Starkville aldermen will hear presentation from planners regarding the Highway 182 corridor redevelopment plan at Tuesday's meeting.
In June, the city hosted public meetings to allow area input on what the community would like to see happen to one of Starkville's oldest and busiest thoroughfares. Over the course of the meetings, residents and property owners gave planners from Farmer Morgan and city staff input on how to preserve, maintain and improve the corridor.
The firm laid out multiple ideas for improving the corridor in July: detailing prime areas for infill development, public green spaces, facade improvements, bike lane additions and pedestrian paths. The plans coincides with a marketing plan done by Mississippi State University and MSU professor Mike Breazeale.
At the meetings, residents suggested adding a grocery store, additional housing and a mix of restaurants and businesses to improve the area. Residents noted the need to improve walkability, landscaping, lighting and accessibility to parking in the area. At the final public input session, some residents questioned why planners excluded the northwest area of the corridor behind Henderson-Ward Stewart, near the Brickfire Project campus.
Community development staff confirmed earlier this week that planners believe the city could receive a large, multimillion dollar grant to fund infrastructure improvements in the area. Officials encouraged the city to apply for a Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant to secure a large sum of money—around $16 million—to improve the corridor, but the TIGER program is far more competitive than Transportation Alternative Program grants.
An economic overview presented by planners last month showed demand for convenience stores, retail and restaurants to complement existing businesses in the corridor. The city could allow modified zoning requirements to speed up redevelopment. The study profiled a 3.2 mile stretch of the business district, from roughly Highway 12 to Highway 25.
Other business
• Aldermen will also hear from Walter Conley, on the current selection process of the Starkville-Oktibbeha County school district superintendent.
• The board is set to finalize the $7 million bond for the impending industrial park to be located at the interchange of Highway 389 and Highway 82. According to GTR LINK CEO Joe Max Higgins, the city will open bids on its bond next month. The county will open bids on its $7 million industrial park bond on Monday. Zoning for the site will be completed Dec. 13, and development officials hope to ready the site for a transaction in February. Work is tentatively slated to begin early next year, and officials hope to market the site in 2018.
• The city will vote on creating an agreement between the municipality, the school district, the Department of Family Centered Programs and SOAR, an affiliate of the Create Foundation, to repair the J.L. King Center. A fundraising effort was launched on Nov. 26 to secure the $28,000 needed to fix the center's failing roof. Currently, over 28 businesses and community have pledged support to the project. To donate, visit http://bit.ly/2gEWsE8.