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STARKVILLE – Starkville’s wastewater treatment plant improvements and a new water well are both expected to be completed by fall 2027, with the first part of the treatment plant improvements completed earlier this month.

The projects are among $40 million worth of improvements being made to the plant and the water system after studies found more than $90 million of needed upgrades for both systems after years of neglected maintenance, Edward Kemp, general manager for Starkville Utilities, told about 15 residents who attended a town hall meeting hosted Tuesday by Ward 5 Alderman William Pochop.

“We’re playing catch-up from a lot of deferred maintenance that’s occurred for many decades,” Kemp told The Dispatch, “So that is part of it, but with any utility system you need to be making continued improvements.”

Kemp said critical upgrades of Starkville’s wastewater plant, including replacing six aerators that failed in 2019 and a full electrical replacement, were completed on Oct. 1. The project cost $9 million.

A second project underway at the treatment plant, with a $13 million price tag, will expand the plant’s capacity to allow the city to accommodate its growing population. The project is about 20% complete with Kemp projecting the additional capacity should be finished by fall 2027.

Kemp said the additional improvements suggested by the study are still three to four years away from even entering the design phase.

The remaining $18 million is going toward funding about 15 to 20 smaller projects across both the water and wastewater systems, all of which are expected to be completed in the next five years. The largest of those is a new water treatment plant and two new wells that will bring the city’s total to nine.

The city’s eighth well is under construction and should be completed within a year, Kemp said.

The city has secured $15 million in external funding for the improvements, but to provide more funding, aldermen in September approved Starkville Utilities’ request for a 2% annual rate increase to help cover the company’s shortfall.

Kemp addressed the increases during the meeting, and afterward Pochop told The Dispatch he feels residents understand the need to raise rates by the end of the town hall.

“Edward spent half an hour explaining the multi, multi, multi million dollar investments in our infrastructure for several things,” Pochop said. “… Our city made a decision to make investments instead of placing bandaids, I think everyone there understands that.

Although Kemp said he does not currently predict increasing rates again in the future, he did not make any guarantees.

“The additional rate increase is modeled out,” said Kemp. “But you don’t know how much exactly it’s going to generate, but it’s tracking well. I don’t think we’re going to have to have any additional rate increases.”