August 29, 2024
Preparing Starkville’s utility systems to support current needs and future growth is the focus of the mayor and board of alderman’s Aug. 30 work session. City leaders plan to review Starkville Utilities’ long-range capital improvement plan along with funding proposals to upgrade and modernize aging water and wastewater infrastructure.
“Starkville continues to grow, and our capital improvement plan takes into consideration the increasing demands on our utility systems,” said Edward Kemp, Starkville Utilities’ general manager. “We’ve taken a data-driven approach to fund projects that will provide value to customers and ensure they have access to safe, reliable, affordable utilities well into the future.”
Proposals are based on comprehensive evaluations for water and wastewater systems that identified around $34 million in investments over the next five years to improve their performance, capacity and service life. Starkville Utilities also analyzes data from work orders and tracks system performance history to prioritize capital improvement projects.
“Many communities are reactive in terms of infrastructure planning,” said Dr. Jason Barrett of Mississippi State University Extension’s Water Resources Research Institute. “When problems occur, they’re more disruptive to residents and more expensive to fix. Being proactive and following a systematic process allows Starkville Utilities to address the most critical needs on their systems and prevent failures from impacting customers.”
The Water Resources Research Institute helped develop rate comparisons and proposals for the Aug. 30 work session and will assist with Starkville Utilities’ presentation.
Proposed projects include equipment upgrades and replacements at the Ernest E. Jones Wastewater Treatment Plant and water system upgrades to update aging facilities and equipment, increase overall capacity and improve reliability.
Starkville Utilities is a public utility serving 14,000 residences, businesses and industries in Starkville, Mississippi as well as Mississippi State University. Its mission is to supply safe, reliable, and cost-effective electric and water service of superior quality and value that improves the lives of its customers.