Starkville is well on its way to creating infrastructure improvements throughout the city.

As the city is proactively working on sewer, water and electrical developments, Starkville Utilities Department General Manager Terry Kemp presented some of his department’s largest projects currently in progress to the board of aldermen at the board’s work session Friday.

Starkville currently has around 200 miles of sewer lines throughout the city, with nearly 50 percent of those lines belonging to the “older category” that needs updating, Kemp said.

Pleasant Acres subdivision, near South Montgomery Street, will soon see completion in the first phases of its infrastructure work within the northern half of the subdivision. Kemp said SUD has replaced approximately 18,000 feet of sewer line, and that project will hopefully be completed by Christmas. He said he hopes to see the second half of the project begin during the spring to improve nearly 21,000 additional feet of sewer line.

“Hopefully by Jan. 1, we will have a plan, a conceptual layout where we really identify major problems and those kinds of things,” Kemp said. “Right now we’re on track to hopefully have the (second part of the) project ready to begin around March.”

Ward 1 Alderman Ben Carver, who represents the ward where Pleasant Acres lies, said while people expect improvements to be made within a week, SUD works hard to get work finished quickly.

“The communication coming out of Starkville Utilities has been exceptionally well,” Carver said. “… Y’all definitely stepped up the game on the communication side which definitely alleviated the complaints.

Another area which will have sewer improvements soon underway is Rolling Hills subdivision. Kemp said SUD is identifying targets within the neighborhood with data, wanting to determine which lines need work and where manholes are, and then the engineering process will begin.

“Our hope… is that bids will go out sometime in March, springtime,” Kemp said. “Now is the right time to do construction. We’re trying to get all of the engineering, investigating and plans put together now and bid them out in the spring.”

Water
SUD is also working to improve water lines throughout the city.

Several residents of Northgate subdivision have approached the board about brown water in their neighborhood in recent months, prompting the allocation of $200,000 of American Rescue Plan Act funds to address these water problems. Kemp said his department is in the process of conducting an engineering study to identify the root of the brown water.

“As of now, we don’t really have anything to offer the board other than the fact that it is something we will continue to look at,” Kemp said.

For now, SUD is going to take the current water line within the neighborhood, which breaks off into two separate sections, and cut off one section to create one flow of water throughout the water line and in turn, hopefully initiate a smoother flow, Kemp said. He said this will help identify if there are any dead spots within the water line.

“Our hope is to have that started — and we’ll be working closely with the customers so they’re not surprised in that neighborhood when construction begins — between now and Christmas,” Kemp said.

Main Street will soon also see water adjustments.

Main Street has not had water line replacements for several decades, and Kemp said he is working on the best approach to fixing this. He said SUD is looking at a water plan for Downtown Starkville that would begin at City Hall, go down Main Street and end at the railroad on Montgomery Street, while also looking at ways to improve Lampkin Street as well.

“We’re currently working right now on a proposal or plan when would be the right time to start (this project),” Kemp said. “ … we don’t have a lot of water issues there right now, but before you do a major change, we want to make sure we have it in good shape.”

Electricity
Electricity will also have new improvements within the coming months.

SUD implemented a new substation in March, and Kemp said his department is in the process of making improvements to other substations throughout the city. After the completion of the new station and the reworking of primary and northeast substations, SUD is now in Phase 2 of electric improvements and making adjustments to other power sources throughout the city.

“I think when this piece is put together, the city will have a really robust electrical grid all the way around,” Kemp said.