In a unanimous decision, the Starkville Board of Aldermen passed a resolution Tuesday that will allocate a $3 million-bond to road work in the city. The board also voted on a revised capital improvement plan, which will span 10 years rather than four. The plan will indicate how the bond monies will be spent.

Ward 3 Alderman Eric Parker said he agrees that a 10-year capital improvement plan is necessary.

The bond will go toward projects such as sidewalk construction and repair, ADA curb cuts, storm drainage maintenance, a road-widening and multi-use path project on Hospital Road and the completion of the multi-use path project on Lynn Lane.  

Mayor Parker Wiseman said these are the types of projects that probably couldn’t be completed in a non-bond issue year.

Wiseman also said it’s important that Starkville officials see that the city is steadily turning into a more pedestrian-friendly community.

“You start to see the picture of a network of sidewalks that’s very pedestrian friendly from the northern edge to the southern edge of the community,” he said.

Also approved at the meeting was a road-widening project for Reed Road, which will include the construction of a multi-use path.

Ward 5 Alderman Jeremiah Dumas said he wholeheartedly agrees with installing the multi-use path because the majority of people who don’t own cars resides on Reed Road.

Parker said he supports a pedestrian-friendly city. He said he’d like to see some work focused on a project that’s been talked about, but never resolved – relieving the congestion on South Montgomery Street.

“One of the most traveled roads in this city is South Montgomery,” Parker said. “We need to do something to alleviate that bottleneck. We’ve got to start planning now. It’s such a big project that’s continually put on the backburner.”

Wiseman agreed that the South Montgomery project should be a priority.

Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the board adopted a municipal budget for fiscal year 2010. Wiseman said the budget is now balanced because of the hiring freeze that’s been placed on several city departments.

“Due to the sacrifices of our department heads, this budget has been balanced without a tax increase,” he said.

The idea to convert Main Street into Starkville’s own Beale Street may be catching on.

Although it’s just an idea at this point, Starkville Downtown Business Association President Melissa Dixon said the goal is to make Main Street the place to be after home games for students, alumni and tourists. The idea is to close the street to traffic during home football game weekend nights, so people can hang out in the road.

“I would love for all ages to come down and hang out with the people they came to visit with at the downtown restaurants,” she said.

Dixon said one of the benefits of closing down Main Street is that people could get the chance to see everything Starkville has to offer.

“Anytime you can bring new people downtown, like our tourists and alumni, I think they’re going to see some things they didn’t see before,” she said. “A lot of people don’t know there’s a bridal shop downtown. I think it shows Starkville has more to offer than they thought when they rolled into town, went to the game and left.”

College students say the idea definitely has appeal, but there are also downsides.

Senior biological sciences major Lillian Collins said closing Main Street is a good idea because people would be more likely to walk or take the Night Route (free MSU shuttle system) to the bars downtown rather than drive.

She said it would only be a negative change if the Night Route ceased to pick up passengers on Main Street.

“If they’re not going to have the Night Route, it wouldn’t be a good idea,” she said.

Dixon said the Night Route would probably still stop close to the downtown establishments, but it would have to loop around so that it didn’t stop directly on Main Street.  

Some students say the key element needed to give Starkville’s Main Street a Beale Street feel is to be able to legally drink alcohol on the street.

MSU senior biochemistry major Beau Hall said if open container laws still apply when Main Street is closed, college students hanging out in downtown bars will be less inclined to mingle outside.

“The last thing I want to do when I’m drinking is to walk outside and stop drinking,” Hall said.

Dixon said she and other members of the Downtown Business Association have talked about trying to get a special event permit to lift open container laws on designated weekend nights.

“I have reason to believe we could call it a special event, for example ‘Bulldog Block Party,’ and catch a break on open container laws,” she said.

Having open containers in cars or in the streets is against state statutes, even if a special event permit has been given, Starkville Police Captain Chris Thomas said.

“It’s technically against the law, period,” he said. “We do give leeway though [during some special events].”

Dixon admits there are some negative aspects to closing down Main Street, including crowd control and the loss of parking spots.

“There have been crowds downtown that got to the point that it felt unsafe because you couldn’t walk on the sidewalks,” she said.

If the SPD does an efficient job of making sure the sidewalks stay clear, people will feel safer, she said.

Hall said throngs of people gathering in the street could make it harder for the SPD and the ABC to regulate underage drinking.

Thomas said the SPD doesn’t have an opinion on whether the idea should come to fruition.

“We’re going to handle it the best way we know how,” he said. “We’re going to have officers out there whether it’s open or closed.”

Thomas said he won’t know how difficult it will be to monitor underage drinking until Main Street actually closes.

Dixon said she hears the most negative feedback from some downtown business and restaurant owners.

“I don’t think the restaurants are on board just yet just because they feel there are some security issues,” she said.

However, she said she believes closing Main Street could be beneficial to those establishments if the idea is carried out the right way.

“If those things get solved and we can see the big picture, this could bring tons of business to any establishment downtown on game weekends,” Dixon said.

As for the parking situation, Dixon said it shouldn’t be too much of an issue because downtown visitors can utilize parking lots that may not be so well-known.

“There are a lot of public lots, people just may not know about them,” she said. “There’s something like 75 parking spaces behind Starkville Café.”

Some, like Hall, say they need to see the idea carried out before they can make a decision on whether they support it.

A test run on one or two home game weekends would be beneficial, Hall said.

“It could potentially be a really good thing,” he said. “It could be a Beale Street environment, but we haven’t seen the outcome yet.”

If the idea is implemented, Hall said businesses could step up their game by selling drinks and food in the street. 

Ward 2 Alderwoman Sandra Sistrunk said she could discuss the idea more if it was proposed to the Board of Aldermen, but that she supports having an active downtown. 

“Closing Main Street could run the gamut from what we currently do (blocking off Main Street when SPD deems it appropriate) to having festival-type activities,” she said. “Ideally, the stake holders – downtown businesses, their customers, appropriate city departments – would discuss this further and bring a proposal to the board.”

SEPTEMBER 2, 2009

By Erin Kourkounis

The Starkville Board of Aldermen worked to improve the city’s budget woes Tuesday during a meeting at City Hall.

In a 6-1 decision, the board voted to use Option 2 of three possible options to fill the $408,982-revenue gap of fiscal year 2010’s budget. Option 2 calls for the use of a one-time surplus and a hiring freeze, which will last until Dec. 31, for the water and landscape division of the public services department, and the police, fire and street departments. The option will be given to the city clerk to run up a budget.

“That creates enough of a surplus that can be transferred into the general budget to fill the gap,” Wiseman said, before beginning the public hearing on the subject.

Option 1 called for an overhaul of the city’s sanitation department, including the addition of a litter control program. Option 3 consisted of a 2.45-mill increase, which Wiseman said would fill most of the revenue gap.

Ward 2 Alderwoman Sandra Sistrunk said Option 1 would make a good future follow-up project, but that Option 2 is the way to go.

“The primary difference between Option 1 and Option 2 is the establishment of the environmental services department,” Sistrunk said. “It’s [Option 1] maybe not something we’ll do in reaction to budget prices, but looked at as a stand-alone project.”

Sistrunk suggested that some additions be made to Option 2: to reclassify an amount within the street department’s budget and to restore outside contribution cuts.

“I’m going to suggest we use the $50,000 that’s been used in the past, simply reclassify it, to show it truly is a separate line for ADA [American Disabilities Association] compliance issues,” Sistrunk said.

Sidewalks and curb cuts are examples of things that would help Starkville meet the federally required ADA compliance issues the community faces, she said.

Ward 4 Alderman Richard Corey said he agrees with Sistrunk’s recommendations and that he would like to see Option 2 carried through. He also said it’s important for the board to keep looking toward the future.

“One of the things that we are going to have to do as a board is really look at what we’re going to do for next year,” Corey said. “This might be it for this year but we’re going to still be faced with these problems year after year.”

After some slight confusion with the motion’s wording, the aldermen passed the measure to use Option 2, which was revised to include Sistrunk’s suggested changes.

Along with Sistrunk and Corey, Ward 3 Alderman Eric Parker, Ward 5 Alderman Jeremiah Dumas, Ward 6 Alderman Roy Perkins and Roy 7 Alderman Henry Vaughn were in favor of the motion. Ward 1 Alderman Ben Carver was opposed.

Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the board approved that Mississippi State University will be allocated a portion of the city’s 2 percent food and beverage tax.

The tax will go toward student activities such as the university’s Lyceum Series, Bulldog Bash and student services such as the Night Route, a shuttle service that runs on weekend nights.

Wiseman said the 2 percent tax funding that directly benefits MSU’s student body is especially important.

“I have always viewed this as a tax fairness issue,” Wiseman said.

Additionally, the aldermen approved a special event permit for Bulldog Bash, the annual free concert held in Starkville’s Cotton District.

The 10^th bash, to be held Sept. 25, will feature headliner Third Eye Blind, along with various local acts.

Student Association President Blake Jeter, who presented the proposal to obtain the permit, said this year’s attendance is projected to reach around 30,000.

“We’re trying to attract more people from outside the Golden Triangle area,” he said.

The board also appointed a committee made up of three aldermen and City Clerk Markeeta Outlaw to recommend five election commissioners. The aldermen chose Corey, Perkins and Vaughn to serve on the committee.

Among other matters of city business, the aldermen approved the acceptance of a Community Development Block Grant to build a fire station on Reed Road and Highway 25 South.