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OKTIBBEHA COUNTY – As the board of supervisors works through determining the future of the county lake, it is also trying to resolve an ongoing lawsuit with the lake’s operators.
How that settlement affects future lake operations – if there even is a lake – remains to be seen.
If the lake is rebuilt, will the public have the right to access it?
Who has the lease on the lake?
The county built the lake in 1965 with its primary purpose for recreation.
Since roughly 75% of the property is on 16th Section Land, Starkville School District (now Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District) leased that portion for years to the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks for $4,500 a year. That allowed public access to the lake under state guidelines.
MDWFP did not renew the lease in 2011, and a group of investors, led by former Mississippi State University men’s basketball coach Rick Stansbury, leased the 16th Section portion for $25,000 a year to operate the Starkville Wet N Wild water park. Wet N Wild later leased the county-owned portion – the remaining 25% of the lake – for $2,500 per year, giving the company full control of the lake.
Both leases run for 25 years.
Why did Wet N Wild sue the county?
In January 2020, County Engineer Clyde Pritchard warned the lake’s dam was in imminent danger of breaching. The county responded by significantly lowering the lake’s water level, essentially draining it.
In August of that year, Wet N Wild sued the county in circuit court for breach of contract, alleging county officials’ failure to maintain the Oktibbeha Lake dam’s levee violated its lease with the park. The company, at the time, sought $1 million in damages for lost revenue and a court order directing the county to fix the dam and share control of the levee and spillways with the company.
Over the next several years, while the litigation loomed, the county sputtered through a couple of false starts in determining whether to repair the lake dam and how to fund it before landing a federal grant from the Natural Resources Conservation Commission in 2022. As part of the grant, the Mississippi Soil and Water Conservation Commission appointed WSP USA Environmental and Infrastructure to lead the lake project.
Since December, WSP has studied options for the lake and will present those, with estimated costs at a public hearing Monday night. Options could range from rehabilitating the levee to decommissioning the lake.
If the county accepts the study’s recommendation, NRCS will fund the work.
The public hearing began after press time Monday.
How will the lawsuit affect a potential project?
Board of supervisors attorney Rob Roberson said it won’t.
The county is trying to settle the lawsuit with Wet N Wild with the intent to buy out the company’s leases. However, the sides have not yet agreed to terms.
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 31 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
