A sewer upgrade that will put McComb’s state borrowing for large-scale infrastructure beyond the $40 million mark, the reconfiguration of Park Drive as a major traffic artery, streamlining the city payroll and updates on a movie theater and street work were among the topics city officials discussed at the McComb Exchange Club last week.
McComb officials are applying for a $6.5 million state loan to put toward a major upgrade of the sewage infrastructure on the west side of town, saying it will help meet the needs of new development taking place and prime that part of town for further growth.
Interim city administrator Joseph Parker outlined the so-called Northwest Interceptor project in a wide-ranging discussion of city issues during Thursday’s meeting.
“As you look at some of the big projects we have in place, a big one for economic development is the Northwest Interceptor,” Parker said. “It’s a big sewer line that runs basically from Park Drive and this area all the way down to our lagoon. The interceptor receives all of the waste from this whole western side of McComb, across the interstate, all the way back up to the hospital and up and down Delaware (Avenue).”
Parker said the city is applying for a State Revolving Fund loan through the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality to pay for the work. That’s the same funding source the city used to pay for its $34 million wastewater treatment plant.
He said both of those loans are being repaid through water bills, which he acknowledged has caused some residents to grouse about how theirs rose.
“Well, it did,” he said. “We also have a $34 million-plus wastewater plant that we have to pay for on top of the fact that we have all of these other projects around town.”
He said recent construction such as The Claiborne assisted living center and Riverpark Apartments are part of the need for the interceptor project, and the vast clearings of land ready for other development are the other part.
“There’s a lot of new development on that side of town that requires this up-sizing,” Parker said. “It’s necessary for growth in McComb. As businesses move in here, that’s one of the things they’re going to look at is infrastructure improvements.”
While paying attention to what’s beneath the streets, Parker said he knows the city’s numerous pockmarked roads themselves cause a lot of frustration.
He noted that the city has budgeted $500,000 for overlay this budget year — twice as much as what was spent in FY 2016.
“The mayor’s been very proud of the idea of putting more money into overlay,” Parker said.
But that doesn’t mean the city can ignore its water and sewer infrastructure for the sake of repaving streets, he said.
“The stuff underneath the ground is just as expensive, if not more,” Parker said.
He said much of the existing infrastructure is old clay pipe that needs replacing, “and there’s lots of it.”
Parklane Road work could drive the future
In one street-related matter, both Parker and Mayor Whitney Rawlings touched on plans to improve Parklane Road.
“Parklane Road has become a highly traveled corridor with lots of investment,” Rawlings said.
He envisions expanding the two-lane road, which passes by subdivisions, three large apartment complexes, the city’s largest fire station and Parklane Academy, into a three-lane road with curbs, gutters and a sidewalk.
“We invest in that piece of infrastructure, you increase property values along that corridor,” Rawlings said.
Work along Parklane Road hasn’t been received well by all city officials, with Selectmen Donovan Hill and Albert Eubanks heaping criticism on the project and accusing the city of forsaking poorer parts of town for that particular area.
But the mayor hopes to see Parklane Road eventually make up the south end of a high-density north-south corridor, parallelling Interstate 55 to the east, possibly joining with either Anna Drive or Hart Road.
“Our goal is to start at Presley (Boulevard) and end up at Delaware (Avenue),” he said.
Rawlings said some $975,000 in state bond funds and other city money could take care of about a third of the Parklane Road improvements.
Rerouting Parklane Road so that it joins with other existing roads, however, seems like a project that is a long way off, as it would require a lot of engineering, not to mention securing easements from property owners.
But what about the theater?
Asked about plans for the new theater that’s being built at the McComb Crossing development off Presley Boulevard, Parker said the developers are “tweaking their plans” after receiving bids for the work.
“I know it’s still a go,” he said. “I know the original time frame they were hoping, maybe Christmas this year, that’s being pushed back.”
Rawlings said the city recently wrote a letter of support for the developer’s attempts to seek new markets tax credits for the theater.
“He’s getting close,” Rawlings said.
Personnel expenses trimmed
Parker said the city is streamlining its finances by doing more with fewer positions, some of which are not being filled after they become vacant.
“We’re not looking to lose positions necessarily, but some fade away in retirement, become vacant. We’re looking to become a little more efficient, drive this machine down the road with a little less dollars,” he said, adding that remaining employees have incentives to take on the extra work with a recent 3 percent pay raise. “... We’ve had a positive and tremendous response from the folks. Everybody is picking up pace and hopefully you have not noticed a lack of services.”
Parker said the city also is outsourcing its payroll work and saving even more on personnel.
Lagniappe
Turning to other subjects, Rawlings addressed comments about recent changes to the Delaware Avenue-Anna Drive intersection after one club member said new redlights like those at all intersections would enhance the streetscape. He said he’s trying to find money to commission a $90,000 study by Neel-Shaffer Engineering to chart out improvements along the busy street.
Parker, who also is part-time director of the Scenic Rivers Development Alliance, said the organization gives the area a regional brand name, just as other areas of the state have.
