CLAY COUNTY STILL SEEING SOME GROWTH AMIDST PANDEMIC
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, West Point and Clay County saw its tourism tax revenue decline for a couple of months. Some events that are mainstays in Clay County have been postponed to 2021, such as the Prairie Arts Festival and the Black Prairie Blues festival that is scheduled around Labor Day. Both are huge tourism tax generators and huge economic impacts. Despite the postponements, tourism tax revenues have finally started to level off, according to West Point Growth Alliance Director Lisa Klutts. In some areas around the county, there still has been growth, including a couple of new restaurants on Highway-45 Alternate.
BUSINESS UPDATES
McAlister’s Deli opened on Highway-45 Alternate in July and Klutts said McAllister’s has been a huge presence on the Highway, not only for local residents but for people traveling through the north part of the start to the coast. Business could also pick up if spectators stop in West Point before going to Mississippi State football games this fall.
Meanwhile, Jack’s also opened on Highway-45 Alternate. The fast food restaurant hasn’t been in the community long, as it made its grand opening on August 19.
While some retail stores have struggled, others have found ways to offer better service to its customers. Klutts said in the last few months some of Clay County’s retail stores shut down temporarily, but some businesses used that time to reinvent themselves or sell things in a different way. Klutts said it’s been a time of creativity in how retailers do business.
In addition, Peco Foods could provide 300 jobs by 2022 once the addition of a par-fry facility is complete. The Peco Foods chicken processing plant is still new to the Golden Triangle, as construction began in 2018 and full operations started in June 2019. The $40 million investment included $3 million in state funding.
ROAD WORK
The Clay County Board of Supervisors decided in June to authorize issuing a $500,000 road and bridge bond to be used for repairs in District 3. The county will repay the debt over a maximum term of 15 years.
District 3 Supervisor R.B. Davis said his top street priorities for road work with the allotted funds were Mac Pate and Palestine roads, but he also hoped to see improvements on Old Highway 10, Gates Road and Joe Myers Road. While he said his roads are in dire need of repairs, he acknowledged the $500,000 likely wouldn't cover all construction needed.
Clay County operates differently than others in the Golden Triangle, as the county is organized using a beat system instead of a unit system. Under a unit system, the county works as its own entity with a county administrator and a road manager that oversees all the roads in that county. They work under the guidance of the board of supervisors and county engineer to ensure all the roads are maintained. With the beat system, each supervisor is individually responsible for working with the county engineer to ensure the roads and bridges of the district they represent are maintained.
District 3, the lone recipient of the $500,000 road and bridge bond in June, had a 20-year outstanding bond totaling $500,000 issued in 2000 that was paid off on August 1, Clay County Chancery Clerk Amy Berry said.
Each of the county's other districts has one outstanding bond out for $500,000, with the exception of District 4, which has two outstanding $500,000 bonds dating back to 2008 and 2013.
In May, the West Point Board of Selectmen authorized issuing $2.25 million in general obligation bonds to improve and pave streets. The city will repay the debt semi-annually over a maximum of 15 years. Each of the board’s five selectmen turned in their highest priorities of roads that need work done to West Point mayor Robbie Robinson in June. Ward 5 selectman Jasper Pittman said the funds would be distributed equally among the five wards. Robinson pointed to West Point's Main and Broad streets as the areas most in need of repairs.
This will be the city's second bond used for road construction in the last three years and the third outstanding bond overall. Robinson said in 2017 the city borrowed $1.4 million for street paving, a bond that also has a life of 15 years. The 2017 bond stretched across roughly eight miles in city limits.
MUSEUM UPDATE
Plans for the upcoming Black Prairie Blues Museum are still moving along, albeit slowly, Klutts said. Discussions are being had with museum’s designers, Museum Arts based in Texas, about conceptual plans. Klutts said the museum is at the point where it needs to raise money to take the project to the next phase. The budget for the project was $175,000 and $20,000 was raised at a fundraiser last October, but any future fundraisers are on hold at the moment. A timetable for an opening is unknown to this point. When completed, Clay County residents will have an opportunity to see an interactive museum featuring the lives and music of musicians from Mississippi’s Black Prairie.
STORY BY GARRICK HODGE
PHOTOS BY CLAIRE HASSLER & ANTRANIK TAVITIAN
