Starkville aldermen approved a bond intent notice Tuesday, which will secure funding to construct the county’s newest industrial park.
The board voted 5-2 to approve the resolution declaring the intention to issue general obligation bonds of the city to support the park’s development. Ward 4 Alderman Jason Walker and Ward 6 Alderman Roy Perkins voted against.
County supervisors will discuss approving a similar intent notice next week, and the bonds aren’t expected to be sold until this fall.
Both boards previously pledged $7 million to the project, which would develop an almost 400-acre site northeast of the Highway 82-Highway 25 bypass into an industrial park.
Bond proceeds will help install the needed infrastructure — roads, water, sewer and other improvements — to turn the area into a site suitable for industrial development.
The LINK is currently in negotiations with land owners of the properties currently under a purchase option, Chief Executive Officer Joe Max Higgins said Tuesday. Those property owners, he previously said, must lower their selling prices to offset the cost of clearing the land of cultural resources.
“I can confidently say in front of you tonight that that’s working well. We think that’s going to be well in hand, so we think that the land owners are going to cooperate, we’re going to get an adjustment price from them and that’s going to take the problem off the board,” Higgins told aldermen Tuesday.
Higgins also said that after separate meetings with state officials and Atmos natural gas representatives, they will be able to run a gas line on the site next year. Higgins added 4-County Electric Power Association representatives previously indicated the company would put up power lines within about the same amount of time.
Oktibbeha County’s lack of natural gas capacity is an issue Higgins previously said would keep the area from reaching its industrial development goals.
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