The Lafayette County Board of Supervisors has introduced local and private legislation that will allow for the creation of a county utility authority board.

The news was announced during a press briefing on Friday, but according to District 1 supervisor Kevin Frye, the board has been exploring options for infrastructure support for the past 18 months.

“As we went throughout the county and had all these meetings, it was very clear that infrastructure was a big concern for people,” Frye said. “With the changes we’ve made to our subdivision regulations, the way we’ve kind of upgraded and updated how the county is doing business as far as managing growth, the next step was to figure out what we could do to help with infrastructure.”

If approved in the final weeks of the state legislative session, the creation of the Lafayette County Utility Authority will enable the county to help provide support for infrastructure including water, wastewater, sewage, natural gas and broadband internet in rural areas.

The board will consist of five members appointed by the supervisors, including one member from the university and one from the City of Oxford in a collaborative effort.

More information will be published in the March 13 edition of the EAGLE.