Southern Miss Professor Assisting Moss Point Community Group (with photo)

[Newsguy]

Hattiesburg – A grassroots organization in the Mississippi Gulf Coast city of Moss Point is utilizing the expertise of a member of the University of Southern Mississippi Department of Economic and Workforce Development in its efforts to instill a new vision for their city as it recovers from Hurricane Katrina.Southern Miss professor Dr. Mark Miller is acting as task force coordinator for the Moss Point Commission on Recovery, Rebuilding and Renewal. Inspired by proposals from the Governor’s Commission on Recovery and Renewal, the group of Moss Points residents, along with city officials, are looking at ways to transform the city to make it more pedestrian friendly and aesthetically pleasing, as well as initiating multi-use of downtown buildings as both commercial and residential. Miller initially became involved with the commission through a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant designed to help the city in its hurricane recovery efforts and facilitate planning and assessment of information necessary to produce proposals for revitalizing the city. Moss Point received severe wind and flood damage from Hurricane Katrina, including a storm surge estimated as high as 20 feet or more. “They (USDA) wanted to do what they could with the grant to help support the planning effort and to get this initiative off the ground and get us to this point where we had a solid plan to work with, and then we worked in cooperation with the governor’s commission,” said Miller.In addition to assistance from the USDA, Miller said the group has partnered with the HOK Planning Group and the Institute for Sustainable Growth. A group of Southern Miss students are also volunteering with the group as a community service project, he said.Monica Battle, a Moss Point native who chairs the commission’s Community Relations Committee, said the group has held open meetings with residents in each of the city’s six wards to get input of ideas. “We wanted to hear what people wanted to see happen in their neighborhoods,” she said.Battle said the Moss Point commission includes committees focusing on economic development, education, community relations, emergency response preparedness, quality of life, community development and infrastructure. The commission also has members who will focus on identifying and pursuing outside funding and grants for the commission’s proposals.The governor’s commission examined ways to improve the city’s downtown with more pedestrian-friendly walkways, parks and green spaces, along with mixed-use buildings (combination commercial and residential use structures). Battle said the Moss Point group wanted to go a step further by getting local residents to voice their opinions about other improvements that could augment the governor’s commission proposals.Battle said the proposal from the governor’s commission for downtown Moss Point mirrors what the city used to be like in the past, with the exception of mixed-use structures. “That (mixed-use concept) can help us do a lot of different things in downtown,” she said. “It can make the area like a ‘full-service’ neighborhood, where people not only live, but also shop and can walk to nearby parks and green spaces for festivals and concerts.”Battle said there is a strong consensus among city residents that favors the proposals for downtown, but many have said they would like to see these same concepts extended to their neighborhoods, such as the proposals for more green spaces and parks, as well as more programs for area youth and more housing and recreation services for elderly residents. After the Moss Point group reviews and assesses their work, the results will be presented this fall to the city’s board of aldermen not so much as a plan, but as a “vision” for the city, she said.“This storm brought opportunity for change for our city,” Battle said, “and it takes sitting down and formulating a working group that encompasses all segments of the city, from local residents to schools, churches, businesses and elected officials to take advantage of this opportunity. And I’m feeling a real sense of unity here now.”Battle described Miller’s contribution to the group’s planning efforts as invaluable.“Mark’s knowledge about economic development and his people skills were such that we needed his services in the role of task force coordinator. He’s really helped us to organize and work together – that’s actually how our commission was born.”Miller believes Moss Point has “great potential” for a post-Katrina revival. “They (city residents and elected officials) have really stood up and taken matters into their own hands,” he said. Moss Point alderwoman Aneice Liddell talks during a meeting of the Moss Point Commission on Recovery. (submitted photo)

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