Starkville econ park dropped

The Golden Triangle Development LINK is no longer considering a 326-acre Innovative District site in Starkville, Miss., for an industrial park because it may have been home to Native Americans more than 500 years ago. The proposed $10 million industrial park site also would cost an additional $2 million and 18 months of work before it could be made shovel-ready for investments. No physical evidence of Native American artifacts has yet to be found, but evidence suggests the possibility, says LINK CEO Joe Max Higgins. The Innovation District was LINK's attempt at making Oktibbeha County a viable economic development contender. LINK officials spent March 24 informing officials involved of the increasing cost estimates. "The environmental risks … have rendered continued efforts to develop it imprudent,” said Starkville Mayor Parker Wiseman, but that the city would work with LINK to start over and find a solution. "It was a damn good site, though," Higgins said. (Source: Columbus Dispatch 03/24/15) Central Mississippi Note: A 2014 report by the Florida-based economic research firm POLICOM Corp. advised LINK to invest in an advanced manufacturing park independent of Mississippi State University's control. Separating from MSU would have allowed the county’s development group to control the land and the negate the need for State College Board approval for development deals. ... In a sidebar about the state College Board: Legislative proposals to break up the board amid anger over the group's ousting of Ole Miss Chancellor Dan Jones hit the Mississippi Senate and House floors March 25, but needs two-thirds vote to pass. Both proposals would require each state university to have its own board of trustees; and turn the College Board into a "board of governors" still responsible for statewide oversight but no longer in control of individual university decisions.