McComb Mayor Whitney Rawlings gave a mostly positive account of his first four years in office and noted other brights spots on the horizon for the city during a speech Tuesday to the McComb Lions Club.
“Voters seem to approve of the job we are doing,” said Rawlings in his second term as mayor. “Much has yet to be done, but we’ve accomplished a lot so far for the city.”
The only negative point in the mayor’s speech came at the beginning, when he expressed disappointment in the city’s failure to get enough residents to sign up for fiber optic Internet service through C Spire.
McComb was one of several pilot cities in Mississippi that had been under consideration for the service.
“It’s a great disappointment we were unable to bring this new technology to the city,” Rawlings said.
The mayor mentioned a flurry of economic development activity that is happening under his watch, such as the imminent construction of a high-end assisted living facility and a movie theater.
Additionally, cleared out lots next to Golden Corral, along Presley Boulevard and along Interstate 55 serve as an indicator that more developments are on the way.
Some of these projects are related to the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale oil play and are dependant on higher oil prices, which may cause some of the developments to lag, but he expects the price of oil to come back up.
Rawlings said the city’s comprehensive plan, which is designed to chart long-term growth, will be finished by September. A draft of the plan depended heavily on the success of the oil play.
Also tied to the TMS is the city’s proposed annexation of 109 acres of land at the Gateway Industrial Park, which is being developed off wardlaw Road. The city plans to provide wastewater treatment services to the new industrial park. Rawlings noted that he and Magnolia Mayor Anthony Witherspoon have been discussing Magnolia’s use of the wastewater treatment facility in the near future. Adding Magnolia as a water customer would help McComb pay off its debt on the $34 million facility.
Rawlings also noted other projects, including a downtown streetscaping project that is under way and plans to enhance the city’s railroad depot museum.
And he said motel tax revenues are up 43 percent, and January’s sales tax receipts were the highest since 2009.
