Infrastructure and parks are coming into focus as major considerations as Starkville begins its planning cycle for the Fiscal Year 2018-19 budget.
Aldermen discussed the budget as part of a Friday work session. During that discussion, Mayor Lynn Spruill said she’d like to see the city take a more proactive stance on its infrastructure issues, particularly in regards to aging water lines.
Spruill said she’s talked to Starkville Utilities Director Terry Kemp about addressing water issues around town, particularly for replacing all of the water and sewer lines in a neighborhood at once, rather than doing patchwork fixes. She said Kemp is compiling a list of where the leaks are and what it would cost to replace the lines.
“It’s painful quickly, but after that we don’t have to go back and tear up people’s yards time and time and time again,” Spruill said. “Because every time you repair a leak, as you know, you put pressure on another section of the line and it leaks again.
“I think that’s something that would be beneficial to us as a community long-term,” she added. “It shows we’re being proactive, rather than reactive. We can free up our personnel in a way that allows us to take care of other issues around town.”
Ward 1 Alderman Ben Carver said fixing Starkville’s water infrastructure problems could be one of the biggest investments, in terms of cost, the city has ever had. However, he said it’s at least worth looking at as problems continue to mount.
“It’s gotten to the point that this generation is dealing with situations that weren’t taken care of in the 70s, 80s and 90s,” Carver said. “In Green Oaks, the entire neighborhood (water and sewer lines) need to be replaced.
“It is what it is, for the first time in nine years that I think residents are saying ‘OK, we’re tired of patching and capping. What’s it going to take?'” he added.
Ward 4 Alderman Jason Walker also agreed that it is time to look at infrastructure, and noted that the city has to be willing to pay if it’s serious about addressing issues.
He also noted that it was a good opportunity to consider any planning adjustments that needed to be made, infrastructure-wise.
“Now is the point where, from a planning standpoint, if there’s something with infrastructure that needs to be adjusted — whether that’s moving a line from the back of a house where it’s inaccessible to the front of a neighborhood where it can be more accessible — or if we’re going to be putting in new lines, now is the time to be vetting all of that in,” Walker said.
Parks
Aldermen also discussed potential changes to the Parks and Recreation Department, including expanding and upgrading its facilities, as well as increasing the department’s operating funding.
Ward 2 Alderman Sandra Sistrunk, who is the board’s budget chairman, said the city has improved its funding for recreation, but will have to do more to match competing cities such as Oxford and Tupelo.
“While we’ve been increasing our expenses the last few years, we’re not funding our parks at the level that we need to be funding them,” Sistrunk said.
Walker noted new facilities — such as more outdoor fields or indoor facilities — would need some sort of commitment from the city. However, he said the city should likely look for more partners to help bear the costs of building it.
Spruill agreed, saying the city will have to dedicate some money to parks, if it wants to improve its recreation system.
“We have to show that we’re committed,” she said. “I’m hoping that the county will join us, that (the Oktibbeha County Economic Development Authority) will join us, that the banks and businesses will also see that value and put that name on a field, on a bleacher, on a concession stand.”
Ward 5 Alderman Patrick Miller said he felt improving the city’s parks would help with revenue. He said that’s especially true of the summer months, when Mississippi State University’s athletic calendar is generally void of any events that draw visitors to town.
“This is a market that I feel like we are completely missing,” he said. “It’s a huge gap in revenue for the city that, long term, the return on investment — you can’t compare it.”
While Friday’s talks were preliminary in getting a sense of what aldermen may be interested in pursuing as the budget planning cycle commences, Spruill said she doesn’t want to wait to get started on at least addressing some issues in FY 2019.
“I want to get started now, because it takes time and it takes commitment,” Spruill said. “You’ve got a board in place who at least has head nods and I think there’s enough votes to move forward with it.
“You don’t talk about it and delay it because that lessons the sense that government is doing something — that we’re just talking,” she added. “I don’t want to just talk. We’re either going to do it or we’re not.”
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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