The North Carrollton Mayor and Board of Aldermen are working to get things done – infrastructure improvements, beautification projects, updates to water and sewer systems. Of course, the one thing that determines what the town can and can’t do moving forward is the same as in most small towns – limited funds.
“Financially, we are strong,” said North Carrollton Mayor Ken Strachan. “We don’t expect to need a property tax increase next October. We invest our money wisely and seek grants to make improvements when we can.”
Over the last few months, the town has purchased 16 new American flags, brackets, and poles to hang along George and Main Streets. The flags were purchased with grant funds through Entergy.
“We will have them up by Memorial Day,” said Strachan. “Our new ‘Welcome to North Carrollton’ banners coordinate good with the flags.”
Currently, daffodils are blooming around North Carrollton. The bulbs were part of the town becoming a Bloom Town, through the Mississippi Urban Forest Council. The bulbs were planted at the end of January, and they have given downtown North Carrollton a little color.
“Those little things are adding up,” said Strachan.
As for roads and infrastructure, Strachan said the town is waiting for $100,000 in funds granted to the town from the BP settlement, and the plan is to repave Marshall Road.
“We will begin advertising for bids soon and get that underway,” Strachan said.
Strachan said the town has recently reapplied for a Community Development Block Grant for 2020 to make additional repairs to the town’s water and sewer systems. The last CDBG grant funds paid for the new pumping station for the Boyd Water District.
The town is also completing Phase 2 of its multi-part drainage improvement project in town. Phase 1 corrected drainage near the J.Z. George campus and Hoboken Street. Phase 2 is clearing the area between the old gin and the railroad tracks to the east, and the third and final phase is on west Colvin Street and Main Street.
“We are investing funds as we can to make improvements,” Strachan said. “[The drainage plan is] also making it cleaner with less mosquitos and less to maintain, but we have it under control.
In recent months, the town has teamed up with Beat 1 Supervisor Jim Neill with the hopes of developing a park on the northwest bank of Big Sand Creek, near the Tabernacle. Strachan said the town has filed a grant with the Mississippi Department of Wildlife Fisheries and Parks for $116,000 to construct new bathrooms, pour sidewalks, add a picnic area overlooking the creek, and install lighting.
Strachan said Neill had Willis Engineering design the schematics of the new park, and the town is applying for the grant funds. Strachan said Senator Lydia Chassaniol (R-Winona) has chipped in by sending a letter on the town’s behalf to the Department of Wildlife Fisheries and Parks urging funding for the new park.
“It is a combination of county, town, and state officials,” Strachan said. “When town and county works together, it makes a much more powerful effort. We have a good relationship with the countyson said.
