Starkville Mayor Lynn Spruill hit the ground running in her first six months holding the city’s highest office and had a wealth of topics to discuss in her first State of the City Address.
On Monday, members of the Starkville Rotary Club got a firsthand account of what Spruill and the Board of Aldermen have accomplished over the past year since she took office in July along with two new aldermen on the board.
In opening her speech, Spruill mentioned what she has dubbed the “Dak Effect,” as the city’s profile has been raised by the accomplishments of current Dallas Cowboys quarterback and former MSU signal caller Dak Prescott, along with the success of the MSU women’s basketball team.
She also mentioned the exposure for the area brought by the efforts of Golden Triangle Development LINK CEO Joe Max Higgins, who was the subject of a recent 60 Minutes profile.
“Love him or hate him, this gentleman, too, has provided us with a lot of national exposure, which has been good,” Spruill said.
In terms of development, the first things Spruill mentioned were the “tea districts,” which are mixed-use developments in an urban setting, discussing briefly the new Jackson Square development in the city’s downtown.
“That’s one of those wonderful transformations we’re seeing in our community,” Spruill said. “For those of us who are long-term and who are baby boomers, the things we are seeing now are not things that we necessarily have embraced, but guys that millennial wave loves this stuff and they’re about to eclipse every baby boomer thought that we had … millennials matter to us.”
Among the economic boons touched on by Spruill were the new Walmart Neighborhood Market, which is due to open in early February; the new University Drive mixed-use development beside City Bagel by Dan Camp; the mixed-used development at Midtown, which will feature residential and restaurant space, as well as Adelaide on South Montgomery Street and the proposed industrial park at Highway 389 and Highway 82.
Also mentioned was Castleberry’s 550 project at Mill Street and Russel Street, which could possibly see a new Italian eatery open up shop near the Cotton District, along with a new location for Mugshots, which is moving from its location in downtown.
Along with a Power Point presentation, Spruill discussed the issues and accomplishments month by month.
JULY
Spruill was officially sworn in to office on July 3 and the month of July would prove a busy one for city and county officials.
The city and county each passed bonds in the amount of $7 million, to bring the total to $14 million for the proposed industrial park.
“There is also another $24 million or so kicked in by (Atmos Energy), MDOT has kicked in, 4-County has kicked in and TVA has kicked in,” Spruill said.
Spruill praised the input and efforts of North District Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley and Transportation Commissioner Mike Tagert as it relates to their contributions to the community through this project.
AUGUST
Spruill’s second month in office saw a moratorium placed on billboards “so (the city) could take some time to look at our sign ordinance to see what we could do to improve it and reduce the impact of billboards in our community.”
Another accomplishment for the city came in the form of new roofing for the pavilion at J.L. King Memorial Park.
SEPTEMBER
The month of September saw the city approve its budget for 2017-18, along with the city not passing any tax increases this year.
“We also approved the expansion of the opportunity to develop restaurants in downtown,” Spruill said.
Up until September, the city had 250 feet from churches, childcare facilities and funeral homes in the downtown corridor to have a restaurant that could sell alcohol. The change by the city decreased the distance to 100 feet.
“I realize it was controversial, but I thought it was incredibly important and I ran on this as part of my platform when I ran for mayor … that this was critical to us allowing this area of our downtown to develop with more restaurants.” Spruill cited the Midtown development,
which is in close proximity to the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection and would otherwise not be able to serve alcohol in the planned restaurant space downstairs had the ordinance not been amended.
“This will prove to be a wonderful boon to our downtown to increase our restaurant activity,” Spruill said.
Sale times were also amended for Thursdays from midnight to 1 a.m. (to match with Fridays and Saturdays) and until midnight on Sundays.
Beautification efforts - including new trees planted near the new Family Dollar store - were also ramped up during this time, which was one of Spruill’s campaign platforms.
OCTOBER
Discussion over potential annexation was a talking point for city officials in October, with Spruill pushing to see something done before the 2020 Census.
The city in October authorized the use of Slaughter and Associates to conduct an annexation study.
While talk of annexation is still in its infancy, Spruill said the population of the city could be increased anywhere from 25,000 to 30,000.
“This is purely a study area,” Spruill said. “We are looking at the feasibility of making this happen without it being exorbitantly costly to those who we annex, or ourselves who are currently Starkville residents and are paying the ticket.”
The intent of annexation would be primarily to increase the population, and with it, the tax base.
The new headquarters for the StarkvillePolice Department was also officially opened in October and gave a permanent home for the department in downtown Starkville.
”If you haven’t been in that building, I strongly encourage you and I have encouraged (Police Chief Frank Nichols) to make arrangements for some tours from time to time because that is truly a hidden gem,” Spruill said.
Spruill also mentioned the amended smoking ordinance being passed to include electronic cigarettes.
OTHER TOPICS
Promoting parks and recreation has been a rallying point for the Spruill administration and she said the city is currently looking at land acquisition for an increase in property for sports fields - most notably property just south of the Sportsplex, to the tune of roughly 30 acres.
Spruill has had discussions with Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District Superintendent Eddie Peasant to form a committee to look at parks from a two-pronged approached.
“We have a lot of under utilized facilities at our schools,” Spruill said. “There’s got to be a good way to take those underused facilities and add them to parks by way of a joint use agreement or a (memorandum of understanding) of some kind.”
Spruill then discussed the city approving a $7 million capital improvement program to include major road overlays, primarily for Garrard Road and Lynn Lane.
“We’ve got improvements for signalization, sidewalks and we are working toward making those well-used roads,” Spruill said.
In closing, Spruill also discussed the recently approved bollard plan for special events, the new mural plan for downtown and the city’s push to promote green space through tactical urbanism.
To watch the full State of the City Address, visit the Starkville Daily News website at starkvilledailynews.com.