The Starkville Board of Aldermen is set to take on a project previous administrations couldn”t complete: the construction of a new municipal complex.
The board next week plans to form a municipal complex committee, which would consist of an undetermined number of aldermen, to work through the planning and construction of a new municipal complex. The municipal complex committee would work with a consultant and form a second committee, this one made up of citizens, to study the feasibility of prospective sites and make recommendations to the full Board of Aldermen for consideration.
A proposed municipal complex site and project details also would be presented to the public for comments and input.
During a strategic planning session Wednesday, aldermen agreed to include on next week”s agenda a resolution to form the board”s municipal complex committee.
Mayor Parker Wiseman and Ward 5 Alderman Jeremiah Dumas stressed the importance of constructing a new municipal complex to house a modern City Hall, Starkville Police Department or both. It”s a project previous aldermen have tried unsuccessfully to complete since at least 2000.
“We need to do whatever it takes to get this done because this is three administrations deep right now,” Dumas said.
“I think there could have been a lot of (previous) mistakes made in this whole thing,” he added. “I think, regardless of what this administration does, we will be gauged by what we do with the municipal complex, just like every administration since 2000 has been.”
Several sites already have been studied. In 2000, Walmart offered to give land to the city for the project, but Starkville officials turned down the offer, Ward 4 Alderman Richard Corey said. The land was located where Remington”s Hunt Club now sits on Highway 12. Other sites also have been studied, including one on Highway 25 and one on Highway 182.
The problem, Wiseman said, is no one site has been a “perfect fit,” and that has delayed the process.
“I am not 100 percent confident there is one site that is a perfect fit for this project,” Wiseman said. “I think it is time for this process to begin moving, so I think that”s one of the things that can probably be worked out in the feasibility study. There are a number of sites that potentially could work, but there”s going to have to be some tough decisions made about where it goes ultimately. In my research on it, there”s not one site that stands out as being the perfect place above all the rest.”
When the board”s municipal complex committee and the citizens” committee begin their research, they will be able to use information gathered on previous sites, Wiseman said. He was leery to set a goal for a completion date.
“I don”t want to put another timeline on it,” Wiseman said.
Aldermen expect to use a bond issue to pay for the complex.
In other business Wednesday, aldermen tackled an array of issues, from city services and comprehensive planning to infrastructure needs and regional cooperation.
The board plans to develop a unified procedure for service requests, workflow and follow-up. An Information Technology Department, set to be established and staffed as part of the 2011 budget process, would assist in setting up the service request software and technology.
Another goal is to analyze the need for an environmental services division, and to reorganize the Planning Department into a “Community Development Division” to better reflect its duties and to focus on current development and future land use/planning.
Alderman already are taking steps toward achieving its goals in comprehensive planning and land use. During a work session this winter, the board vowed to form a comprehensive planning committee, which it has since done. The committee will review and analyze the city”s existing comprehensive plan, which was adopted in 2005, and will brief the Board of Aldermen with recommendations on timelines and specific elements. Aldermen will then amend the plan.
In an effort to improve the city”s image, aldermen plan to adopt an official logo, slogan, seal and flag. The Mayor and Board of Aldermen also will discuss and explore the possibility of a strategic vision statement for the city of Starkville, the Greater Starkville Development Partnership, Mississippi State University and Oktibbeha County with the leaders of those institutions. The vision statement would be promoted to the city, state and university communities.
To address the city”s infrastructure needs, aldermen will make a determination of services to be provided for the area annexed into Starkville from Oktibbeha County in 1998 and budget for any services to be provided. Another goal is to establish and “operationalize” a plan for improvements to Highway 182.
The Board of Aldermen also will evaluate current subdivision regulations to determine if amendments and additions are needed.
A 10-year infrastructure maintenance schedule and Capital Improvement Plan and budget will be developed, as well.
Among other goals, aldermen hope to work cooperatively with officials from West Point, Clay County, Columbus and Lowndes County to address common issues and take on other initiatives.
Wiseman, Dumas and Corey were joined at the strategic planning session by Ward 2 Alderwoman Sandra Sistrunk, Ward 3 Alderman Eric Parker, Ward 7 Alderman Henry Vaughn Sr. and Starkville Chief Administrative Officer Lynn Spruill. Ward 1 Alderman Ben Carver and Ward 6 Alderman Roy A. Perkins were unable to attend.
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