Oktibbeha County and Starkville are set to issue a combined $14 million in bonds to fund a new industrial park this fall after supervisors approved their half of the issuance notice Monday.
The Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to proceed with the issuance, which will purchase about 400 acres northeast of the Highway 82-Highway 25 bypass, prepare the land for development and provide needed infrastructure improvements.
Starkville aldermen made the same commitment at their previous meeting.
The Golden Triangle Development LINK-backed project reflects the area’s first earnest attempt to provide new parcels for industrial recruitment since the Oktibbeha County Economic Development Authority opened Cornerstone Park almost two decades ago.
“I think the supervisors understand a new industry coming in, paying taxes, creating jobs and creating wealth is good for the community as a whole,” said Golden Triangle Development LINK Chief Executive Officer Joe Max Higgins. “Industries that are coming in look for sites. If we were to go to West Point or Lowndes County … there are a lot of choices for industries. When we come over to Oktibbeha County … there are no vacant industrial buildings sitting around we can market to companies.
“This park will provide a product that, up until this point, hasn’t existed,” he added.
The bonds should be issued this fall, Golden Triangle Development LINK Chief Executive Officer Joe Max Higgins said. LINK officials will continue to negotiate land prices with property owners ahead of acquisition and mitigation efforts to clear the area of cultural resources.
Those negotiations, he said, are nearing a conclusion. Higgins previously said land owners must lower their prices in light of the cost to clear the parcels.
Although the LINK did not release exact costs associated with the land mitigation, Higgins said a mechanism will be in place to adjust the prices again for the landowners if clearing costs come in under budget.
LINK officials previously floated a combined $2 million price tag for those efforts.
Higgins said his organization will meet with the Mississippi Department of Archives and History in July to develop a timeline and plan for the mitigation.
“Our goal is to get as much of the park marketable as quick as we can,” he said. “It’s entirely possible that we might have some marketable lots we can present to people before the whole park is ready.”
Early marketing efforts were scheduled to begin today with LINK officials holding a brainstorming session to name the park.
The entire project represents an $18 million investment by Starkville, Oktibbeha County and 4-County Electric Power Association. The electric company previously pledged to develop a 60-megawatt substation at the property, and the guarantee extends to six months after the first industry commits to the park.
Atmos Energy will also begin a process in July that could extend natural gas infrastructure to the site and increase its overall capacity for Oktibbeha County, Higgins said.
Deemed an essential infrastructure project, the lack of natural gas capacity could hamper future development initiatives in Oktibbeha County.
As with the electric commitment, Higgins told supervisors Monday Atmos could “pull the trigger” and move forward with extending the natural gas line after the LINK lands its first tenant.
The overall project is expected to develop 13 individual lots combining for 192.98 acres, a 28.3-acre site for a proposed speculative building, a 6-acre site for the electric substation and a 157.3-acre parcel for a large industry or future expansion.
Higgins confirmed the LINK will continue discussions on the proposed spec building with industrial developers Agracel Inc.
“We’re keeping them involved almost weekly as to the good news that’s happening,” he said. “We’re getting plans put together. We’re going to try and get them in here in the next couple of months to look at the site. They know the market, and they know who we are. I think at the end of the day they didn’t really think the park was going to … come to fruition. Now that it is, I think they’ll go back and look at it again.”
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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