OPINION: Paying for Pope’s off-site improvements could be easier than expected

Mayor Scott Conger's letter to the Madison County Commission and Jackson-Madison County School Board members declaring no liability in the off-site improvements for the new Pope Elementary School on Jan. 2 was a somewhat surprising move, but not really when you look at the situation the City is in financially.

I say it is surprising because of multiple statements Conger has made publicly about supporting the school system and this specific project.

I even had a few people from Madison County leadership send me clips of him speaking during Facebook live broadcasts from his office and a page on his re-election campaign website touting a partnership with the County and JMCSS to get new Pope built as an accomplishment from his first four years in office.

Now, in Conger's defense, he never said he or the City would actively do anything or commit any money or other resources to the effort.

I guess I expected that to come when the time was necessary.

But seven months before the school is set to open, the time was necessary for something to be said. And Conger said, "We support this effort. We're glad it's happening. But we're not financially responsible for this."

Anyone who expected the City to help apparently has no idea what situation their finances are in.

The City Council passed a budget last summer a couple weeks late , and in that passing, they collectively said, "This is our plan for our revenue. We don't plan on using that planned revenue for basic things like fixing roads. If we're doing that, we're probably going to borrow money."

Then a few months later, when it's time to probably go ahead and borrow that money for those road fixing initiatives, Conger and his leadership team take the route of a proposal to borrow a considerable more amount of money to have on hand to fix multiple things over the next few years and let that money gain interest until it's used over the course of the next few years.

But sitting from my seat on the side, this looks like it should be an easy fix.

It was five months ago when County Commission Chair Mike Taylor presented a proposal to the Commission and discussed with a few community members on the western end of the county to work with Jackson Energy Authority to put water and sewage pipes in the ground connecting the area near Providence Road off Exit 68 of the interstate to the JEA's workings. It would've been a similar setup to what Medina has with JEA water even though their electricity and gas come from Gibson Electric.

When Taylor asked JEA leadership how much that project would cost, their answer was about $25 million. Taylor was willing to commit to pay for half of it to the tune of $12.5 million to get it done.

Now while the project wouldn't have even been started in the next two or three years, the money was still there to commit.

Taylor, Budget Chairman Carl Alexander and others have discussed what good shape the County is in financially.

So if the County wants the school built and fully functional in August, logic would suggest they go ahead and make sure that happens if they have the resources to do it.

But I do have one caveat to that.

There are four phases to the offsite improvements.

Phase 1, the turn lane on Ashport in front of the school, is projected to be about $500,000. That money is a part of the $48 million the County allowed JMCSS to have for the project.

Phase 2 (the roundabout at Pleasant Plains and Ashport) and Phase 3 (the widening of Ashport and Old Humboldt Road at their intersection), the County could probably take care of once they get the necessary property easements.

But that’s a whole other aspect of this. We’ve heard nothing publicly about the County or City or JMCSS or whomever settling with property owners for the land these off-site improvements will take on the edge of their respective properties.

Assuming all this can be done in seven months, how much longer will it take to get the proper permissions from the neighbors?

But then there's Phase 4 - extending the right turn lane on Old Humboldt Road at the Highway 45 Bypass. That requirement from the Board of Zoning Appeals made sense when it was first required two years ago.

But things have changed in the last 24 months. There's a sizeable apartment complex that's nearing completion less than a tenth of a mile from where the access road that runs parallel to the bypass comes out on Old Humboldt, which is about where the extension would come to.

I may be different, but I know when I go anywhere on that road - LIFELINE Blood Services, Jackson Clinic, Freddie's or even First Horizon Bank on the corner at Oil Well, if I'm going to the bypass, I don't try to turn left onto Oil Well. I go to Hold Humboldt and get on the Bypass there.

Would the developer of that complex have been required to pay for the lane extension if JMCSS weren't already being held to do that? If so, maybe the BZA should rethink that. Because I'd think there's more of an impact on that intersection from an apartment complex less than a half-mile away than a school with 1,250 students that's nearly two miles away.

Either way, this situation looks more fixable than it initially did after Conger's letter was sent on Jan. 2. 

The County has $24 million in fund balance. JMCSS had a fund balance somewhere between $14 million and $30 million last I heard (they use fund balance to pay off some things, and then when they’re reimbursed, that money later is returned to fund balance, so it legitimately does fluctuate that much during certain times of the year). 

Phase 1 is expected to be $500,000, and that’s already budgeted for JMCSS to pay for. I’d imagine the roundabout would be the most expensive phase of the four, but I’d think they could get it all done for somewhere under $6 million after talking with a few people who are more knowledgeable than me about such things.

Either way, something needs to be done. Quickly.

Because as much momentum as the area is gaining, having a brand new school building standing empty when it could easily be used to give over 1,200 kids a great public education seems like a potentially massive speed bump in the way if this doesn't get cleared quickly.

Brandon Shields is the managing editor of The Jackson Post. Reach him through e-mail at brandon@jacksonpost.news. Follow him on X.com @JSEditorBrandon. Follow him on Instagram @EditorBrandon.