The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

Or, if you are an angry business owner in Starkville, it allows you to opt out of the requirements of a $43 million public construction project that is federally funded and already underway.

The Touch of Luv Barber and Beauty Salon has been a fixture on the corner of Highway 182 and Ernest H. Jones Drive for more than 30 years. Until recently, a gravel driveway on the property connected access points for traffic from each street.

But the Highway 182 Revitalization Project, which began last fall, closed off the highway-facing entrance with a sidewalk, leaving the entrance from Ernest H. Jones open.

Understandably, Touch of Luv’s owner, Larry “Luv” Johnson, got mad and complained when he saw construction workers reopening a residential driveway catty-corner from his business that had previously had a curb installed over it. Though the mayor explained to him that the residence wasn’t in the construction plan and what Johnson saw was the contracting company correcting its own error, Johnson kept lobbying for his cause.

On Tuesday that paid off, with four aldermen voting to placate Johnson and reopen the entry to his business from Highway 182. They did this despite concerns raised by Mayor Lynn Spruill and three aldermen that modifying the approved construction this late in the game would come at the city’s cost. It could also push already tight timelines associated with the project and jeopardize some, if not all, of the federal funding the city received for the overall work.

The point of the revitalization project is to improve drainage along a mile stretch of the highway between Old West Point Road and Ernest H. Jones Drive/Long Street, as well as improve pedestrian access, aesthetics and encourage more development along the corridor.

In fairness to Johnson, it’s not his job to care about that. He cares about his business, and the city thrust the Highway 182 revitalization plan upon him. The “big picture” and the sacrifices he’s being asked to make for it would obviously be hard to swallow, especially as he endures the daily inconvenience of his business sitting in a major construction zone.

But the board of aldermen should see the big picture, especially when it has asked everyone in that corridor – not just Johnson – to endure it.

Instead, four of them – including both members who are leaving the board June 30 – opted to kowtow to one man who wasn’t happy.

So what happens now? Best-case scenario, the city takes a small hit to reopen this entrance but doesn’t compromise grant funding and remains on time completing the project. Worst-case is this amendment does compromise those things.

But just as concerning to the board right now should be a potential domino effect from Tuesday’s decision. What if other business owners in the corridor now line up to ask for exceptions of their own? Who does the board placate next? How does it explain its position to those it doesn’t?

Sometimes, exceptions are necessary. But “maybe if we give this guy what he wants, he’ll stop calling me,” should not ever be the impetus for an exception, especially when $43 million is on the line.

The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.

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