About 400 acres of land identified for a new industrial park are under option for purchase, and the Golden Triangle Development LINK has handshake deals in place to bring 60 megawatts of power and a speculative building to the site, LINK Chief Executive Officer Joe Max Higgins said.
Higgins did not disclose where the potential site is located but said an agreement with 4-County Electric Power Association would bring 30 times the amount of electrical capacity to the site compared to Cornerstone Park’s 2 megawatt load.
Another handshake agreement, Higgins said, would construct a 75,000-square-foot spec building with an option to increase its size in the future.
Both agreements represent $6 million of projects that won’t be funded by taxpayers, he said. About $14 million is needed in bonds to fund the project, however, and Higgins said the LINK is expected to go before the city and county boards for an intent notice in the first quarter of 2016.
Each $7 million bond issuance would add about 2.5 mills to the tax rate. Starkville residents would see an additional 5 mills in property taxes because they fall within both city and county taxing districts, while residents in the outlying county areas would only see the 2.5 mill county hike.
Both boards previously approved $10 million in combined bonds for a 326-acre site — the Innovation District — but the LINK was forced to abandon the project in March after studies indicated the possible presence of cultural artifacts.
A fully-funded study and possible excavation would have put the project over its budget and more importantly, Higgins said, delayed construction and marketing efforts for at least 18 months.
For the new park, Higgins said he would like to begin due diligence studies as soon as possible to avoid another similar delay.
The LINK will approach the Starkville Board of Aldermen first, he said, about a bond intent resolution before proceeding with the studies to ensure leaders are supportive of the project.
“Before we spend $25,000-$30,000, we may need to go to them first … because if they’re not going to issue the intent, then we don’t have a project,” Higgins said. “Our contract (with Oktibbeha County and Starkville) says we have the authority to spend $50,000 on certain costs (due diligence studies are included), and they shall reimburse us. I can go ahead and do it, but why spend taxpayer dollars if there’s a chance there’s no support? We’re better stewards of taxpayer money than that.”
Supervisors narrowly avoided raising taxes in an election year because of the indication of cultural artifacts at the proposed Innovation District. If aldermen approve a tax increase in 2016, they would do so one year before municipal elections.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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