STAR — Armed with the results of a feasibility study, leaders of this Rankin County community are ready to see it become a municipality.
But some of its 1,800 residents are not. At a meeting that drew about 130 people Thursday at Star Baptist Church, both sides weighed in on the matter of incorporation.
Residents, like Rachel Cowling, want to have a say at the local level.
“It bothers me that people in Brandon, Jackson and Washington, D.C., have a say,” Cowling said. “Don’t say ‘no’ too quickly.”
“The people of the Reservoir could care less what happens on Myers Road,” the Myers Road-area resident said.
Those opposed say they fear the higher taxes that come with a municipality.
The study’s proposed budget — although strictly hypothetical now – has the millage rate set at 24 mills.
Residents complain it’s higher than Florence’s 20.9 mills. “What’s wrong with what we have now?” LaRan Kilpatrick asked.
Meanwhile, community leaders are starting to collect signatures for Star — where country music star Faith Hill was raised — to become a municipality. Sixty signatures were gathered Thursday night.
Star’s move for incorporation comes as Byram, a city of 7,000 residents in southern Hinds County, is getting established after years of fighting with Jackson for the right to be independent.
Byram became Mississippi’s 297th municipality in June after the Mississippi Supreme Court earlier this year upheld a lower court ruling allowing Byram to incorporate about 20 square miles and Jackson to annex nearly four square miles to its south.
No known city or county opposition has emerged to Star’s incorporation push. If incorporated, Star would be Rankin’s eighth municipality.
Chris Watson, an urban planner, of Oxford-based Bridge & Watson, said the main reason for incorporation is for a town to “control its own destiny.” “
You form your own laws, zoning laws, speed limits,” said Watson, who answered questions at Thursday night’s meeting.
Members of the Star Civic Improvement League began previewing the possibility of incorporation in 2005.
Members of the group said they wanted to revamp the community’s ball field, but later realized they weren’t eligible for grant assistance because the community doesn’t own the field, said the league’s president, Van Dyess.
That’s when they decided to do a study. Incorporation “personalizes your individual community,” said District 1 Supervisor Jared Morrison, who tried to help the community get grants last year.
The results of the study show the area feasibly can become a city, Watson said.
Included in the study are options for city services, which include police, court and public works departments as well as a city clerk and elected officials, he said.
The study cost $10,000-$15,000, and legal fees are expected to be $25,000-$30,000.
Members of the league have raised $11,000 and plan to keep fundraising. Dyess said he expects the petition process to be a long one, and the civic league is likely to acquire signatures through a door-to-door campaign.
Watson said he’s still uncertain how many signatures it will take to make the case for incorporation.
Supporters plan to start examining the voter rolls to find out, he said. Star leaders also have considered the need for incorporation to preserve its identity. Florence is growing southward, including a 250-acre annexation earlier this year.
If the community is incorporated, Mike Little, vice president of the civic league, would be mayor and Randy Cowling, James Enochs, Jim Watkins, Gene Purser and Dora Jean Whatley would be aldermen. The positions would be unpaid until the 2013 elections, when residents can vote on those officials.
The Clarion-Ledger, A1, 8/7/09
0 responses so far ↓
There are no comments yet...Kick things off by filling out the form below.