Lowndes County economic officials this week likely will learn if 31 property owners in Columbus’ Burns Bottom area will be willing to sell their land to use for a proposed six-field soccer complex.
The announcement came during a Monday morning Lowndes County Board of Supervisors meeting, during which board members discussed the project for more than 45 minutes.
“The land owners are coming this week to review the property options, so we will know something soon,” said Brenda Lathan, vice president of economic development at the Columbus-Lowndes Development Link.
The Board of Supervisors in June authorized Link officials to seek property options from the 31 Burns Bottom landowners.
Over the past three months, the economic development officials have been speaking with the property owners, who all have agreed to sell their property for the recreation project, Link officials previously said.
Because county tax officials recently completed appraisals on the land, County Attorney Tim Hudson has written the property options for the landowners to review this week. The total appraisal for the about 70-acre Burns Bottom property came to about $288,000, said District 1 Supervisor and Board President Harry Sanders.
If the property owners sign the options, they will agree to sell their land to the county at the appraised value within the next year.
City and county officials are considering the more than 70-acre Burns Bottom plot for a six-field complex to house the Columbus-Lowndes Recreation Authority’s soccer and football programs.
In addition to the Burns Bottom land, officials also are considering a a 156-acre tract of land near the Columbus Riverwalk, a 50-acre plot near the Highway 82 Macon-Meridian exit and a 70-acre plot now serving as holes 10-18 at the Columbus Country Club’s golf course.
Because city and county officials have not yet finalized the project’s location, a few supervisors urged the board to chose a land parcel before moving forward with the project.
“We don’t even know if we have the votes to support Burns Bottom,” said District 5 Supervisor Leroy Brooks. “I say during our next (Sept. 8) meeting, we should vote whether to go with Burns Bottom and then vote on a resolution to issue bonds if that’s the case.”
“There is no guarantee these people will sell their land. They have agreed to sell it, but they haven’t seen the price yet,” said District 2 Supervisor Frank Ferguson. “We need to get a commitment from the landowners before we move forward. If they won’t sell, we are back to square one.”
During the discussion, the board also discussed possible funding options for the project. Because a previous bond issue passed to fund construction at the Lowndes County jail is scheduled to be paid off in 15 months, the county could use money allotted to the jail bond to fund the soccer complex construction, Sanders said.
“We could use the same millage being used to pay for that jail bond to fund the soccer project,” Sanders said. “That way, we could pay for the bond without raising taxes, because we already have that money budgeted.”
Because the Burns Bottom appraisals came in nearly $700,000 less than the original $950,000 land purchase estimate, the county could “easily” purchase the land using a portion of the projected $4.8 million in interest accrued from the 2006 sale of Baptist Memorial Hospital–Golden Triangle, Sanders said.
As the project will be jointly funded by Columbus and Lowndes County, the city could aid the county by providing in-kind services and land donations, according to Sanders.
“The city has right at 15 acres of land down there, they own the streets and the sewer and water lines that could all be donated in-kind for the project,” Sanders said. “I would say the city’s half of the project could be taken care of by donating those.”
After the meeting, Columbus Chief Operations Officer David Armstrong agreed with Sanders, saying the city likely would be willing to donate land and in-kind services.
“I’ve been concerned from day one. Nobody ever asked how we were going to pay for this,” Armstrong said. “We just don’t have the resources the county does. As of right now, we don’t have any money in our general fund for that.
“I think it would definitely be a possibility for the city to donate the streets, land and in-kind utilities, but hard cash dollars are a horse of a different color,” Armstrong added. “We may be able to get state development bank money to use for it, but I haven’t done enough research to know if that will be a possibility or not.”
Although city and county officials are considering a few locations for the project, Sanders said Burns Bottom may be the only viable site for the soccer fields.
“It’s my opinion that if it doesn’t go to Burns Bottom, we won’t have a soccer complex,” Sanders said. “The city has no cash money to bring to this, so those in-kind donations will cover their half of the project.
“Out of the lands being considered, Burns Bottom is the only scenario in which the city can participate any time soon,” Sanders added.
However, Brooks urged the board to schedule a meeting with city officials to discuss the project before purchasing any land.
“The city needs to come to the table and tell us themselves that they don’t have any money,” Brooks said. “We need to get the City Council together and hear from them.”
In other business, the board:
n Authorized Lowndes County Port Director John Hardy to apply for a $6 million Transportation Investment Act grant to use to construct a rail spur at the county’s west bank port.
If awarded, the grant would fund a rail extension from an existing Kansas City Southern rail line near the Golden Triangle Industrial Park to Severstal, Kinder-Morgan and several other businesses west of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway.
Because the minimum Transportation Investment Act grant amount is $20 million, the Lowndes County Port Authority will apply for the grant alongside officials from the Yellow Creek Port in Iuka, the Itawamba County Port and the Amory Port, Hardy said.
“I’ve heard they award one grant per every 10 applications, so I don’t know what are chances are,” Hardy told the board. “But that money would build the rail spur if we were fortunate enough to get it.”
n Announced all county offices will be closed Sept. 7 in observance of Labor Day.
Neal Wagner is a Staff Reporter for The Commercial Dispatch.
Columbus Parent | 9/1/2009 2:37:00 PMmark as inappropriate I would like to encourage the supervisors and the city council to come together and get this soccer complex built! There are many positives to the Burns Bottom location. Some that immediately occur to me include:
1) The proposed location is as easy to access and as centrally located as any possible property in Lowndes County - since it is basically at the intersection of Hwys. 45 & 82.
2) The location is also ideal for generating sales tax revenue. This weekend I measured one mile north from Little Dooey's and passed 17 restaurants within that distance - also passed Leigh Mall, three sporting goods stores, and 6 hotels! This location will pay for itself in sales tax revenue for the county and the city.
3) The site is affordable - especially with the appraised values - and doable for both the county and the city governments. The county can put up the cash; the city can put up land and infrastructure; and the citizens can benefit from a visionary local government partnership.
4) Connecting to the Riverwalk through Moore's Creek could make this location the start of a wonderful recreational complex. Remember when opponents of the Riverwalk derided it as a waste of money? The hundreds of Lowndes Countians who use it everyday would undoubtedly disagree. I suspect the same will be said of this soccer complex in a few years.
5) Quality of life and the abilty to recruit new residents to Columbus will be enhanced by a new soccer complex... We've been losing this race to Starkville, and it's time to get back in the game! That will help increase property values and property tax revenues.
6) The six full-size fields planned for the Columbus complex will give us nearly the same playing space as the Starkville complex - Enough to hold Rec tournaments, High School tournaments, and DII or DI tournaments. Imagine the revenue that could be produced by two or three Rec tourneys each year, coupled with possible tournaments hosted by Columbus, Caledonia, New Hope, Heritage and/or Immanuel Schools... Some have acted as if "only six soccer fields" is nothing much. The reality is that each full-sized field will hold two U-12 fields or several fields for U-10 or below.
6) Pick your favorite postive and add it in! Mine is that we will be sending a clear message to every family in our community or considering a move to our community that we care enough about their well-being to provide quality playing fields for their children to develop as athletes and as outstanding young people...
Soccer mom | 9/2/2009 10:51:00 AMmark as inappropriate I've seen our local kids go to play in Starkville and Tupelo because we don't have the facilities to compete on a higher level. We can't host the big tournaments. Our kids travel all over the state and wonder why we don't have facilities like we see in other towns and why we have to do all of the travelling. It would be nice to see some of that revenue come back into our community.
Jobless father | 9/15/2009 3:07:00 PMmark as inappropriate Here's an idea,instead of building a soccer complex,build some type of plant in that area so that the people without jobs can provide for there family's, instead of being on the edge of lossing everything...But i guess some think a soccer complex is more important..I personally dont think so and neither does my wife and two children..
