will be closed on Monday, October 10th and Tuesday, October 11th.  The administrative offices will not resume regular business until 8:00 am on Wednesday, October 12th.

    All emergency services will still be available during this period by calling 912.634.0258.

  • Administrative Office Closure Thursday, October 6 and Friday, October 7 – Updated

    Due to the potential for inclement weather brought on by Hurricane Matthew, the administrative offices of the Brunswick-Glynn County Joint Water & Sewer Commission will be closed beginning at noon on Thursday, October 6th and all day on Friday, October 7th.  The administrative offices will not resume regular business until 8:00 on Monday, October 10th.

    All emergency services will still be available during this period by calling 912.634.0258.

    Update: As of 8:30, our offices have now closed due to mandatory evacuation.

  • Administrative Office Closure Friday, September 2 and Monday, September 5

    Due to the potential for inclement weather brought on by Tropical Storm Hermine, the administrative offices of the Brunswick-Glynn County Joint Water & Sewer Commission will be closed Friday, September 2nd.  As we will also be closed in honor of Labor Day on Monday, September 5th, the administrative offices not will resume regular business until 8:00 on Tuesday, September 6th.

    All emergency services will still be available during this period by calling 912.634.0258.