JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – The City of Jackson’s Water Sewer Business Administration (WSBA) will soon have a new home.

The Water Sewer Business Administration in the City of Jackson is set to move its call center to the City of Pearl in May. The move comes after Third-Party Administrator Ted Henifin was contracted to assist the city with creating a cleaner, more stable water system.

“The Water and Business Administration is under a third-party administrator, Mr. Ted Henifin. He made a decision to move the SBA from its current location, which is at Metrocenter, and relocate the call center to a third-party organization in Pearl,” Councilman Brian Grizzell, Ward 4.

The telephone answering service provider, known as Protel Incorporated, is a private company. WSBA closed its Metrocenter Mall location until further notice in March.

“Some of the issues, you know, a lot of residents who are familiar with going to Metrocenter to pay their bill are now having to face a service charge of $1.00, $1.50, even $3 just to pay their water bill, and so that is very disconcerting to them,” stated Grizzell.

The concern lies with senior citizens who are on fixed incomes. At Tuesday’s city council meeting, Mayor Chokwe A. Lumumba stated that he would meet with Henifin to discuss the issue further.

“They’re proposing to put in office that their staff will be at in the Belhaven area, but that won’t be the location that people go in to pay bills. They’ll have locations across the city,” said Lumumba.

Leaders said they’re working to get questions answered, so that they can best serve the Jackson community.

“We get a lot of complaints from the road to the location itself. We also know that sometimes the HVAC system does not work seasonally, and so we want to make sure that we’re doing what’s best for our employees as well as for the customers, the water customers in the city of Jackson, citizens of Jackson who have to use those resources,” stated Grizzell.

Representatives from Protel Incorporated are expected to meet with the City of Jackson on Friday to discuss plans moving forward.