Plans change for public meeting

By By Fredie Carmichael / staff writer
Nov. 19, 2003
Plans for Thursday's public meeting on a controversial interchange proposed to serve a new industrial park on Interstate 20/59 have been changed by city officials.
The meeting, originally slated in the city's municipal courtroom at the downtown police station, will now be at City Hall.
The format has also changed; residents will not be allowed to publicly voice their concerns about the interchange, according to city officials.
The meeting comes months after controversy surfaced when local residents questioned the proposed location of the interchange, which will be partly funded from $6 million already appropriated by Congress. The site is about two miles from the industrial park.
The meeting will still be held from 4 p.m.-7 p.m. in an open-house format where residents can come and go, according to Lofton.
Opponents of the interchange have questioned local officials in the past about how the site was chosen and who might benefit financially from its location.
Officials from the Mississippi Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration, along with local officials, will reportedly be at the meeting to present the preliminary plans and routes of the interchange.
One resident who plans to attend the public meeting said the last-minute change in the meeting's format is unfortunate.
This will be the first public meeting about the proposed interchange; a formal public hearing will be scheduled in the near future, according to city Public Works Director Monty Jackson.
Want to go?
What: Public meeting on proposed interchange to serve the I 20/59 Industrial Park. A formal public hearing has not yet been scheduled.
When: Thursday, 4 p.m.-7 p.m.
Where: First floor conference room at Meridian City Hall.