County, state investing in Mega Site
Nearly $20 million is planned for investment at the Madison County Mega Site with a combination of long-term borrowing and state monies just one week after the Journal first reported the story that Amazon had purchased 69 acres near the Nissan plant.
Supervisors are looking to purchase the remaining acres at the Madison County Mega Site with the issuance of an $11-million 20-year bond.
The Journal last week reported that Amazon had purchased 69.02 acres at the Mega Site. At the same time, a large warehouse, titled “Project Pine,” is planned for the same 69.02 acres. On Monday, supervisors approved a site plan for the warehouse.
Amazon has not confirmed it was building a facility at the Mega Site but did acknowledge the land purchase in a statement last week.
Owen Torres, a spokesperson for Amazon, released a statement to the Journal that said: “Amazon is a dynamic business and we are constantly exploring new locations and weighing a variety of factors when deciding where to develop future sites to best serve customers, however, we have a policy of not commenting on our future roadmap. This land purchase in Madison County, MS provides us with the flexibility to quickly respond to our future network needs. Stay tuned for more information.”
On Monday, supervisors moved forward with a process to issue bonds that Madison County Economic Development Authority Executive Director Joseph Deason said would be used to purchase over 500 acres MCEDA has an option for.
The $11-million bond could also go towards the purchase of, among other things, a ladder truck for the Canton Fire Department to service the Mega Site and future developments there.
Supervisors also approved on Monday the hiring of Southaven-based engineering firm Civil-Link to conduct design, surveying and construction administration at the Mega Site in the amount of $751,239.
Chad Wages, an engineer with Civil-Link and former Madison the City Public Works Director, said this entailed doing infrastructure work such as water line extension, sewer improvements, natural gas line extension and construction of an elevated water tank at the Mega Site.
Wages said this will be built on county-owned land leading up to the Project Pine site from Highway 22. He said Canton Municipal Utilities will be handling separate installation onto the private land.
Board Attorney Mike Espy said that the work Civil-Link will be overseeing is over $8 million and is coming from the Mississippi Development Authority.
The Madison County Mega Site is located at Highway 22 and Nissan Parkway. MCEDA owned 325 acres with an option to buy another 600 acres from the Walker family.
In addition to the Project Pine warehouse, Entergy Mississippi is building a $60 million substation that could provide upwards of 80 megawatts of power.