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Bishop said the plan calls for the construction of 50 RV hookups, a 300-space parking lot and several baseball fields, as well as restrooms and other facilities. He said the new site would be managed by Lincoln Sports, a group of community baseballers who use the old fields on a site connected to the Keystone Seneca building.
"A huge number of families use that space. It gets them out," Bishop said of baseball, pointing to the development of baseball fields as a "piece of the puzzle" in economic development.
The second-highest cost on county officials' list is federal assistance for repairs to Industrial Park Road, the badly damaged main thoroughfare into the Brookhaven Industrial Park. The project was recently turned down for stimulus funding, and Bishop said the county is seeking $1.5 million for the job.
"Some items you ask for, you have to do it whether they help you or not," he said. "We've got hundreds of employees working in the industrial park, and that road has to be maintained."
County officials are seeking $1 million each for the third and fourth projects on their list for the development of a hurricane evacuation route and the completion of Linbrook Business Park.
The Bogue Chitto Road Project would see Bogue Chitto Road widened from Exit 30 on Interstate 55 to its intersection with Highway 51 in Bogue Chitto, allowing contraflow traffic an early out from the interstate and an alternate entrance to Brookhaven, Bishop said. He pointed out that Brookhaven is the first stop for Louisiana evacuees to find food and lodging.
As work on Linbrook Business Park comes closer to completion, county officials are asking for a further $1 million for leveling and grading work, Bishop said. The federal government has already provided $1.2 million for the park's creation, he said.
"We're just talking about leveling and grading work in different areas for aesthetics, so if a potential employer drives up, it will be all but ready," Bishop said.
County officials will seek $500,000 for upcoming renovations to the courthouse annex - the office building on Second Street soon to be vacated by the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks and utilized by the Lincoln County Tax Assessor's office. Bishop pointed to prior success in securing $900,000 in federal assistance for renovations in the Lincoln County-Brookhaven Government Complex and the Boys and Girls Club of Lincoln County building.
Bishop said county officials would also request an uncertain amount of federal funding for the development of electronic medical records at King's Daughters Medical Center.
County officials don't expect to get federal funds for every project on the list, Bishop said, but making the annual trip is the best way of connecting with the state's federal authorities.
"If we don't tell them our needs, they wouldn't know," he said. "Most of the counties that go up there are the ones who get help. I promise you we have received much more money in return than it has cost to go."
District Four Supervisor Doug Moak, who will accompany District Three Supervisor Nolan Earl Williamson in representing the board in Washington, said securing funds for repairs to Industrial Park Road would be his top priority, followed by the Bogue Chitto Road Project and additional support for Linbrook. Moak, who will be making his fourth trip to Washington as a supervisor, stressed the importance of meeting with federal officials.
"It is definitely to our advantage to sit down with our legislators and let them see faces from Lincoln County," he said. "For us to be able to sit there on the same couch and speak eye-to-eye, I think it has more impact on their decision making process."
Dungan Engineering, PA Civil Engineer Ryan Holmes will make his first trip to Washington with supervisors, serving as a technical adviser to provide federal legislators with the nuts and bolts of projects, like judging the scope and cost of work.
"We have great knowledge of the projects," he said of his firm. "The supervisors know the needs, and we can explain why these needs should be met and why we need help with them. We're there for technical expertise."
