District 5 Supervisor Joe Williams said he’s confident two major road improvement projects will begin next year even though Oktibbeha County does not yet have local funding in place for at least one of the paving efforts.
Williams said he will use a portion of his four-year road plan’s funding and proceeds from an upcoming $14.5 million countywide infrastructure bond to help pay Oktibbeha County’s portion of a $1.04 million, 4.2-mile paving project for Turkey Creek Road. He also said the county will apply for federal funding to help improve Artesia Road.
While Williams said it was likely the county would receive federal dollars for Artesia Road, supervisors are dependent on securing the upcoming road bond to support the Turkey Creek Road project, as the county does not have enough money to provide a local match. Williams’ funding commitment should also allow the project to move forward.
Oktibbeha County is on the hook for about $550,000, while state aid funding will pay for the remaining $487,000.
District 2 Supervisor Orlando Trainer confirmed Turkey Creek Road pre-construction efforts are halted at this point and construction work is not expected to begin in earnest until the local match is in place.
Williams’ pledges are pivotal to the process, Trainer said, as the county is at a crossroads with the project: either it finds the money or attempts to abandon the effort and potentially face fees and other funding losses.
Work agreements with contractors, engineers and state aid officials are already in place for the project, Trainer said, and the entire project could be sent back for rebidding if “the county fumbles around for another six months.”
Turkey Creek Road contracts and bids were unavailable Thursday since County Administrator Emily Garrard was absent from work and a call to County Engineer Clyde Pritchard went unreturned.
“If we’re serious about it, we have to find a way to make it work, and soon. There are agreements in place (with contractors, engineers and state aid officials); we’ve taken it to bid, and those bids are only good for a certain time,” Trainer said. “I don’t know what the county’s liability is at this point — it may not be anything — but the engineer has his fees involved in it. If we don’t get the money in place, this thing is DOA. Mr. Pritchard is putting together a letter … to access about $80,000 right now, but that will only buy us some thinking time.”
The two thoroughfares were discussion points at Monday’s board meeting, as Williams attempted to substitute the Artesia Road project in place of Turkey Creek Road work due to the funding problems. He was advised to rescind a motion completing that task because of the standing agreements.
Both roads can receive state aid money, Williams said, but only Artesia Road qualifies for federal funding.
“I don’t think we’ll have a problem getting it, either,” he said.
The Artesia Road project is expected to pave 3.4 miles at a total cost of about $659,000. On-hand funding, state aid’s contribution and funding provided by a construction company from a previous agreement reduces the county’s overall cost to about $187,000.
The bond
Supervisors are expected to continue discussing how to split the pending bond proceeds between the county’s five districts next year. A formula mirroring how state aid money is divided could be followed after Trainer suggested splitting the funds into three pots: one-third would be divided equally between the districts, one-third would be spread out based on each district’s population and the last portion would be determined by each district’s overall mileage.
Districts 1 and 4 have the highest property assessment in the county, while District 4 has 25 percent of Oktibbeha County roads — the highest mileage of any district. Districts 2 and 5 each have about 22 percent of county roadways, while District 1 has 19 percent and District 3 has 12 percent. Districts 2 and 5 also have the lion’s share of Oktibbeha County’s population, Trainer said, which includes Starkville residents.
A $14.5 million bond issuance is likely to require a 2.4-mill tax increase for debt service. That figure could be reduced to 1.4 mills if a previous tax hike for maintenance is applied to the bond, but Trainer said he would prefer to keep the allocation on as is.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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