Development, or at least the promise of future development, dominated headlines in Starkville and Oktibbeha County in 2019.
An industrial park project in North Starkville was finally freed from years-long litigation, an area developer secured tax-increment financing for a retail center on Highway 12 and Mississippi State University secured property downtown to one day rent out to businesses, including start-ups.
Meanwhile, Starkville voters approved a bump in tourism taxes to fund major parks improvements, and a $12.66 million grant secured late in the year promises to help pedestrian accessibility and development potential along Highway 182.
Here are some of the top headlines in Starkville and Oktibbeha County in 2019:
Supreme Court declines to hear industrial park rezoning appeal
A nearly 400-acre North Star Industrial Park project at the intersection of Highways 389 and 82 can finally move forward after being tied up in litigation for almost three years.
The Mississippi Supreme Court in September declined to hear an appeal in a civil suit challenging the rezoning of 360 acres there for manufacturing purposes, essentially upholding rulings of two lower courts that the rezoning was not improper.
Starkville aldermen voted in January 2017 to rezone the property for the park. Days later, owners of neighboring property — specifically Bettye Bell, Mary S. Bell, Margaret Copeland, Laura B. White and LMK LLC — sued to block the rezoning, claiming the city hadn’t presented enough evidence to prove it was needed.
Golden Triangle Development LINK representatives said the pending lawsuit made it difficult to attract industrial clients to the site, which the city and Oktibbeha County have spent a combined $14 million preparing for tenants. There are still companies interested, they said, and one, Garan Manufacturing, plans to move to the site from Highway 12 sometime in 2020.
TIF for TJ Maxx, ALDI
Area developer Mark Castleberry announced in August his intent to build a 90,000 square-foot retail shopping center at the intersection of Highway 12 and Industrial Park Road.
TJ Maxx, a department store, and ALDI, a grocery chain, plan to occupy about half that space.
Starkville aldermen and Oktibbeha County supervisors all approved a tax-increment financing plan for the project.
Under the TIF, the city and county will issue up to $3 million in bonds to reimburse Castle Properties for the cost of certain infrastructure — such as sewer, roads and parking — built at the site. The entities will repay the bonds over 15 years using sales and property tax revenue generated at the center for up to 15 years.
Garan Manufacturing has a plant at the planned retail center site but plans to move to the North Star Industrial Park at the intersection of Highways 82 and 389. It will take at least a year for Garan to move and another year for Castleberry to build the shopping center.
Starkville gets $12M to improve Highway 182
The city received approval in November for a $12.66 million federal grant that will fund improvements along a mile stretch of Highway 182, between North Long Street and Old West Point Road.
The grant, which is the largest grant for infrastructure Starkville has ever received, will make the area more pedestrian-friendly and wheelchair-accessible, increase broadband access and improve infrastructure and stormwater drainage, making the area more attractive to potential businesses. Mayor Lynn Spruill said work will take years to complete.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development, or BUILD Transportation Discretionary Grant program, funds “projects that have a significant local or regional impact,” according to the DOT website. The grants were known as Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery, or TIGER Discretionary Grants, when the city first developed an interest in obtaining one for Highway 182 about a decade ago.
Funding from the grant requires a 20-percent local match, which means the city must provide about $3.5 million.
Voters approve tourism sales tax hike for parks; Ward 5 picks new alderman
In a special election in May, Starkville voters overwhelmingly approved a 1-percent increase to the city’s tourism sales taxes for various improvements to its parks and recreation system, primarily a $20-million-plus tournament ready baseball/softball complex at Cornerstone Park off Highway 25 in West Starkville.
Nearly 74 percent of voters favored the increase, which added 1 percent to both the restaurant and hotel/motel sales taxes. It’s projected to generate $1.2 million for parks. Aside from the Cornerstone facility, some of the funds will be used — in addition to the 40 percent of revenue that was already set aside for parks from the existing 2-percent restaurant tax — toward capital improvements throughout the parks system.
Also during the special election, Hamp Beatty earned 57 percent of the vote to top a field of three candidates for Ward 5 alderman. The seat became vacant in April when Patrick Miller, who was two years into his first term, resigned to take a job in Biloxi.
Nichols retires, Ballard hired as police chief
Capt. Mark Ballard was hired in November to become Starkville police chief.
He will replace Frank Nichols, who announced in June his intention to retire at the end of the year.
Ballard joined SPD in 1996, most recently serving as administrative staff commander and head of investigations. His salary is set at $85,000.
Nichols joined SPD in 1992 and had been police chief since February 2014.
Tagert named CEO for Partnership
Outgoing Mississippi Department of Transportation Commissioner Mike Tagert was announced in November as the incoming CEO for the Greater Starkville Development Partnership.
The Partnership role is part of his new title as associate director for Corporate and Economic Partnerships within Mississippi State University’s Office of Research and Economic Development (ORED). He will assume those roles on Jan. 7, 2020.
Tagert had served as transportation commissioner for the Northern District since 2011. He decided not to run for re-election this year. He will become the first CEO for the Partnership since Scott Maynard left the post in June 2018 to take a job at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida
Jennifer Prather, who had been the Partnership’s director of tourism, served as interim CEO until she left for a post with Mississippi Main Street Association in October.
MSU takes on old Cadence Bank building
Mississippi State Research and Technology Corporation, a nonprofit organized to facilitate relationships between MSU and its industrial affiliates, purchased the old Cadence Bank Main Branch at the corner of Main and Jackson streets in May.
MSU plans to use the 33,000 square-foot space essentially as an expansion of the Thad Cochran Research and Technology Park located near campus.
Cadence, which occupied the space as its main Starkville branch for more than 40 years, is building a new bank behind Comfort Inn and Suites on Russell Street.
MSU is planning up to two years’ worth of renovations at the old bank facility. Once complete, it can provide space for public or private entities, including start-up companies.
The bank and university signed a non-disclosure agreement on the price of the sale. The building had been listed for $2.5 million.
West Main Arms murder for hire
A Starkville man was charged in connection with a February murder after he allegedly offered multiple people $5,000 to kill 33-year-old Joseph Turnipseed Jr.
Police, responding to a “shots fired” call late Feb. 8, found Turnipseed’s body at West Main Arms Apartments. Officers soon arrested Henry Neal Jr., 27, who authorities believe offered $5,000 to Turnipseed’s killer. Multiple witnesses told police he offered that amount to others as well.
Neal is being held on $2 million for the murder charge. He pleaded guilty to an unrelated sale of cocaine charge in July and was sentenced to eight years in prison.
Lime scooters leave Starkville, MSU
Lime, a company that offers bicycle and scooter rentals, pulled out of the Starkville and Mississippi State University market in March less than a year after its services arrived, citing MSU’s unwillingness to allow electric scooters on campus.
The company began service at MSU in August 2018 and expanded to Starkville a month later. By the time Lime left, its Starkville-MSU fleet included about 200 vehicles — pedal bikes, battery –powered electronic assist bikes and 25 electric scooters it added in January. The bikes and scooters could be found at various places in town, rented through a mobile app and left where the user completed the ride.
MSU’s contract with Lime didn’t allow the electric scooters for safety reasons, however, and university officials had complained that scooters were being left on campus anyway. When Lime left, it discontinued all of its services in the Starkville-MSU market.
Proposed regulations on Airbnbs stall
After months of debate and public hearings, Starkville aldermen in December delayed acting on regulations for short-term rental properties in single-family residential areas, instead opting to look at whether there were needed regulations to long-term rentals in those areas as well.
Aldermen agreed to consider regulations for short-term rentals, such as Airbnbs, in May after citizen complaints of transient tourism in single-family neighborhoods. By September, city officials proposed a $300 annual license fee and a 30-night annual rental limit for those properties, along with a requirement property owners live in the homes they offered for short-term lodging.
After several, sometimes heated, public input sessions, the proposal aldermen tabled in December — the 17th version drafted — required only a $20 privilege license and dropped the night limit and residency requirement. The license could be revoked after three citizen complaints that resulted in citations.
Top 10 most viewed stories of 2019 on cdispatch.com
■ Philadelphia man caught with trafficked child – 9/12/2019 – Isabelle Altman
■ Residents seek Kratom ban in Lowndes – 2/5/2019 – Amanda Lien and Slim Smith
■ Storm destruction: One confirmed dead, thousands without power – 2/24/2019 – Dispatch Staff Report
■ Local nursing home among ‘poorest performing’ in Mississippi – 6/7/2019 – Mary Pollitz
■ Remembering ‘Ace’: Caledonia native, ballplayer a victim in Southaven shooting – 7/31/2019 – Isabelle Altman
■ Beating the odds: At six months, smallest calf born alive making progress at MSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine – 5/4/2019 – Slim Smith
■ MUW soccer coach, 41, passes away Sunday – 1/28/2019 – Adam Minichino
■ Fire damages Zachary’s restaurant – 4/28/2019 – Slim Smith
■ Palmer Home to move children to Hernando site – 3/2/2019 – Isabelle Altman
■ Suspect charged with capital murder for Artesia killings – 1/17/2019 – Isabelle Altman
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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