 A Gem Waiting To Be Developed Published June. 17, 2004.
Reprinted with permission of The Clarion Ledger
By Jacob Bennett
jmbennett@jackson.gannett.com
PELAHATCHIE - Jephre Heflin puffed a pipe on his front porch and said he might never leave Pelahatchie if it had a retail store.
"This is about like Mayberry - it's a classic small town," Heflin said. "I wish we had a Wal-Mart. We have to go to Brandon all the time."
Pelahatchie officials are quietly working to make Heflin's life more comfortable. In an effort to attract industry, which they say will attract retail and restaurants, the town is upgrading and extending its water and sewer systems.
The Rankin County town also is improving its appearance. Mayor Knox Ross said the town is asking landowners to demolish run-down buildings and has knocked down a handful itself.
The improvements could give the town a leg up the next time a factory or distributing company is looking to build, said Tom Troxler, executive director Rankin First Economic Development Authority. The town attracts a couple of industrial suitors each year, officials said.
"I think people are discovering that Pelahatchie is a gem waiting to be developed," Troxler said. "At a time when the national economy is pulling itself out of a slowdown, Pelahatchie is going to be ready."
The town had been eyed for a Hyundai plant, which in 2002 decided to locate in Alabama. Officials learned then how much more work they needed to be ready to host an industrial site.
The water improvements extend to the I-20 and Mississippi 43 interchange, where Pelahatchie recently incorporated 350 acres officials are marketing as a possible industrial site.
The town is awaiting word on a $1.6 million grant that would finish off the $2.5 million water system upgrade.
In the next month, officials hope to finish the latest phase of their sewer system overhaul. It includes lining or replacing 60-year-old pipes that allow water infiltration and occasionally cause systems to back up into residents' homes.
Ross said officials tried to develop a plan that would enable them to overhaul the town's infrastructure. An obvious obstacle was money. They intensified their search for grants.
Residents shouldn't worry about the town losing its small-town charm, Ross said. "We're always going to be a small town to a certain extent," Ross said.
QUICK FACTS
·Population: 1,461.
·Located in eastern Rankin County, about 25 miles east of Jackson off I-20.
·The town is celebrating its 100th year of incorporation.
·Pelahatchie was Rankin County's largest town, with a population of 3,500, until about 1936, when the lumber mill burned down.
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