By Staff
Special to The Star
Jan. 18, 2002
Citing the potential of massive new economic growth in Meridian, the East Mississippi Business Development Corp. board on Thursday officially endorsed a proposed residential project at Long Creek Reservoir.
Development plans call for as many as 3,000 new homes and an 18-hole championship golf course on 1,314 acres of land currently owned by the city of Meridian and located east of Highway 45, including the Long Creek Reservoir and the city-owned Lakeview Golf Course.
The EMBDC said about $2.5 million of the purchase price of the Long Creek/Lakeview land would be used to build a new municipal golf course at Bonita Lakes. The new golf course would involve no more than 150 acres of the Bonita Lakes property and board members said they felt the project would not infringe on other Bonita uses, including walking, jogging, hiking, horse riding, cycling, fishing and nature study.
The EMBDC said the Cooper project could attract up to 6,000 new residents into the community, and also bring in 3,000 to 4,000 families to visit potential home sites. These families would stay two or three nights at local motels and spend money in the community during their visits.