Both Oktibbeha County supervisors and Starkville aldermen continued a process to issue a combined $14 million in general obligation bonds for a new industrial park after no organized protests or objections to the financing package emerged this week.
The city and county are now in position to fund the property acquisitions, infrastructure installations, due diligence and other work needed to transform the Stanley, Strange and Waldrop properties — about 400 combined acres near the Highway 82-Highway 25 bypass, near the Highway 82 intersection with Highway 389 — into an advanced manufacturing park.
Supervisors and aldermen both approved resolutions continuing the bonding process Monday and Tuesday, respectively. The county motion was approved unanimously Monday, while Ward 4 Alderman Jason Walker and Ward 6 Alderman Roy A. Perkins opposed the city’s action Tuesday.
The Golden Triangle Development LINK is expected to return to both boards in September for the bond issuance, LINK Chief Financial Officer Joey Deason told supervisors Monday.
Before then, he will approach both governing bodies for a resolution seeking the ability to combine both pools of money under the Regional Economic Development Act. That move, Deason said, will provide flexibility in paying for project costs.
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.
The LINK-led project is set 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 substation and a 157.3-acre parcel for a large industry or future expansion.
Discussions with Agracel Inc. on the proposed speculative building are ongoing, LINK Chief Executive Officer Joe Max Higgins said in June.
The LINK also has reserved about $2 million for the potential mitigation of cultural artifacts at the site, and the joint project could remedy the county’s lack of natural gas infrastructure by extending an Atmos Energy pipeline in the future.
“We’ve met with the Mississippi Department of Archives and History and received very positive news (in regard to possible cultural artifact mitigation efforts). We’ve got a consultant on board now, and due diligence is taking place as we speak,” Deason told supervisors Monday. “Things are looking … better than what we thought, but that’s not to say … we’re not going to have to spend the $2 million we set aside for that issue.
“We’ve made great progress and are looking at a four-phase approach,” he added in regard to the natural gas project. “We’re not out of the woods yet, but we can definitely see the sunlight. All things are very positive as we move forward.”
While aldermen did not have questions for LINK representatives on the project Tuesday, District 4 Supervisor Bricklee Miller asked Deason on Monday how investment and ability to land jobs could impact future tax rates.
“When I started working for the LINK about three-and-a-half years ago, Lowndes County was able to reduce its millage rate … because of the growth that occurred. There’s no guarantee that’s going to happen with this park, but I can guarantee it’s not going to happen if you don’t do anything,” he said. “The thing about taxes … there’s a school component to this. That part in Lowndes pays for about 25 percent of the budget that the Lowndes County School District has. That’s a large chunk of change.”
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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