Construction Begins on Industrial Park Road, Site Prep
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District Five Supervisor Gaylon Gray and Board President Cayce Washington review a map of the proposed work as Economic Development Director Kagan Coughlin addresses county officials during Monday’s meeting.
WATER VALLEY – Economic Development Director Kagan Coughlin reported Monday that work has started on the new access road and industrial site at the W.C. Gardiner Industrial Park. Coughlin updated supervisors during the board’s “first Monday” meeting at the Water Valley courthouse on Oct. 6, noting the project has been in the works for more than two years.
“This project has taken much longer than we thought,” Coughlin said. “We had to go through the environmental review process twice—once for the state funding and again after the federal funds were added.”
The City of Water Valley, which owns the industrial park, awarded the construction contract in August to Pace Excavating of West Point. The company submitted the low bid at $1.18 million, almost $200,000 less than the next lowest bidder. The savings allowed additional work at the industrial park, including paving a new tractor-trailer cul-de-sac at the back of the park and installing a new entrance sign on Highway 7, where the road will begin.
The new connector road from Hwy. 7, about one-third of a mile long, will tie into the existing road that serves the park and runs from Hwy. 32. The new road is designed to handle 18-wheeler traffic and improve access for existing and future tenants—an essential step in attracting new industry to the site, according to Coughlin.
When the work is finished, Coughlin said the site will be shovel-ready for a factory up to 300,000 square feet, with cleared, graded land and utility infrastructure already in place.
Coughlin also recalled his marching orders from supervisors when he was hired as the county’s Economic Development District executive director.
“Two and a half years ago, you told me we need to grow our tax rolls. This is one of the ways, and this will bring jobs here,” Coughlin said.
“We are still saying that today, too,” Harris emphasized. “We need new investment,” Harris added.
Coughlin reminded county officials that the project started in 2023 with a $1 million price tag, and continued to grow with inflation and project changes that drove up estimated costs.
The total $1.8 million funding package put together by Coughlin was pulled from multiple sources, including the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Mississippi Development Authority, Delta Regional Authority, and Appalachian Regional Commission. Both the City of Water Valley and the Yalobusha County Board of Supervisors each contributed $75,000 in matching funds.
Coughlin said one of the biggest boosts came from TVA, which awarded $700,000 toward the project after initially being asked for $500,000. That allocation—the last piece of funding needed—was approved after TVA executives visited the site by helicopter last summer to review the location.
“After they came here and saw the site, they liked it because Highway 7 is the main artery up to Marshall County and back south,” Coughlin said. “We applied for $500,000, and they awarded us $700,000. I’ve never seen that happen before.”
