Work on Oktibbeha County’s industrial park is progressing smoothly, according to Golden Triangle LINK CEO Joe Max Higgins, but a lawsuit over the project’s zoning may linger on longer than initially expected.
Higgins updated the Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors at its regular meeting Monday. He said work on the site itself, which is expected to be completed next summer, is moving along, with a $434,000 bid for power substation preparation recently awarded to Columbus-based Weather’s Construction. He said the Oktibbeha County Economic Development Association (OCEDA) recently authorized advertising for water, sewer and road improvements for the park, and bids should be awarded by June.
“By mid to late summer you should start seeing some work out there,” he said.
The new industrial park sits on roughly 400 acres of land north of the Highway 82-Highway 389 intersection in north Starkville. Oktibbeha County and Starkville approved a combined $14 million in public funding for the project last year.
Legal challenge
However, a legal challenge over a Starkville Board of Aldermen rezoning decision may drag on into the fall. Property owners near the park have challenged the city’s zoning for the park.
The city’s decision was affirmed in Oktibbeha County Circuit Court, but the property owners have since appealed the issue to the state Supreme Court.
“We thought we were going to be done in June-July, but it’s probably going to be closer to this fall,” Higgins said. “There were some delays in getting the documents from the clerk’s office here down to Jackson.”
County Attorney Rob Roberson said he expects the case should start moving forward again by the end of the summer.
Higgins: Lawsuit ‘handcuffs’ for marketing site
Higgins said the LINK is pushing along with advertising for an 80-acre portion of the site that’s already ready for marketing. He said the LINK will likely seek to place an office or distribution center on the parcel, but the court case has proved to be a hindrance in preventing some business possibilities.
“We’ve got a $60 million food processing facility — not killing, this is baking, so no animals — that park would’ve been perfect for,” he said. “But we can’t put them in there because they work about 200 people manufacturing food products and it’s not zoned for that.
“So until the zoning is totally done, we’ve got some handcuffs,” he added. “Can we put a distribution facility in there? Yep. Can we put an office? Yep. But we billed it as advanced manufacturing as the highest and best use of the property and while the court case is hanging over it, it’s tough.”
Higgins told the Dispatch the LINK is working with three or four companies interested in locating on the parcel. He said one company recently requested a few weeks to consider the site.
“I think they’re going to take a site there, but I just don’t know how big a site, or how big a building,” he said. “It could be anywhere from a small building, 30,000 square feet to a quarter of a million square feet. But we do think we’ve got somebody that might go there.”
Infinity site competing for project
Higgins also told The Dispatch the LINK is courting a prospect for the Infinity Megasite in Lowndes County.
The site, which the LINK unveiled in August 2016, has more than 1,100 acres for industrial development west of Golden Triangle Regional Airport.
“In the last 30-45 days, it’s really turned up,” he said. “We’ve got a multi-hundred million dollar project looking at the Infinity Megasite. Lots of jobs. We are, as we speak, waiting on a call this week waiting on a call to see if we’re going to go present at the end of the month. We’re hoping to be picked. They’re cutting it to eight, and we’re looking to be one of those eight. Then from there, it’s a street fight.”
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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