Lauderdale County supervisors on Monday moved forward with efforts to bring a new business to the area as they held a public hearing on plans to apply for a Mississippi Industry Incentive Financing Revolving Fund Loan.
Industry Incentive loans are administered through the Mississippi Development Authority and are specifically earmarked for incentivizing economic development. According to the notice the county was required to publish ahead of the hearing, the loan will be used for costs association with a new business that “utilizes hardware, software, technology, infrastructure and/or workforce, to stop, manage or manipulate digital data.”
Board Attorney Lee Thaggard said Monday’s hearing was to allow the public to weigh in on the county’s intention to apply for the loan. No funds have been borrowed yet, he said.
“The loan would be in the amount not to exceed $9 million dollars,” he said. “Again, we’ve got up to two years to apply for it, and the interest rate to pay it back is 4%.”
The county, however, may not need to pay back all of the borrowed funds on its own. Thaggard said there is an opportunity for the city of Meridian to partner with the county and help repay the money.
“Assuming that the county gets it, decides to get it, that the county and the city can join together and pay back that loan using funds that are derived from the project itself,” he said.
In other business, action to change a project adding a door to the new Lauderdale County Circuit Clerk’s office in the new Government Center is on hold for the next two weeks while the county waits for the paperwork to catch up with discussions.
In its Thursday work session, the Board of Supervisors heard from Jim Smith of LPK Architects about changing plans to add a door allowing residents to come into the office, which is a secure place to vote via absentee ballot.
Supervisors previously approved a $54,891 change order in August converting a secure hallway into public access and making use of the election commission’s office space. That option, however, did not meet the approval of the election commission, which was already struggling to find enough space to store and maintain the county’s voting equipment.
After the change order was approved, the contractor ordered the necessary materials but was told to hold off on the work while the county further discussed the project.
A second option previously introduced to supervisors in June at a cost of $76,109, repurposes two storage closets but otherwise leaves the election commission’s space alone. Although more than $20,000 more, the second option was favored by both the election commission and circuit clerk’s office.
Smith told the board Thursday if it wants to move forward with the second option, the contractor agreed to lower the price to be the same as the original change order. Much of the work can be done with the same previously ordered materials, he said, which will help cut down on costs.
Both the circuit clerk and election commission have yet to move out of their office spaces at the old courthouse on Constitution Avenue and do not plan to relocate until after the 2024 elections are over. Work on the door will begin as soon as supervisors approve the new plan and is expected to last several weeks, Smith said.
While the Board of Supervisors had expected to approve the change Monday, County Administrator Chris Lafferty said some of the necessary paperwork is still outstanding, and the matter will need to be brought up for a vote at the next meeting, which is set for Oct. 21.