Tuesday, January 5, 2021

Weak GC restoration projects

Only two of the six total projects submitted by the Pearl River County Board of Supervisors and City of Picayune, for funding from the Gulf Coast Restoration Fund, scored higher than a 10 - both were submitted by the Board of Supervisors. Of the 77 state-wide projects submitted by various entities, only 14 scored higher than a 10 out of a possible 40 points. Projects submitted by the board included improvements to Ridge Road to connect it to Highway 607, creation of hangar space at the Poplarville Airport through a partnership with Pearl River Community College to establish a flight aviation school and the purchase and development of more than 300 acres in Carriere near Interstate 59 to create a mixed-use industrial area called Horizon Business Park. The Ridge Road project received a score of 1. The aviation school project received a 13. Horizon Business Park got a 10, according to the Mississippi Development Agency. The three Picayune projects - a roundabout at the entrance of the shopping center along Ridge Road, renovations to Friendship Park, and construction of a frontage road along East Jerusalem Road to create access to property owned by Resurrection Life Church for the proposed creation of a commercial area. The Ridge Road and Friendship Park projects each scored a 2; the East Jerusalem project scored a 1. (Source: Picayune Item 01/05/21) Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport’s ready-site mitigation project scored a 24; Hancock County Port and Harbor Commission’s assault landing ship project scored a 22; and the Pearl River Community College-Hancock Aviation Aerospace Workforce Academy project scored a 20.  (Source: MDA website 2021)

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