After nearly a year of work on an annexation study, Starkville’s board of aldermen is poised to make a decision on whether the city will press on with annexing new territory.
Aldermen will vote whether to approve an annexation plan and move ahead with an annexation ordinance. The decision point comes more than a month after consultant Mike Slaughter, with Oxford-based planning firm Slaughter and Associates, presented the findings of the study’s second phase to aldermen.
Starkville began the annexation study last fall, and it has progressed through the year since in two phases. In the first phase, aldermen set potential annexation areas for the study, and Slaughter’s firmed researched demographics in those areas. The second phase focused on the costs of and new revenue from annexation and the changes Starkville’s departments would need to make to properly serve the new areas.
The city has focused on three areas for annexation. The largest extends to the east and south and would include all of the land around Mississippi State University. A second area extends along Highway 12 to the southwest of Starkville and would bring the Sunset subdivision into the city. The third area is a small piece of land on the north part of the city that would bring all Collier Road — that was not included in the 1998 annexation — within Starkville’s boundaries.
Mayor Lynn Spruill said Slaughter, who was not at Friday’s work session, will attend Tuesday’s board meeting. She said aldermen will can also adjust the proposed annexation area on Tuesday.
Spruill said she doesn’t expect a final agreement, if one is reached Tuesday, to be “clean and neat,” but to be something that can be used to begin drafting an annexation ordinance.
“We’re at a point where we can slice, dice and carve and do whatever it is we want to do to see what we want to do to make this happen,” Spruill said. “We’ve had a little over a month to take a look at it, and hopefully we can come to some sort of consensus at some point.”
Aldermen reactions
Ward 3 Alderman David Little said he’s curious to see how discussion the issue draws. He is cautious of overreaching, as the city may have in its 1998 annexation that added much of what is now north Starkville.
He said he was hopeful that the city could’ve taken in MSU — which was a consideration earlier in the annexation process before the university declined.
Little also isn’t inclined to spread the city further west.
“We’ve gone west before and nothing’s really happening out in that direction,” he said. “But we’ll see what happens.”
Ward 5 Alderman Patrick Miller said he’s open to considering what areas will best benefit Starkville.
“Of course, it’s going to take four of us to get on board with that,” he said. “Hopefully we will come to some conclusion.”
Ward 2 Alderman Sandra Sistrunk said she expects aldermen will adjust the map before any final decision is made.
“Whatever else happens, I do expect that map to change,” Sistrunk said. “I think it’s going to depend on discussion. I’m trying to prioritize, for myself — I’m trying to prioritize those areas that meet with our needs over the next few years.”
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
You can help your community
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 47 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
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 47 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
