Industries at the Port of Vicksburg will soon be paying more for their sewer service.

The Warren County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted Monday to increase its sewage rate to $3 per 1,000 gallons, along with charging Mississippi TanTec Leather Inc. $7.50 per 1,000 gallons for use of the port’s pretreatment facility.

“Our consultant checked other ports in other cities that have the facilities and industrial complexes and it is very much in line and still even lower than some areas we checked,” commission president Margaret Gilmer said of the increases. “We feel these rates are in order. There’s not been a (sewer) increase in almost 10 years, and expenses have continued to increase. It breaks us even and gives us a little buffer, but not a lot.”

The increases, an additional $1.75 for sewer service at the port and an additional cost for TanTec, who was previously paying nothing for use of pretreatment facility, were approved by the Warren County Port Commission during its special call meeting on Sept. 27, Beverly Stewart of the Warren County Port Commission said.

“We are paying of the operation for the pretreatment facility for TanTec with taxpayer dollars. They are bound by the contract to pay the cost of operations,” board president Richard George said. “The port commission has spent a lot of time to determine what the return needs to be to maintain and operate the facility.”

Gilmer said the increase for TanTec has been pending on determining how much would be needed to pay for the costs of the pretreatment facility, which was upgraded specifically for TanTec, which manufactures and produces leather designed for outdoor sports and work footwear.

“This is a new facility, new pretreat. We did not know what the amount would be because we didn’t know what they would discharge,” she said. “I know it may sound like a high figure compared to the $3 for the sewer, but it’s not because what they’re discharging is (much less).

“We do plan to go out and meet with them personally, make sure they’re aware. This won’t be billed until November (though it is for October’s usage). What we’re trying to do is recoup the cost. We’re just trying to make it pay for itself.”

The port commission, Gilmer said, is planning to reevaluate similar costs every two years.

“If you address on a regular basis then it doesn’t seem so astronomical,” she said.

In other news, the board:

• Discussed the possibility of beginning plans for a new county jail after District 3 supervisor Charles Selmon introduced “the need to move the process forward” and the need to start a discussion on “when, where and how” a jail would be built in the near future.

“We’re going to have to have a jail sooner or later,” he said. “The longer we wait, I can assure you the more we’re going to pay for it.”

Board president Richard George said paying for the jail was still the key issue.

“How much can the tax payers stand?” he asked.

“We’ve got this port commission process going on right now, which is a revenue producer. The jail produces expense but no revenue. It’s a necessity. There’s no question about that.

“I would think that during the next few months we will monitor and make a decision on this port commission endeavor and at the same time, review the (financials) and determine if the tax payers are prepared and able to withstand the onslaught of tax increases that will be required without a doubt. Nobody else is going to pay for it besides Warren County. Had the economy not turned down, we’d be operating the (new) jail today.”

Selmon said, “Whether we do it today or 10 years from now, it’s still going to cost us money to do it, and we’re still going to be in the same situation. There’s no improvement of the jail condition unless we start moving forward and trying to build one.”

• Approved Sam Winchester as the Warren County fire investigator per state code.

• Approved the Warren County Parks and Recreation Commission’s first quarter allotment of $95,000.

• Approved Alcorn State University and Mississippi State University extension services sharing space in the county-owned building on Grove Street MSU currently shares with the Mississippi Department of Public Safety’s Driver’s License office.