Oktibbeha County supervisors are developing a preliminary list of roads they hope to improve with an upcoming 15-year, $14.5 million-maximum bond issuance.
A comprehensive list identifying which county thoroughfares will be paved, reclaimed or repaired is not yet available, as many supervisors have not finished assessing their district’s roads or have not yet received updated cost estimates from County Engineer Clyde Pritchard.
Butler Snow attorney Sam Keyes, who is advising the county on the upcoming issuance, asked supervisors to prepare a list of potential fixes ahead of setting April 17 for the bond’s sale.
Once supervisors open bids and pick a financier next month, Keyes said the county could have its road improvement monies in hand by the end of May.
“It all depends on when the board wants to finalize the issuance. If you have your list of projects in line, you can have a little delay. But obviously it’s more cost effective to issue the bonds in one series,” he said.
Although the bond issuance is not set in stone, such a move is likely after only two supervisors — District 1’s John Montgomery and District 3’s Marvel Howard — have opposed the action in recent votes.
A third supervisor would have to join the dissent to effectively halt the process.
Approximately $4.5 million of the overall issuance was previously earmarked for Blackjack Road improvements, which means the supervisors will split the remaining $10 million between the five districts.
Both Montgomery and Howard objected to how supervisors decided to split the proceeds after the board opted to divide the money based on each area’s total road mileage instead of an equal split or one based on either assessment or total population.
District 4 (25 percent) and Districts 1 and 5 (22 percent each) contain a majority of Oktibbeha County roadways, while District 1 (19 percent) and District 3 (12 percent) both fall below the 20 percent threshold of overall mileage. Districts 1 (26 percent) and 4 (30 percent), however, constitute more than 50 percent of overall county assessment.
An equal, 20-percent division would have given each district supervisor $2 million, but the road mileage divvy means Montgomery will receive $1.9 million and Howard will receive $1.2 million, while the other two districts will each receive more than $2 million.
Howard characterized the board’s 3-2 decision to split the money in January as “cut-throat and thuggish” after he said members previously signaled their intent to divide the $10 million equally or at least investigate other alternatives.
Howard, Miller detail projects list
While little is known about potential road projects in Districts 1, 2 and 5, Howard and District 4 Supervisor Bricklee Miller said they’ll use road improvement funds to address outlying county projects and those that fall in or near the city limits of Maben and Starkville.
Miller said her tentative plan identifies numerous areas as candidates for work projects, including: resurfacing a portion of South Montgomery Street, starting at the south end and tying into the newest pavement near Country Club Estates; and paving Adkinson Drive and portions of Big Creek and Pleasant Ridge roads.
Howard identified Buntin Drive, Maben’s Roosevelt Street and the east end of Harold Road as likely recipients of improvement projects. The District 3 supervisor also said he’s still identifying other potential projects and could repair an additional Maben road if his budget allows it.
Miller said she was “still in the first stages” of planning efforts and will continue working with the road department and Pritchard “to make the best choices” for her district.
“There is a lot of resurface work that needs to be done. If I resurface South Montgomery Street with bond money, I will have four-year road money to allocate for (other) projects,” she said. “I looked at paving Wilson Road, but there is such a large area with no homes and it would take all of the money allocated for District 4.”
Montgomery and District 5 Supervisors Joe Williams said they were not ready to release their full improvement lists, as both representatives were still identifying potential projects, while District 2 Supervisor Orlando Trainer said “all of them in the territory as of now with some level of improvement” when asked which roads he wanted to fix.
“I’m still building the preliminary numbers. I am looking at every road in my district, but I have to see which ones I can do while being the most effective with my money,” Montgomery said as he confirmed an upcoming meeting with Pritchard to go over the numbers and projects.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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