GROWTH IN NOXUBEE COUNTY
FROM ROAD AND BRIDGE PROJECTS TO FIBER OPTIC CABLE, INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS COULD BE COMING TO THIS AGRICULTURAL COMMUNITY
Infrastructure and internet are on the horizon for rural Noxubee County. As officials search for funds for road and bridge projects, 4-County Electric Power Association is making plans to expand broad internet for the county’s small, primarily agricultural communities and local catfish processing plant Superior Catfish continues its multi-million dollar expansion.
REPAIRS TO ROADS AND BRIDGES
Noxubee County has completed a number of bridge and road projects thanks in part to Emergency Road and Bridge Replacement funds authorized by the Mississippi Legislature and divided among counties in need of infrastructure repairs.
The county replaced three separate bridges on Jack Spann Road south of Highway 14, county engineer Steve Miller said. Laurel-based Tanner Construction completed the bulk of the $1.7 million project by August. The remainder of ERBR funds - which for Noxubee County were $2.9 million total - will go to replacing a bridge on Butler Road. Miller said he has not done a final estimate on the cost yet, but hopes the county will be able to begin advertising bids this fall for construction in 2021.
The county is also eyeing a bridge replacement project on Hopewell Road, which Miller said could cost about $170,000 in Local System Bridge Project money from the Legislature. County supervisors are slated to advertise and award the bid for that project this fall.
County officials are also awaiting state approval for a $2.34 million countywide road repair project, but Miller said the status of the project is “fluid” and depends on whether the county receives funding from State Aid Road Construction.
The city of Macon is also applying for $400,000 in state aid funds to replace a bridge on Nate Wayne Drive, Mayor Bob Boykin said. The bridge was washed out in a storm a couple of years ago, and the city has had to close part of the road. Boykin says he hopes to hear by the end of the year whether the city will receive the money.
North of Macon, the town of Brooksville received a $150,000 Small Municipalities grant to pave a loop of road through downtown, Mayor David Boswell said. The project will repair about 7/10 of a mile of road that loops from Main Street to Post Office Street to Depot Street, and Boswell expects it to only take a couple of weeks.
BROADBAND PROJECT
More internet options could also be on the way to Noxubee County. The rural parts of the county near Brooksville in District 5 will be one of the sites where 4-County Electric Power Association plans to use CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act funds to lay fiber optic cables. The Legislature earlier this year approved $65 million in CARES funding to aid electric cooperatives in providing broadband to rural communities. 4-County received $6 million from the funding and is combining that with $7 million of their own money to lay just under 500 miles of fiber optic cable in rural parts of Noxubee, Clay and Choctaw counties, though officials do not yet know how much of that will be in Noxubee County alone.
Public relations and marketing manager Jon Turner said the co-op is pleased that their first foray into broadband will serve the communities with the least internet access, rather than focusing on areas that already have options. While the project is still in its early stages, Turner said the goal is for work to begin this fall and be completed within a year.
Boswell and District 5 Supervisor Bruce Brooks said they are excited at the prospect of constituents in their most rural communities receiving internet, especially as the COVID-19 pandemic is highlighting the need for children to have access to virtual learning options. Turner added the project will also benefit local farmers, whose agricultural lifestyle is becoming more and more technical.
EXPANDING BUSINESSES, RELOCATING MONUMENTS
Macon catfish processing plant Superior Catfish, which serves about 65 local farmers, is about a year into completion of its $17 million expansion, which will nearly double the size of the facility and is expected to add 25 jobs. The new building will house the plant’s production facility and is slated for completion in 2021.
Macon is also getting upgrades in local medical facilities and clinics, Boykin said, including a new office from Greater Meridian Medical Clinic on Miller’s Chapel Road off Highway 14. Construction just began on the project.
Local officials also have plans in the works to move two Confederate monuments - one across from the mayor’s office in Brooksville and one in front of the Noxubee County Courthouse in downtown Macon - to private property, as part of a nationwide movement to remove controversial statues. Brooks said the statue in front of the courthouse will likely be relocated to the city cemetery off Highway 14, though supervisors do not yet know when.
For both statues, private individuals have offered to shoulder the costs of relocation.
STORY BY ISABELLE ALTMAN
PHOTOS BY ANTRANIK TAVITIAN
