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Partly to mostly cloudy with widely scattered showers or thunderstorms possible overnight. Low 73F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%..

Partly to mostly cloudy with widely scattered showers or thunderstorms possible overnight. Low 73F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%.

After serving as a multi-term councilman and now multi-term mayor, Johnny Magee has learned about city government from every side. That experience makes him think of something a great world leader once said.

“City government reminds me of a quote by Nelson Mandela: ‘After climbing one great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb,’” Magee said at the beginning of his State of the City address. Dozens of those “hills” are mapped out, and there will probably be plenty more that aren’t, Magee knows. He did tackle a couple of prevailing complaints and myths that City Hall keeps getting smacked with via social media.

“Streets continue to be on the top of the complaint list, especially on Facebook,” he said. “To show that we are working on streets and other necessities in the city, here is a sample of the work that has been done for the year and some that are still in progress.”

Magee laid out, in detail, projects totaling almost $31 million across the city that have either been completed, are under construction or are in the final planning stages:

• 13th Avenue overlay and drainage improvements $1 million (Wards 2,3,4,5,6), completed March 2021;

• 5th Avenue overlay and drainage improvements, $2.4 million (Wards 2,3,4,5,6, completed May 2021;

• 2020 City of Laurel Overlay Project, $1.8 million, (10 streets, Wards 2,3,4,5,6,7), completed March 2021;

• Central Avenue Roundabout and 500 Block Improvements, $1.5 million with $870,000 from MDOT, (Ward 6) completed spring 2022;

• South 16th Avenue Utility and Roadway Improvements Project, $1.5 million (Wards 1,6, 7), completed spring 2022;

• Martin Luther King Avenue Roadway Improvements, $2.7 million (Wards 4,5), scheduled for completion summer 2022;

• Kimberly and Katherine Drive Utility and Roadway Project, $2.1 million (Wards 2,3), scheduled for completion summer 2022;

• NRCS Lagoon Access Road, $4.2 million with $3.4 million from NRCS (Wards 1-7), scheduled for completion summer 2022;

• CDBG Water System Improvements Phase II, $1 million (Wards 1-7);

• Spec Wilson Boulevard Pedestrian Improvements, $930,000 (Ward 5), in planning phase;

• Brown Street Drainage and Access Road Project, $650,000 (Ward 7), in the design and right-of-way acquisition phase;

• GIS Water Valve Location, $90,000 (Wards 1-7);

• Laurel Sportsplex Expansion, $3.9 million (Ward 1), completed July 2021, just in time for the Dixie Youth World Series;

• Laurel Sportsplex Expansion, $2.5 million, (Ward 1), scheduled for completion in May 2022;

• Laurel Sportsplex Expansion, $3.5 million (Ward 1 ), construction to begin in fall of 2022;

• Beacon Street (Leontyne Price) Gateway Project, $5.3 million, completion projected for summer 2022. The project is being funded with $3.6 million from the Mississippi Department of Transportation funding and $1.7 million from the city. It includes roadway and pedestrian improvements, as well as a median.

“I have seen where the Face- book experts have weighed in with their disapproval,” Magee said, referring to the median. “For the new council members, just so you will know, we did have meetings concerning the project, including the median, while the project was in the design phase.

“You know, if you listen and look at Facebook, we are not using tax dollars wisely,” Magee said. “These projects listed from 2021 total $30.9 million. There are a lot of things going on in the city.”

And there are plenty more on the horizon. Some plans that are in the works include:

•Getting a grant to expand the skate park at Daphne Park (Ward 6)

• Constructing a park on the campus of Nora Davis School (Ward 4);

• Seeking funding for 3rd Avenue, off 10th Street (Ward 5), with the brick street, cost is in excess of $1 million;

• Seeking funding to repair the 400 block of South 14th Avenue (Ward 6), in excess of $1 million;

• Repair of 13th Street (Ward 2), another brick street that is in bad shape, cost unknown;

• Finishing up the Oak Park Alumni Building (Ward 7) be used for functions of the National Oak Park Alumni and as a city facility to be rented;

• Sen. Juan Barnett (D-Heidelberg) is attempting to find funds to pave the parking lot at Oak Park Alumni Building and also to assist in paving some streets.

• Funding for the closed bridge on Arco Lane (Ward 5) is a priority, cost approximately $1 million;

• The 12th Street Improvement Project (Wards 2,6), where a child was killed near the high school in 2019. Plans include improving the street from 7th to 16th Avenue with sidewalks and other safety features, $3 million;

• Wards 1 and 7 have plans to install digital signs for their wards that displays the speed of the driver, and the speed limit, in attempts to slow down speeders in their respective wards.

Also, there are plans for Ward 6 to purchase flashing signs to deal with the semis traveling through the residential neighborhoods;

• There is much interest in pickleball, which is played on tennis courts. Parks and Recreation Department Director Elvin Ulmer has plans to do some experimentation with the sport and see if it is as popular as the players claim it is, Magee said.

The courts will be installed at the Daphne Park tennis courts. Ulmer is also going to look at beginning disc golf at Mason Park. That’s another sport that has been generating a lot of interest, Magee said;

• The Golf Cart Ordinance is making its way through the Planning Commission and then “hopefully, soon will make its way to approval from the council,” Magee said. The ordinance makes it possible for golf carts and similar vehicles to travel on the streets of Laurel. “Many people desire to begin businesses to offer tours to the tourists and also to just move around the city in one,” he said. “We are working through the details.”

• A Miss. Home Corps Grant for $505,000 was awarded prior to COVID, but the offices “pretty much shut down afterward, so not much took place,” Magee said. “We are now close to starting the construction. There will be two homes demolished and rebuilt and four having major rehab.”

• The medical marijuana bill passed the Legislature, “and we are exploring all our options on this law that will benefit the city,” Magee said.

• Laurel should soon have a much-needed Welcome Center (Ward 6) that is being built by the Laurel Housing Authority. Jones County and the City of Laurel have contributed to it, and also part of the new tourism tax on hotels and short-term rentals will help finance the operation;

• The city continues to put in place the implementation of a required five-year plan for the annexed Pendorff area;

• The city continues to wait on word that the Legislature has agreed to match our ARPA funds of $4.5 million to make improvements to the water and sewer system, “or whatever they allow us to use if for,” Magee said. “The last we heard, they had not made an agreement.”

• A “major endeavor” for the year is to apply for the U. S. Department of Transportation Raise Grant, Magee said. “We have applied for it the last couple years and have been unsuccessful, but last year, our application made it to the desk of the Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.”

The grant is for $25 million and the project would begin at Open Air Market, at Cross Street and Cook Avenue, then continue to the Teresa Street underpass, where it will replace the MDOT-owned pumps that move rain- water from the roadway. It will also “upsize” the piping. “This should greatly improve the drainage in the area during flash floods,” Magee said. It would continue to “Five Points” and up Magnolia to Sawmill at the post office, then continue up 5th Street, past Riser Cleaners, past First Baptist Church to the water plant. Then it would go back to Sawmill at the new round-about at Leontyne Price Boulevard and continue past Central Sunbelt FCU, cross Mason Street past the old Ramada Inn, past 13th Avenue, past Regions Bank to Highway 15 North.

“There will be some right-of-way to be acquired along the route, and there will be sidewalks added along the route, along with improved crosswalks with stamped asphalt, with new overlay throughout,” Magee said. Applications were due in May and awards will be announced in September. “This is a highly competitive grant, and we along with Neel-Schaffer and others have put a lot of time and attention into it,” Magee said. “We have attempted to cover all bases.” The project is in Wards 5 and 6.

“Laurel is fortunate to be the home base to a show on HGTV called ‘Home Town’ that stars our own Ben and Erin Napier,” Magee said. “There has been a great impact on the city because of this show. We are having problems to deal with that other towns our size would cherish. There are license plates in the City of Laurel from states across the nation.

“I told someone that I had seen a vehicle with a license plate from Hawaii, and they told me that you cannot drive to Laurel from Hawaii. I don’t know how they got it here, but the vehicle was parked on Magnolia Street in downtown Laurel, Mississippi.”

Lauren Rogers Museum officials reported they are seeing record numbers of visitors, and attributed it to not only the excellence of the museum, but also due to the show. “The gift shop has had a great four months, and they were able to meet the gift-shop annual budget in just those four months,” Magee said. “The donation container at the front desk is also setting records.

“Realtors are challenged to find homes to sell in the city. Homeowners are sprucing up their surroundings. Ben and Erin’s visit to the Capitol during the debate concerning our tourism tax, I believe, had a huge impact on the way that certain of our legislators voted that day.

We appreciate the attention that they have brought to Laurel.” But it’s not just the people in the spotlight making a difference, Magee noted.

“While we are offering appreciation, we don’t want to forget Laurel Main Street,” he said. “This organization got its start when a group went to D.C. to go through the training to be able to set up a certified Main Street organization — this was in 2006. It started as Laurel Express, but the Main Street organization informed us that the name Main Street had to be in the official name, so Laurel Main Street it became.

“During that time, there was not much to do in downtown ... A great deal has happened since this time. Main Street had a lot to do with this.”

The organization “grew and expanded” what was the Main Street Festival and is now the Loblolly Festival. Laurel Main Street also started the Chili Cook Off, Touch-A-Truck, Crawfest, Wine Down, Live in Laurel and urged the city to seek permission from the Legislature to have a “Leisure District” downtown, “which allowed us to have to-go cup partaking of alcohol,” Magee said. LMS also began the Laurel Leap Day basketball tournament and worked with the city and Trustmark and the “Home Town” team to reconstruct the Trustmark Art Park. LMS also helped develop

Leontyne Price Music Park, install special lighting that spans the streets in downtown and facilitated façade grants for merchants to spruce up store fronts. The city now has a busking ordinance, where musicians and other performers can set up in designated areas downtown, thanks to LMS.

“A lot has changed in downtown over the last several years, and again, I have to mention Home Town and Laurel Main Street,” Magee said. He also cleared something up about the growth downtown and the filling of the once-empty buildings.

“There have been some who persist to claim that the City of Laurel was selling buildings for a dollar and that is the way some of these buildings changed hands,” Magee said. “Not true. The city owned one building downtown that is adjacent to City Hall on Oak Street. That is the only building that the city has owned or sold, and it was not for a dollar. It went through the bid process and we collected

$180,000. So that is $179,999 over the $1.

“We did also sell the ‘Bridge to Nowhere’ for scrap iron, but it was not for one dollar either.” Magee also thanked city employees who do things during the year to help others.

“Our employees are always giving to the United Way, volunteering to ring the bell for Salvation Army, donating blood during blood drives, helping with various fundraisers and food drives, giving of themselves selflessly,” he said. “Thank you!” He also offered a special thank you to the “dedicated people who volunteer on all of our boards and commissions,” such as the school board, the Civil Service Commission, the Planning Commission, the Tree Board, the Library Board, the Fair Commission, the EDA, the Housing Authority Board, the Laurel Airport Authority, the Historic Preservation Commission, the Regional Airport Authority, the Election Commission and the Pine Belt Regional Solid Waste Authority.

“These people give of their time and talents to attempt to make this city a better place to live and work and worship,” Magee said. “They sometimes have some controversial decisions that have to be made, and they sometimes take a lot of heat from citizens and elected officials.I simply want to thank them for what they do, because for all they deal with for the most part they receive no compensation. We could never repay you.”

The state of the City of Laurel is “sound and solid,” Magee concluded. “We continue to move in the right direction. We have accomplished much. But, as Nelson Mandela said, ‘we have many more hills to climb.’”

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