OKTIBBEHA COUNTY — While the expansion of East Oktibbeha Wastewater District is on hold, other sewer updates are still on the table in the county.
Dwight Prisock, manager for the wastewater district, approached the board of supervisors during its Monday meeting to discuss proceeding with a smaller portion of the planned $7 million project.
“There’s a set of plans at (the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality) for their approval, but … there’s currently no money to fund the project,” Prisock said. “Once they sign off on it, that’s just a matter of bidding it once we get the money.”
The board first committed $7 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds plus a state match to expand sewer infrastructure along Highway 182 and in rural areas south of Starkville in 2022. The expansion, had it come to fruition, would have added at least 200 households to the county’s wastewater service, Prisock said.
But in April, the board withdrew and reallocated those funds.
“Those funds were reallocated to several different projects,” Board President Marvell Howard told The Dispatch Tuesday. “We bought some road equipment with some funds. We built some … equipment protection sheds with some funds … and some other things.”
Board Attorney Rob Roberson said the change of plans was rooted in uncertainty about whether the project’s timeline would meet deadlines tied to ARPA funding.
“Specifically toward that particular project, I think the board of supervisors had concerns that they weren’t going to be able to get it allocated and engineered — all the things that needed to be done — in the time that was needed,” he told The Dispatch Tuesday.
Initially, the county needed city approval before submitting the proposed plan to the MDEQ, but the city required a comprehensive study of Starkville Utilities systems to be completed before giving approval. That study recently wrapped up in March.
Still, Prisock said, he hopes the board will fund a smaller portion of the expansion, including running a line parallel to Highway 182 from Hickory Grove Road to almost the county line and upgrading service at the Habitat for Humanity subdivision on 16th Section Road.
Prisock estimated that the smaller portion would cost $1.25 million.
Forrest Street Partners, an Atlanta development firm, has been developing a 98-acre RV park project on Highway 182, which is dependent on East Oktibbeha’s line expansion for wastewater services. Prisock’s proposed smaller expansion would allow the RV park to be connected to the district’s system.
If the $1.25 million expansion is approved by MDEQ, Roberson said he believes the board will find a way to fund it.
“It may not be through ARPA money,” he said. “It may just be through regular funding sources that we typically have, whether that be state, federal or even local funding.”
Howard agreed, saying there are other funding options, but in the meantime, there’s more planning to be done.
“Myself, as board president, our board attorney and all the parties involved with this are planning on putting together a meeting, so we can get some clarity as to where we’re at as far as sewage treatment in the county,” he said.
Roberson said those future plans could include a new utility district entirely.
“I think that the board will eventually move to a sewer district for the entire county,” he said. “My perception as the state representative for the county … is to try to get a utility district set up where sewer is a part of that, and it’s a program that we approach as a functional part of what we’re trying to provide for the entire county.”
Roberson told The Dispatch Tuesday he hopes the RV park project developer will answer questions at the next board meeting.
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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