09-05-2025
City approves agricultural lease for excess land in rubbish site expansion
TUPELO — City officials will lease extra land purchased as part of an expansion to Tupelo's natural debris rubbish site for use as farmland.
The Tupelo City Council Tuesday voted unanimously to approve a one-year lease agreement to use 215 acres of agricultural land it purchased to expand the city's Class II rubbish site as farmland. The year-long lease nets $15,662 and has an option for annual extension up to four years with city approval.
The 215 acres comes from a previous $658,000 purchase of 235 acres off of South Veterans Memorial Boulevard near Camco Roofing Supplies. The land was previously owned by BSB Associates.
The city plans to use about 20 acres of the land to expand its rubbish site, which officials said previously was nearing capacity. The other 215 is already being used by the prospective renters as farmland, Assistant City Stephen Reed said.
'Twenty acres of (the land) has been permitted by the state to be used as a Class II site. The remaining 215 acres sits pretty much in a floodway and is already being used as agricultural land,' Reed said. 'What this is, is a lease to the farmers that have been using it for the last several years.'
The $15,662 price tag is based on two appraisals and comes out to a little under $90 an acre.
Of that 215, 175 acres is usable as farmland. City Attorney Ben Logan noted that while the dynamics of the land changed with this upcoming expansion, it should not affect the farmers already renting the property too much overall.
The property is next to the city's existing Class II rubbish site, which is used exclusively for natural debris and building materials from demolitions. Officials said the rubbish site is nearing capacity, with just 10 of its 44 acres designated and developable for usage. Much of the land lies within flood zones, leaving much of it unusable as a rubbish site.
Ward 6 Councilwoman Janet Gaston asked Reed if the city could come back later to expand onto the farmland if the rubbish site needs to be expanded further. Reed said that was possible.
Meanwhile, work on expanding the rubbish site continues. Logan noted the city will perform tests soon to see how deep it can dig its cells. As of Tuesday, Logan said work should begin soon, but there is no solid date for when the project will be completed.
The current site design runs debris trucks along South Veterans. Officials say the long-term plan is to build a new entrance along Ryder Street to bypass the nearby neighborhood.
