WEST POINT — On Tuesday, West Point selectmen approved the first invoices for wastewater and water extension to the site that will be home to Yokohama Tire’s first manufacturing plant in America.
The invoices included a $165,537.50 payment to Landmark Structures for installation of the elevated water tank that will service the plant. Funding for that portion of infrastructure upgrades comes from an Appalachian Regional Commission grant administered through the Tennessee Valley Authority.
A $456,870 payment for water and wastewater work was also approved. Calvert Spradling Engineers is overseeing the design of that work and KAJACS Contractors is performing it. Funding comes from a capital improvements loan administered through the Mississippi Development Authority at 2 percent interest.
As selectmen approve those first payments, Clay County supervisors will move forward next week with the portion of the project they are overseeing: Yokohama Boulevard.
Supervisors will open sealed bids from contractors on the access road Dec. 19 at 9 a.m. Golden Triangle Development Link CEO Joe Max Higgins said there will be entrances to the plant from Highway 45 Alternate and Barton Ferry Road. That road currently has a 90-degree turn that will be reconfigured into a T, he said.
“The up and down part of the T will be Barton Ferry,” Higgins said. “The right-hand side of the top of the T would be Barton Ferry. The left hand side back to 45 will be Yokohama Boulevard.”
Higgins said current construction, which consists mostly of moving dirt, is slightly ahead of schedule despite the wet weather pattern in the area over the past several weeks.
Selectmen split building inspector and code enforcer positions
In light of the anticipated growth in West Point that the plant will bring, selectmen took steps toward addressing dilapidated and overgrown properties more effectively. They hired Roy Shannon as city building inspector and Jerry Klutts as code enforcement officer.
The two offices were previously handled by one person. Mayor Robbie Robinson said the post’s vacancy pre-dated his arrival to office in July. Selectmen hired a temporary inspector and enforcer soon after taking office. Shannon will be paid $20 hourly.
Robinson said Shannon’s background in contracting, including a degree from Auburn University in construction management, translates into a good fit for the position.
“With his in-depth knowledge of the building trade and construction. We knew he could benefit the city,” Robinson said. “Selectmen are going to get very aggressive in cleaning up blighted property and overgrown lots that have become unsightly and a health hazard. We will need more code enforcement to help attack that aggressively.”
Nathan Gregory covers city and county government for The Dispatch.
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