Oktibbeha County supervisors approved two resolutions that continue a joint city-county process that will fund a new industrial park near the Highway 25 and Highway 182 intersection.
Supervisors unanimously rubberstamped orders authorizing and directing the issuance of a $5 million general obligation bond to turn 326 acres of rolling hill and open farm land into the Innovation District, a Golden Triangle Development LINK-backed project officials hope will make Oktibbeha County a viable competitor in the world of economic development.
The funds, along with a $5 million bond pledge from Starkville aldermen, will allow the LINK to purchase the land and provide the necessary infrastructure improvements — roads, electricity, water and sewer — to ready the site for industrial enticement initiatives.
The timeframe for the bond became clearer Monday as attorneys provided supervisors with a tentative schedule. It calls for bond sale notices to be published April 6 and 13, and sets April 20 as the date for supervisors to issue a resolution awarding bond sales.
Validation proceedings and hearings would then be held in late April and early May, the schedule states, and the bond issue could close as late as May 8.
June 3 is the statutory deadline to close the bond.
The document confirms the schedule Joey Deason, the LINK’s chief operating officer and Oktibbeha County’s economic development representative, predicted last month.
The need for the Innovation District is apparent as electricity capacity problems plague Cornerstone Park, another development site located south of the Miss. Highway 25 and Miss. Highway 12 interchange.
Cornerstone has yet to attract industrial tenants due to the low capacity. The Mississippi Department of Transportation has utilized a parcel there, while the Oktibbeha County Economic Development Authority donated another tract of land to the Mississippi Highway Patrol for a new Troop G headquarters.
The Innovation District is expected to house advanced manufacturers. LINK officials previously predicted it could provide about 1 million square feet of business space. About 1,300 or more jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenues could follow depending on the organization’s ability to attract investors.
Both the county and Starkville are expected to spread their debt service for the project across 20 years, and the city is expected to issue a 2-mill tax increase to fund the bond. A similar financing package is expected from the county.
A nine-person board of trustees, to be comprised of OCEDA members, will form the Oktibbeha County Economic Development District and manage the park’s properties, which includes the processes to deed land to new tenants in the future.
Since the park falls within city limits, Starkville will be responsible for the infrastructure’s maintenance and upkeep.
Aldermen previously rezoned the area’s parcels to M-1’s industrial designation, which allows for a range of light manufacturing options.
Covenants, conditions and restrictions (CCR) agreements are also in development to help the LINK control the Innovation District’s growth, while also ensuring all tenants and the organization itself remain good stewards of property and respectful neighbors of homeowners in the area.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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