Picayune’s natural gas line replacement project is moving to the next phase of tying in homes, meaning customers may experience a short-term outage.
During Tuesday’s city council meeting Public Works Director Eric Morris told city officials that the project is about 90 percent complete, and contractors have started tying homes into the new lines earlier this week.
Completion of the work is occurring in the east side of the city, especially in the area of Sixth Avenue. Then the work will move north towards the area of Goodyear Boulevard, Morris said.
As contractors tie a home into the new lines, the gas to each home and business will be turned off temporarily. Morris said in a worst-case scenario the outage could last for about an hour and a half, but could be as short as 30 minutes. This will require the pilot lights inside appliances to be relit, which contract workers will complete after the home is tied into the new line.
If the business owner or resident is present at the time of the work, service will be restored at that time. However, if the building or home is empty a door hanger will be left containing contact information to have the service restored that day.
Morris said residents should call the number on the door hanger when they arrive home. This will allow them to set up a time with the contractor to have natural gas service restored and relight any pilot lights. If the contractor is unavailable then residents can call the Picayune Police Department’s dispatch at 601-798-4682, not 911, to request a city employee. Morris stressed that natural gas customers should call the number on the door hanger first, and to only call dispatch if the contractor is unavailable.
Morris said natural gas service will remain disconnected if no one is present at the time of the tie in for safety reasons.
The project is part of ongoing work to improve the natural gas system, and replace the aging cast iron lines with a special type of plastic. The original completion date for the project was Dec. 27, but Morris said it appears the project will be complete sometime in January.
“That unfortunately is a moving target right now,” Morris said.
If anyone has questions about the project they can call Public Works at 601-799-0602, 601-798-0031 or the city’s information line at 311.