NEW WELCOME SIGNS FOR CLAY COUNTY
CLAY COUNTY HOPES FOR TOURISM TAX REVENUE INCREASE
Tourism tax revenue in West Point had a five percent drop from 2019 to 2020, West Point Growth Alliance Director Lisa Klutts said. In 2020, $293,000 of revenue was brought in, which mirrors the 2018 number, Klutts said. In 2019, West Point brought in $306,000.
Tourism took a hit early in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic, but saw a surge in the latter half of the year thanks to the loosening of restrictions and opening of restaurants such as McAllister’s and Jack’s. Klutts is optimistic tourism tax revenue will increase for the city in 2021, because it had been at a steady increase the last five years, discounting 2020.
NEW WELCOME SIGNS REQUESTED
Klutts said her biggest project she hopes to accomplish in 2021 is making major improvements to the city of West Point’s welcome signs. According to Klutts, the city hasn’t had new welcome signs since 2008, though she’s unsure if she wants to scrap the two signs in place on Highway 45 and start fresh, but she says her project would definitely be more extravagant than just a re-painting. She said the need is there for new signs because the two that West Point has are faded in color. Klutts said new signs are vital because welcome signs can be a person’s first impression of a city and she would like for it to reflect the personality of West Point, which she believes is artsy and outdoorsy. The cost of new signs can range from elaborate to simple, Klutts said, but if the city uses the model from last time, the cost will be $15,000 per sign.
ROAD WORK
The Clay County Board Of Supervisors hopes to finish road work in District 1 and District 3 by spring of 2021. Funds for both projects were authorized from a pair of $500,000 bonds.
District 1 priorities will be West TVA Road, Lone Oak Road, Country Oak Road. Outside of that, remaining roads will be worked on as funds allow, District 1 Supervisor Lynn Horton said. He hopes construction on the roads can begin in April and the work can be completed within two months of the start date.
Meanwhile, District 3, which had its bond issued in the fall of 2020, will prioritize Mac Pate and Palestine roads, but improvements also could be made on Old Highway 10, Gates Road and Joe Myers Road.
Clay County operates differently than others in the Golden Triangle, as the county is organized using a beat system instead of a unit system.
Under a unit system, the county works as its own entity with a county administrator and a road manager that oversees all the roads in that county. They work under the guidance of the board of supervisors and county engineer to ensure all the roads are maintained. With the beat system, each supervisor is individually responsible for working with the county engineer to ensure the roads and bridges of the district they represent are maintained.
The City of West Point is borrowing $2.1 million in Fiscal Year 2021 to fund paving/street improvement projects throughout the city. Per Mayor Robbie Robinson's recommendations, roughly $1.045 million would cover repaving and repair work on sections of major downtown thoroughfares (Main, Broad, Commerce and North Division). Another $429,000 would pay for engineering fees and other contingencies, whilethe remaining roughly $682,000 would be split evenly among the city's five wards (about $136,000 each) for work that selectmen earmark.
SEWER LINE INSTALLATION
Robinson told The Dispatch in late January the contract that would see sewer lines installed at 138 acres of the Prairie Belt Powersite remains on schedule.
In late September, the West Point Board of Selectmen approved the low bid of $500,959 from DNA Construction LLC to lay sewer pipe to serve that portion of the industrial site south of Yokohama Boulevard. The work is hoped to be finished by spring of 2021.
Last fall, Development LINK CEO Joe Max Higgins told The Dispatch in an email the site is currently a finalist for a large processor that is expected to decide where it will locate in the first or second quarter of 2021.
The city and county jointly own the Prairie Belt Powersite through the Clay-West Point Economic Development Group. With help from the Golden Triangle Planning and Development District, the group landed a $500,000 grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission to assist in the project.
Stanley Spradling, the city's contracted engineer who designed the sewer project, told The Dispatch last fall the city and county will split the remaining roughly $125,000 in related costs, which includes engineering fees.
A portion of the Prairie Belt Powersite is home to a Yokohama Tire Company plant, which was located there in 2015. Once the 138-acre tract south of Yokohama Road is outfitted with sewer infrastructure, it will leave 332 acres of the site north of the road undeveloped, Robinson said.
Robinson re-affirmed his confidence from the fall in late January that an industry will quickly occupy the developed portion and that the rest of the Powersite will one day be developed.
STORY BY GARRICK HODGE
PHOTOS BY DEANNA ROBINSON
