Columbus councilmen will discuss capital improvement projects they want to pursue and possible funding mechanisms for how to get them done during a specially called meeting Monday.
“Projects such as milling streets, paving streets curb and gutters, sidewalks and storm drainage (will be discussed),” Columbus Mayor Robert Smith said.
Columbus Chief Operations Officer David Armstrong said Steve Edds of Baker Donelson Law Firm in Jackson will be at the meeting to discuss financing options. Whether a loan will be the option has not been decided, but Edds has served as a bond attorney for Lowndes County supervisors and the city of Columbus in recent years, most recently to help secure a loan from Mississippi Development Bank to finance renovation of the Trotter Convention Center.
The last bond issue related to capital improvements the council approved was in September 2010, which was $8.8 million. Of that, $3.8 million was used for sidewalks, curbs and paving. More than 40 city paving projects ranging from public parking lots to neighborhood roads selected by councilmen were completed in late 2012.
Armstrong said during a board retreat in December that one option the city could consider for drainage improvements was having a referendum, which requires 60-percent-plus-one of voters to be in favor of a bond issue.
Monday’s 10 a.m. meeting will be in the old courtroom in City Hall.
Nathan Gregory covers city and county government for The Dispatch.
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