Preparing for growth in Clay County

With the arrival of Yokohama and Peco Foods plants over the last few years, Clay County has seen increased investment in infrastructure and community resources, from road improvement and water plant refurbishment projects to the expansion of businesses to the opening of $4 million court complex on Main Street in West Point’s downtown. The community has also been home to major events, hosting a crowd of thousands at Old Waverly Golf Course in August for the U.S. Women’s Amateur Golf Tournament.

A new courthouse

The new court complex on Main Street in downtown West Point is open for business — or, in this case, justice.

Clay County officials cut the ribbon on the new complex on Aug. 29, and employees in the county’s circuit and justice courts began moving their equipment into the building over the next weeks. Circuit court and the circuit clerk’s office opened in time for October’s circuit court term, a few weeks ahead of November’s state and county elections.

The complex houses both circuit court and justice court offices, meeting space and secure holding areas. It also comes equipped with three courtrooms, two with jury booths — a marked improvement from the courthouse on Court Street where circuit judges had access to only one courtroom. The courthouse was also home to the chancery court and clerk’s offices, youth court and the tax assessor’s office, meaning parking was difficult during circuit court sessions when there were so many people in the building that it became a safety hazard.

The complex is located in the former Pass-It-On building on Main Street. The county purchased the building from Community Counseling Services for $450,000 and financed about $4 million for the building’s purchase, construction, architect fees and other expenses. The deal is for 20 years, but county officials plan to pay it off within 15 years.

West Churchill Road project

Forty employees are now at work at Peco Foods’ freezer on West Churchill Road off Highway 45 South. The company bought the former Bryan Foods freezer in 2018 to convert into a chicken processing facility. Peco is in the process of building a 150,000 square foot par fry facility on the property, to produce chicken nuggets. The fry facility will help provide the 300 jobs the company promised when it located in West Point. The facility should be completed around June 2020, and those employees will likely be hired within the next five years, plant manager Jordan Townsend said.

The jobs will pay between $15-17 per hour, on average, Townsend added.

“We’re really excited,” he said about the facility. “...We’re looking forward to bringing more jobs to West Point.”

With the arrival of Peco, the city of West Point and Clay County are partnering on a nearly $1 million road project to resurface West Churchill Road. The stretch of road slated for paving is about a mile long and runs between the Peco Foods plant and Prestage Farms and is currently pitted with potholes. Calvert-Spradling Engineers in West Point will begin construction on the road in early 2020, said West Point Mayor Robbie Robinson.

Mississippi Department of Transportation will contribute $500,000 for the project, which will also receive a $240,000 Appalachian Regional Commission grant and a $150,000 Small Municipalities grant. The rest of the funding will come from the city and county, Robinson said.

Between Prestage Farms, the new Peco Foods facility and other businesses in the area, the new road will affect about 800 jobs, said Robinson.

Water plant refurbishing project

The city of West Point also signed a $500,000 contract with Professional Application Services Inc. out of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to refurbish the city’s north water plant.

Robinson said the city is paying for the work with money that had been set aside for the project over the years.

Work began in July and is expected to be completed in mid-November. Robinson said when the plant is working at full capacity, it produces 4 million gallons of water per day, far more than the city needs. However it has been 17 years since the plant was worked on.

While construction is underway, Robinson said, the city’s south plant is producing all the city’s water — 3 million gallons per day, which Robinson said is still more than the city needs.

Recreation and events

Mossy Oak Golf Club, which opened in September 2016, will finish its last major construction project by the end of the year in the form of an 8,700 square foot clubhouse between the ninth and 18th holes.

The public golf club, a “sister course” to Old Waverly, which in August hosted the U.S. Women’s Amateur, already boasts five four-bedroom cottages, said Director of Marketing Gary Billington.

Construction on the clubhouse began in late 2018. The finished structure will include a restaurant and bar, with a back porch overlooking the course.

“It’ll be exciting to get that clubhouse open, really complete the course for us and be ready to go going forward into 2020 with it,” Billington said.

Boys and Girls Club of the Golden Triangle also hopes to make progress on fundraising for a new clubhouse in West Point, with various fundraisers The benefit features live bands State of Shade, Bonfire Boys and Artistik, along with food and brew vendors. Director Nadia Colom said she hopes to raise at least $8,000 in the fundraiser.

A few years ago, West Point hosted its first Makin’ Hay Day, a fall farmers market featuring live music, a hay ride, pumpkin vendors and other family-friendly fall activities. The event has now become a tradition in West Point, held on the first or second weekend of October.

Story by Isabelle Altman

Photos by Jennifer Mosbrucker