After years of community-wide debate over the location of Starkville’s justice complex, the Board of Aldermen voted unanimously April 20 to build the police and court facilities in separate facilities downtown.
“I’m really excited for the community because this has taken so many years, and to see the light at the end of the tunnel is just something I’m really happy for the community about,” Ward 5 Alderman Matt Cox said.
A two-story police facility will be located on the southeast corner of Jackson and Lampkin streets at the former location of the Millsaps auto dealership, while a court building will be built at the corner of Jefferson and Lafayette streets.
“I think we went through a comprehensive evaluation and review process, and we selected two sites that meet the needs for the police and the courts for today as well as for 20 plus years of growth,” Cox said. “They’re obviously very centrally located in the heart of our community.”
Ward 3 Alderman P.C. McLaurin said the location had become secondary to himself and Ward 1 Alderman Sumner Davis, who made the motion to locate the facility downtown.
“We decided that the most important thing was fulfilling the need for the facility, and the location became in our opinion secondary.”
Two aldermen, Ward 6 Alderman Roy Perkins and Ward 7 Alderman Janette Self, were absent at the April 20 meeting due to personal or family health issues.
McLaurin said it was his impression that the two would not have voted for the motion to locate the complex downtown.
“My personal preference would have been to wait, but again, the overriding concern for me had become to construct this much-needed facility, and site or location has become at least in my mind secondary.”
Cox said he believed the board members present considered the opinions of Perkins and Self when making their decision. “I know [Perkins] well enough that he wants to see progress for our community, and while I know he wishes he could be there and he will be there as soon as he’s well enough to be there, I know he wants us to move forward.”
The board called the April 20 meeting, which was a special call meeting, because it thought all the members could be present, he said.
The next step in the process is authorizing Mayor Dan Camp to continue in the purchase process, including ordering an appraisal in accordance with state law, which Camp will then present to the board, Cox said.
After that, the board must come up with funding for the project.
The board is “putting everything on the table and considering as many options as there are out there,” Cox said, because the original loan for the complex was for $5.5 million and the project is now estimated to cost $8.2 million due to rising costs and other factors.
One option for this is a tax increment financing bond, which would allow the city to borrow money based on expected future revenue from a specific part of the city, Cox said.
The police and court facilities currently occupy cramped quarters in a shared building on Lampkin Street. Police Chief David Lindley told the Starkville Daily News that he appreciated the board’s action.
“I am very pleased that the board has taken the next step in the process of acquiring a new facility for our police department and court, and I appreciate all the support shown by the mayor, Board of Aldermen and the public in continuing to work toward the completion of this project,” Lindley said.