News and information about Starkville and Oktibbeha County
El Mayor Dan Camp wades into the fray to defend the $12 million bond issue for roads and infrastructure in the SDN.
He promises “no hidden agendas” and that the money will not be used for a municipal complex.
It does seem like a good and needed plan. (Paging Vic Zitta and his “Better Plan” circa 1998). What took them so long?
The Mississippi State Community Action Team was kind enough to send the complete PDF of the First Impressions report for Starkville. You can download the PDF (2.5 megs) here.
The SDN recaps the MSU CAT team’s First Impression visit results.
Some highlights from the article:
The positives are:
• Very friendly
• Attractive downtown/clean and maintained
• Medical services
• The historic residential area
• Mississippi State University
• Sports complex/local parks
• Biking trail
• Great restaurants/shopping
The challenges are:
• Signs —if something was not on a main surface street, it was difficult to find.
• Traffic problems during sporting events.
• Not enough hotel space.
• Appearance/maintenance of rental properties.
• Smart growth — strip malls.
• Cluttered commercial areas.
• Too much of a “college town” at times when huge events are going on.
Article from Thursday’s Dispatch about the amount of residential building permits issued in Starkville vs. Columbus/West Point during the first 11 months of 2008. Short story is that Starkville (84 permits issued) is building more new homes than the other two cities in the Triangle combined (Columbus- 17, West Point- 12).
The SDN runs with an update on the CVB/BOA budget conflict. Not a lot new other than it is up to the GSDP to try to mold itself into what Camp and the BOA wants or risk losing approval of the next 6 months of the CVB budget.
The downtown crowd control problems seem to b a hot topic, specifically why the police are perceived to not have a presence downtown after 10PM on weekends.
One incident keeps popping up. On Halloween night, a white male shouted his support of presidential candidate John McCain into a crowd of black males in front of the courthouse. (See the SDN article from earlier tis week.)
Here is video from that incident on YouTube (may not be safe for work due to language):
Link to clip.
This just in from Comvest:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Wendy Barthe Peavy, Marketing and Public Policy Director
COMVEST Properties, LLC
www.cottonmillatmsu.com
CottonMill Marketplace at Mississippi State University Progress Update
Starkville, MS, December 4, 2008 – With final approval from Mississippi’s Institutions of Higher Learning Board for the purchase of MSU’s historic E.E. Cooley Building, the developers of the CottonMill Marketplace at Mississippi State University in Starkville, have begun to move forward with their plans for the development. The approval is a significant milestone on the CottonMill Marketplace timeline.
This week work began on the environmental and structural assessments of the Cooley site. Project professionals with Covington and Associates, Cupkovic
Architecture and Harrell Construction will evaluate the former John M. Stone Cotton Mill in preparation for submittal of an Historic Renovation Application to
the United States’ Department of the Interior and the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH). Renovation plans call for the building to be
converted into a conference center and office space. MDAH has been supportive of the developers’ renovation plans and will meet with the group later this month
to assist in the application process.
Conventional Wisdom Corp, a management consulting firm specializing in public assembly venues, is coordinating interior restoration and design elements with
the project’s architects to achieve a state of the art conference and meeting space.
CottonMill Marketplace’s hotel, a Courtyard by Marriott brought to the project by Peachtree Hotel Group, is currently in the schematic design phase. Project
engineers and architects continue to coordinate the design of the hotel and its connectivity to the conference center.
Also nearing completion are plans for the residential elements of the project as well as parking, landscaping and green space. Additionally, the developers have
engaged MSU’s Carl Small Town Center to provide analysis and design concepts pertaining to bicycle and pedestrian traffic between the campus, the
city, and CottonMill Marketplace.
As the project’s due diligence moves forward the developers continue to secure interest commitments from national, regional and local retail and restaurant
prospects. Given the buzz generated at October’s International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) Atlanta Conference, the developers look forward to
next week’s appointments at the New York ICSC Conference and Deal Making event.
A formal Ground Breaking and start of construction is slated for the first of the year, 2009.
# # #
But he always seems to to the squeaky wheel when it comes to spending money over the long term for the city. He has some pretty serious reservations about the $12 million earmarked for road improvements.
Not that I blame him much. This current BOA has done little to warrant reelection, much less trust with $12 million.
But we desperately need this infrastructure improvement. We need a justice complex. We need sewer work. The list goes on.
This is a needed bond issue. And the current group of leaders only has a few months to manage (or mangle) the money.
Supe Orlando Trainer voted against starting the process to issue bonds for “Extreme Makeover: OCH Style” at yesterday’s board meeting. The rest of the board felt compelled to uphold the no-nbinding bond issue vote from last month and proceed with the project.
Orlando is right. The county doesn’t belong in the healthcare industry.
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