That was the theme at a recent luncheon at the River Hills Club in Jackson.
McGowan recently told a group of the Northside’s most prominent business and political leaders that his firm, McGowan Working Partners, is embarking on a massive public relations campaign to gain backing for the Two Lakes proposal.
If built, the project could mean flood control and economic development opportunities for the capital city along the Pearl River. But the Two Lakes plan was dealt a heavy blow last year after it was scuttled by the governing agency overseeing the project for a much smaller one.
Undaunted, McGowan’s firm redesigned the plan. He’s even gone as far as telling the Rankin-Hinds Pearl River Flood Control and Drainage District board, the body that voted on the smaller project in July 2007, that he would donated his land for the project. “I don’t care if I own it,” he said at the River Hills luncheon. “I just want to build it. It will be a one-of-a-kind project for Jackson.”
McGowan’s new plan, if it comes to fruition, will feature two large lakes that will total 4,500 acres, 27 islands and more than 100 miles of developable shoreline. More importantly, though, officials said the project will significantly reduce flooding in Jackson and Rankin County.
The two lakes would stretch from the Ross Barnett Reservoir to south of I-20 near Richland, past the McDowell Road landfill. The multimillion dollar plan has received support from Jackson leaders but has drawn criticism from Rankin officials and environmentalists.
It has also come under fire as being too expensive to build by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Citing those reasons, the Rankin-Hinds levee board voted to back the smaller Lower Lake plan in 2007.
Despite those issues, McGowan believes there is public support for the project. And he’s hoping that others will get on board once they realize its advantages.
ROGER DAVIS, a North Jackson resident who recently ran for Hinds County District One supervisor, said at the luncheon that he supported the project. He said a strong public showing of enthusiasm and support for the project will be the only way that it will be built.
“We have to rally a group of people, civic and government leaders from all parts of Jackson and get Rankin County involved to pull it through,” he told the 20 or so at the luncheon. “We can do it and build something we’re proud of. Or, we can let someone else do it and take what we get.”
The levee board, McGowan said, is deceiving the public with the Lower Lake plan. He believes the plan, which is estimated to cost between $300 and $400 million to build, is the same levee plan that was rejected by the Mississippi Legislature several years ago. Further, he believes that the smaller lake with two islands won’t provide as many opportunities to develop high-end property.
In addition to that, he said it would provide less flood control in the Easter Flood of 1979. According to the National Weather Service’s Web site, the Pearl crested at more than 42 feet in Jackson following a month of exceedingly heavy rainfall.
The Two Lakes plan, Muller said, would cost less than half, about $175 million, to build. While some say providing infrastructure to more than one island would raise the price of the project, officials with McGowan Working Partners in North Jackson disagree.
Ward One Councilman Jeff Weill was also in attendance at the luncheon. He said he’s eager to learn more about the Two Lakes and other competing projects. But he is certain on one thing: “The idea to have a lake where the Pearl River is could benefit the city in a profound way.”
WHILE MCGOWAN is working to gain public support for his project, he’s also working to gain the financial backing of the landowners who would be affected by the project.
Muller said work has begun putting together a map of the landowners in the Two Lakes footprint and is planning to contact each one in the coming months. He believes that a portion of the money needed for the project could be raised from those landowners.
Of the landowners, The Northside Sun recently reported that International Paper Company is the largest landowner, with 2,700 acres of floodplain in the Two Lakes footprint. The state of Mississippi and the city of Jackson each own more than 900 acres respectively.
McGowan also owns property, about 453.2 acres, there. Other owners include the Pearl River Valley Water Supply District, Mule Jail Hunting and Fishing Club, Christ United Methodist Church, Flowood Industrial Park, Jackson Prep and the Rankin-Hinds levee board.
If each property owner agrees, a public improvement district could be established.
He said the owners could give up a portion of their land and the remaining land would be more valuable. One, it would no longer flood. And two, it would have developable waterfront property.
The project could likely be funded through public and private funds. In addition to receiving land and investments from local landowners in the floodplain, Muller said Jackson residents who pay high premiums for flood insurance could also agree to help fund the project.
The city, he said, pays about $4.5 million a year to the Federal Emergency Management Agency to the flood insurance program. If the flooding potential is reduced and rates are lowered, a portion of that money could be used to purchase about $60 or $70 million in bond money.
Muller pointed to a recent survey as a proof of residents’ willingness. “In a survey of the people we think were flooded in 1979, we asked if you would agree to pay the balance of the Two Lakes project,” he said. Out of about 3,000 surveys mailed out, 200 responded. Of those, 90 percent of the respondents said they would be willing to help fund the Two Lakes, he said.
The project is destined to take years to develop, even if work begins soon. That issue was also discussed at the recent River Hills luncheon. “Thirty-five and 40-year-olds need to take up the mantle and make Jackson and Flowood and Rankin County better for future generations,” Davis said.
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