The Mendenhall Industrial Park has officially been declared surplus and will be auctioned for sale to the highest bidder.
The 110 acre property is located just south of Mendenhall between highways 13 and 43 and south of Bowen Road.
For the property to be sold, it must be declared surplus by the Simpson County Development District. The Simpson County Development Foundation, which is the private side of economic development, has been tasked with marketing the property, and after approximately 20 years, the Foundation recommended to the district that the property is no longer suited to its original task of locating industrial business to the county.
Factors that have prevented this property from being marketed included limited access because of weight restriction of bridges and lack of proximity to four lane access. This information came from the Mississippi Department of Economic Development and from Entergy and their economic developers.
Another factor that allows the property to be sold is that it must be determined not to meet the needs for which it was purchased. In this case, the purpose was industrial development, which did not occur.
An appraisal showed the property valuation of $2,200 per acre, which made for a total valuation of $242,000. The state’s Attorney General requires that the appraisal figure be a minimum of what the property can be sold for. The same process was used when the industrial development property on Highway 49 in Magee was sold. It was advertised for sale for four weeks. Then sealed bids were opened and the property was awarded to the highest bidder.
The Simpson County Board of Supervisors approved the surplus declaration request from the Simpson County Development District at their meeting on September 30 during a special called board meeting.
One of the interesting issues regarding this piece of property is that the county was able to lease it for storage to a pipeline company several years back. The lease proceeds actually paid for the original purchase price of the property, according to Donnie Caughman, executive director of the Simpson County Development Foundation.
Federal funds were used to construct a water tower in the industrial park. That tower was added to the Mendenhall water system to improve thier water system.
The legal notice for sale of this property will published for four weeks in this newspaper. Any sealed bids received will be opened at the Foundation office at 10 a.m. on Friday, October 29.
