Mayor pitches idea to expand nature park project

By Randy Bell

Clinton Mayor Phil Fisher believes a nature park to be built on eighty-four acres which stretches south from near I-20 to the Jackson city limits might become more of a regional destination if the City had more land to include in the project; but his efforts to convince Jackson leaders to agree to a “friendly annexation” of the adjacent Buddy Butts Park appears to have been unsuccessful.

“I shared a vision with the mayor of Jackson,” Fisher says, “and how adding the three-hundred-plus acres of Butts Park to the eighty-four acres would allow an exceptional opportunity for Clinton, south Jackson, west Jackson, Raymond and unincorporated Hinds County.”

But Fisher says Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba wasn’t interested in giving up the land without Jackson receiving “something tangible” in return.

Fisher says Clinton doesn’t have any land to swap or enough money to buy the park, and he had hoped the economic benefits Jackson could reap from the project would be enough to convince Lumumba. He says the Jackson mayor suggested a joint effort between the two cities, but Fisher insists on Clinton having authority over an expanded park.

“As long as [Butts Park] is within the Jackson city limits, a future mayor/City Council [in Jackson] could end the agreement and take the infrastructure Clinton built,” he says.

Fisher says making Butts Park part of Clinton would also avoid issues of police jurisdiction.

“Clinton needs to control access to the park to keep the criminal element out,” says Fisher.

Fisher says he and the Jackson mayor met twice at Lumumba’s office and again for a tour of Butts Park, during which Fisher says he laid out the concept for the nature park, which could incorporate and improve several features of the Jackson park, including walking and biking trails, the go-cart track and the drone/model plane airfield, while showcasing the history of the area.

Fisher says he and Clinton City Attorney Will Purdie also met with Jackson’s city attorney and interim public works director to discuss the project.

According to the VisitJackson.com website, Buddy Butts Park was created in 1993.

Fisher says Clinton will now proceed with seeking money to develop the eighty-four acres over the next several years, looking to Federal and State funding sources and still planning “to build a great facility.”

Lumumba’s office didn’t respond to an email seeking comments for this story.