Aldermen discuss project ideas at work session
Large-scale drainage work, a new library and either building a new fire station or relocating a station in Starkville were some of the ideas for capital projects brought forth in the Starkville Board Of Aldermen’s work session Friday morning.
The board met with Republican
State Rep. Rob Roberson to discuss potential large-scale project ideas. At the previous work session, Starkville Mayor Lynn Spruill said Roberson had encouraged her to bring a project to the Legislature in the upcoming session.
“The reality is that if you don’t start laying the groundwork, you’ll never get us moving in a direction that we want to get moving,” Roberson said. “If we don’t get it this year, at least we’ve got the groundwork for the following year or the (next). The problem is we’ve got many projects we could be plugged into.”
Roberson said he believed many of the ideas discussed had potential, but spoke in favor of drainage work himself.
“The drainage issue is going to become a bigger issue for the city and the county, and frankly for the rest of the counties and cities that surround us,” Roberson said. “I’ve got a feeling that it’s going to come up bigger, and honestly, a pretty tough issue to fix, so we definitely need to get on it.”
Ward 5 Alderman Hamp
Beatty spoke to the need to address drainage issues.
“North and South Starkville have water issues,” Beatty said. “Since I’ve been on the board, we’ve had two 100-year rain events in a single year, and Briarwood, which hasn’t flooded in 40-something years has flooded now, so we’ve got drainage problems.”
Beatty suggested looking to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for assistance with a large drainage project. The Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors also recently voted in favor of joining the Tombigbee Water Management district in hopes of receiving some support on the issue.
“Drainage is a major problem,” Roberson said. “It’s not just here. It’s everywhere. The county’s dealing with the same issues. I think that what might not be a bad idea is to have the county get together. Water doesn’t just stop when it reaches the edges of our floods, whether it’s in our county or state for that matter. We’re going to have to do a better job.”
Roberson said the issue was getting worse as the area becomes more and more developed.
“I believe it needs to be in cooperation, at a minimum with the county, and get the university involved then,” Roberson said.
Both Beatty and Ward 2 Alderman Sandra Sistrunk also discussed the possibility of renovating or moving a fire station, especially with the intent of serving the area Mississippi State University campus and area likely to be annexed by the city.
“Some of our fire stations are pretty old, and in need of some additional love and attention,” Sistrunk said. “Especially as annexation goes forward, it might be good to have something like that. Like I said, there’s no end to these projects. We’ve got lots and lots of good projects out there.”
Beatty suggested moving station one closer to campus. However, Spruill said in conversations with Starkville Fire Chief Charles Yarbrough, he had said he would want station three to be the one relocated.
Sistrunk also suggested a new library as a possible project, saying that the 60-yearold building was not designed around the current use of a library. She also suggested putting the building on Highway 182 to help start growth in that area.
“The library is that resource for a lot of people who need access to computers, access to books, a place to get to the internet, because they don’t have internet in their community out in the county,” Sistrunk said. “It’s open to everybody. I agree that there may be opportunities.”
While Roberson said he thought the library idea was a good one, he said it could be a harder sell in Jackson.
“Libraries just aren’t as sexy as they used to be,” Roberson said.
Roberson also encouraged the board to think in terms of larger projects and larger asks.
“It may not be one project,” Roberson said. “We may want to do more than one project.”