Starkville aldermen are set to vote on multiple improvement projects, and will also vote on the previously-failed Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market grocery store tax increment financing plan on Tuesday.
Beautification projects
Ward 4 Alderman Jason Walker will look for the board to approve trees to be planted along the Lynn Lane bike path, the parking lot behind Starkville Cafe and North Montgomery Street, according to the Nov. 15 agenda.
The $1.2 million path took 10 years to complete from its initial design, and was finished last spring.
The path added a 1.7-mile bike and pedestrian path. The path was extend in April from its end on South Montgomery Street to Blackjack Road to connect with the MSU campus. The project was approved and finished after a multi-entity effort between the city, county and MSU.
The path has been dubbed the "backbone of south Starkville" by officials.
The additions will come from the Ward 4 discretionary funds budget. The plan to add trees to the parking lot behind Starkville Cafe marks the end of the renovation project to the Main Street satellite parking lot, which was completed last spring.
Aldermen approved $41,000 worth of concrete and asphalt work to repave, re-stripe, add concrete work and reorganize spaces in the lot. The current budget lists the parking lot plan at $75,000.
The project was part of the capital improvement bond approved two years ago worth $2.6 million.
Main Street plan
A portion of West Main Street and Long Street will be added to the 2016 street improvement list with funding coming from the Ward 7 discretionary funds budget — if approved by aldermen.
The upgrades will see surfacing, basing, leveling and milling for a total of $33,000.
Banyan Road
A section of Banyan Road will be added to the 2016 street improvement list not to exceed $40,000, and aldermen will look to add leveling and base repairs to the area.
Work began in May in the area to replace a large segment of northeast Starkville's sewage collection system. The move replaced deteriorating underground concrete pipes along Banyan Road and South Montgomery Street.
The substantial project carried a price tag of over $700,000, which includes a $350,000 Mississippi Appalachian Regional Commission program grant from the state. Around $440,000 was provided through the MIssissippi Capital Improvements Revolving Loan program.
The second phase of the project added a gravity-forced collection system from Laurel Hill Drive to South Montgomery Street.
Wal-Mart TIF
The board had originally planned to discuss the item at the Nov. 1 meeting, but the issue was pushed back after Wal-Mart representatives asked to temporarily postpone the second vote.
The store is planned to be built near the Parker-McGill car dealership on Highway 12, but depends on the tax rebates. The county previously approved allotting 50 percent of all ad valorem taxes in the proposed district over the course of 15 years.
On Oct. 4, aldermen denied creating a tax increment financing district for the store to build a connecting intersection and traffic signal to Highway 12. The previous agreement failed by a vote of 3 to 4, with Ward 3 Alderman David Little, Walker, Ward 6 Alderman Roy A. Perkins and Ward 7 Alderman Henry Vaughn against the plan.
The revised TIF plan calls on the city to provide 50 percent of ad valorem property tax revenues and 100 percent of generated sales tax revenues in the proposed district on Highway 12 East. The pledges would secure $1.35 million in TIF funds over 15 years.
Wal-Mart representatives said the agreement was essential in securing the store and gas station. At the Oct. 4 meeting, Sugg told aldermen Walmart would need $900,000 in rebates to build the road.
Once finished, the project could result in $21,164 in annual property tax revenue for the city, $48,664 for the county and $64,100 for the Oktibbeha-Starkville school district. The project could result in $259,000 annual sales tax rebates, according to the plan. Annual estimated sales were previously at around $20 million.
TIF agreements fund infrastructure improvements for future developments, and the city has used the option to fund various projects over the years including the Middleton Court and Cotton Mill Marketplace shopping centers, The Mill at MSU, Parker-McGill dealership and the Academy Sports project.