The Starkville aldermen passed the clean-up of the Upper Crossing property during their Tuesday meeting. Aldermen opened a public hearing on property in the Upper Crossing subdivision. The board previously declared the property a nuisance. Rutledge read a proposal he drafted to clean up the property. The mayor’s proposal called for hiring a contractor for all the necessary work and for the city to take over “perpetual care.”
According to the proposal, the city and the developer would share the initial clean-up cost of over $7,000, which would include mowing the property, removing any garbage and seeding new grass to curtail runoff. Rutledge said the developer agreed with the proposal.
The mayor said the property developer deeded the land to the city in 1998. Interim City attorney Ben Hilbun said the action was illegal and that the city could file a quitclaim deed to reverse the action.
The proposal touched off debate between aldermen and city engineer Bill Webb. Webb said the property is a utility easement and has important connection equipment for water, electricity, telephone and cable television service. Webb said, “…city workers need to have access to that area. ”
“I think we’re setting a bad precedent accepting this. The builder created it and it should be set on their doorstep,” Alderman at Large Vic Zitta said.
Webb said the city has similar situations in other areas, including the Timber Cove subdivision. “There is something to be said to owning (the easements). (Property owners) tend to build on them.”
Rutledge told the board to save their blame until the property developer could be present to give his side of the story. Rutledge then called for a vote on his proposal. The measure passed on a 6-1 vote with Zitta casting the lone “no” vote.
The board then devoted a large portion of the meeting to hearing citizen complaints and official reports all having to do with physical improvements to areas all over the city.
Rutledge reported that the city is still working to acquire the right of way to expand the intersection of Spring Street and Mississippi Highway 12. He said the city needs to wait on the outcome of work by the Mississippi Department of Transportation before any more land can be purchased.
Virginia Holtcamp of the Starkville Public Library and Dr. Bob Wolverton, president of the library’s board of directors then appeared before the board. They presented a request that the city purchase the now abandoned Chamber of Commerce building next to the library, appraised at $160,000.
“As the city grows, so must our library grow,” Wolverton said. “We’re bursting at the seams.”
Ward 3 Alderman P.C. McLaurin and Zitta disagreed on the purchase of the building. McLaurin said it would be “farsighted to proceed with this request at this time,” and Zitta said he thought “it would be to our advantage to purchase it.
Rutledge said he would put the matter on the agenda for a future board meeting.
The board heard from Jimmy Flemming and Brother William Ware with Peter’s Rock Temple COGIC. The two asked aldermen to consider repairs to a drainage ditch near the church building.
“It’s a large, open ditch,” Flemming said. “It smells bad and is a mosquito breeding ground.”
Rutledge asked Webb to take the matter under consideration and come up with a cost analysis and plans for the requested repairs.
Aldermen appointed a 24-person board to take many of the requests and plans made during the meeting and turn them into a comprehensive development plan for the city. That board will consider the feasibility of each of those projects in addition to other current projects and unfinished projects from the city’s 1994 plan.
In other business, the board heard from Starkville Fire Chief William Grantham on a new garden to memorialize the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in front of Starkville’s fire station one. Grantham said an eternal flame will be part of the Starkville Victory Garden and that the fire department and Keep America Beautiful are currently soliciting donations for the project. Plans call for the garden to be funded entirely by donations.
The board’s next meeting is set for Nov. 19 at 5:30 p.m. in the city hall courtroom.