Starkville Considering Scaling Back Annexation Ambitions

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – The city of Starkville is heading back to the drawing board on an annexation plan.

The topic was discussed in Tuesday night’s board of aldermen meeting.

The board voted to have a search firm take another look at the numbers, and possibly decrease the proposed annexation area.

City leaders talked about what it takes to make a good annexation and the things it could bring to Starkville.

They also talked about different areas they thought would be good to bring into the city.

The mayor says the board is trying to find a spot everyone could be comfortable with and agree on.

There’s a magic number retailers look for when they’re choosing an area to move into.

Mayor Lynn Spruill believes that number is a population between 28,000 and 30,000.

Right now, Starkville’s population is at 25,000.

Spruill believes annexation would bump them up to that magic number.

“I have always thought Starkville’s growth is important, and I see us growing without being able to have a say so in some of the things that are developing. So I think this annexation process is actually getting a little bit behind. I think we should’ve done it earlier, so that we could’ve controlled some of the development that we’ve had in town or had in the area.”

The Highway 182 corridor is an area Starkville would like to bring into the city limits.

Spruill says that’s where Starkville’s growth has been in the last ten years.

Businesses, homes, and some apartments all sit out in this area.

“I think the residents who would be annexed would get a lot of benefit from having number one, the best police department in the state, the best fire department in the state. Those are the kind of city services that come from that. It also gives them an opportunity to have a say in government. For example, they get to vote if they come into the city.”

Vice Mayor Roy A. Perkins says some residents don’t see it that way.

He thinks the city should listen to their concerns.

“I heard those remarks and comments and I am a strong believer in family values and property values because if I chose to live in the county initially and not in the city, then I do not want governmental regulations telling me where I need to live.”

Perkins says he believes the city needs to focus its attention on areas that are already in the city limits.

“There are areas in the city that as of October 3, 2018, and or annexed into the city in 1998, that do not have all of the city services. There are some roads that are still rock roads as we sit here, with this interview. There are some places that have not received sewer.”

The board has not voted on the annexation matter at this time.