Coughlin Provides Overview Of City Projects Underway During Monthly Alderman Meeting
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Yalobusha County Economic Development District Executive Director Kagan Coughlin (standing) provided an overview of city projects he is working on during the March 5 city meeting.
WATER VALLEY – Yalobusha County Economic Development Executive Director Kagan Coughlin provided updates about ongoing work on multiple city projects during the monthly meeting of the Water Valley Board of Aldermen on March 5.
“I am here to support whatever Water Valley is doing… whatever happens in Water Valley is good is for the economy here and the county at-large,” Coughlin explained about his role as the county’s economic development director.
The first project Coughlin discussed was funding for a new access road for the city-owned W.C. Gardiner Industrial Park that will cost $1.16 million.
Funding for the road includes $250,000 from the Mississippi Development Authority’s Site Grant Program, $325,000 from Delta Regional Authority, $325,000 from the Appalachian Regional Commission and $100,000 from the State of Mississippi. Yalobusha County supervisors also pledged $75,000 for the project, as did the City of Water Valley.
“We are within $12,000 of the total project,” Coughlin told aldermen. “We have applied for another grant with USDA that will cover that $12,000, if awarded, and enough to install a nice sign. But we are close enough that we can pull the trigger now.”
Coughlin said it will take a minimum of eight months for the preliminary engineering work to be completed.
“At some point we are going to be allowed to bid out the job,” he said.
The new road will be one-third of a mile long and come off Hwy. 7, connecting with the existing road that access the industrial park from Hwy. 32. Coughlin has stressed that it is critical to have a through road for 18-wheeler traffic for future growth in the industrial park.
“It has been wonderful to see everyone, federal agencies and the state, acknowledge that Water Valley is worth investing in, particularly for future growth in the industrial park,” Coughlin said.
Other activity in the city reported by Coughlin in the meeting includes:
• Delta Grind will break ground on a new building in the industrial park in the coming months.
“You remember in 2022 you sold three acres to Delta Grind. They have two years to start building to earn the discounts that were offered when they purchased it,” Coughlin said. “They are planning on breaking ground and several of our city folks are helping with the foundational work – water, sewer and utilities.”
Delta Grind is a family-run business that produces stone ground products including grits, corn meal, polenta and masa with ingredients that are sources from local farmers in north Mississippi.
• Work continues for a grant submitted last year for funding to build a small solar project inside the city under the USDA’s PACE program. The program allows a municipality that owns its electric department to build up to a one mega watt solar project.
“The way it is structured, the city does not own it and would not pay for it, but would be allowed to buy energy directly from the solar company that builds it. It would save the city between $30,000 and $50,000 per year for the next 25 years,” he said.
Coughlin said a pre-application was submitted last year to USDA.
“We have been invited to put in a full application. It is not an award, but it is a really good start. If this comes to city, we will have to find five acres,” he added.
Coughlin also said the city currently uses just under 15 mega-watts of electricity and the solar project would generate one megawatt. Under the current energy purchasing contract with the city’s electricity supplier, TVA, the city can supplement the power provided from TVA with up to one mega-watt of solar power.
• Work continues on the installation of a backup transformer that will provide power for the entire city if the main transformer in the city’s substation fails. Delta Regional Authority awarded a $367,524 grant to the city to fund installation of two 10-megawatt transformers to improvement system reliability and help create redundancy.
The backup transformer will be connected to power from TVEPA’s substation and be installed near Solero. If there is an outage at the city’s substation, the city can be temporarily powered by the backup transformers.
• Updated aldermen on progress on a project to transfer ownership of 5.63 acres to the City of Water Valley. The property is the previous site of the former high school. The State Board of Mental Health currently has possession of the property after it was transferred for possible construction of group homes almost two decades ago. The project did not materialize and the acreage remains unused.
“There are all sorts of better uses that would be good for the city,” Coughlin explained. “The next step is the legislators have to approve the transfer.”
Mayor Tommy Reynolds added that his former colleague, Representative Sam Creekmore IV, introduced House Bill 974 to authorize the Department of Finance and Administration to sell the property to the city. The bill was passed by the House of Representative on March 14 and continues through the legislative cycle.
“There is a lot of work ahead of all of us, but I really appreciate that every time I come to y’all and ask if I can try something, you said ‘yes’ and a lot of this is coming together,” Coughlin added in closing.
