Land owned by Vicksburg Chemical

A long-discussed golf course will be built on 480 acres of largely undeveloped land, including 50 acres on the Mississippi River, Vicksburg officials said Thursday.

Paul Bunge of Denver said at a city board meeting that his development will also include high-end commercial and residential sites.

The property is that formerly owned by Vicksburg Chemical Company, which came under state management in a bankruptcy proceeding. The hilly tract is on both sides of Warrenton Road south of the river bridges between Rifle Range Road and U.S. 61 South.

Mayor Mayor Laurence Leyens said the city has been through three years of legal wrangling leading to the announcement.

&#8220We went through a number of potential buyers, but today I’m happy to announce we have a developer,” Leyens said.

At the meeting, the city approved the execution of an agreement with Bunge, who said he is working with a number of companies to build what will be called Mississippi Bluffs, a development around a championship golf course.

Leyens said Vicksburg Chemical still has the deed to the land, but it has been under the control of the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality since the bankruptcy filing. MDEQ won the rights to sell the property from U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York.

Several developers have tried to form plans for a golf course over the last three years and were unable to do so, but Leyens said MDEQ has now signed the needed papers to make a purchase possible.

&#8220And they’re the main decision-maker,” Leyens said.

Bunge was confident the plans will move forward. &#8220It’s prime resort property,” he said. &#8220Once we close on the property there’s nothing that keeps us from developing the property.”

Most of the tract remained undeveloped as a buffer for the chemical plant. The actual plant site includes 40 to 60 acres found to be contaminated. Bunge said that land, which includes buried industrial waste, will need to be cleaned.

Leyens said before the development can take the next step, approval from the Environmental Protection Agency and the bankruptcy court is needed.

Despite the remaining steps, Leyens and South Ward Alderman Sid Beauman said they were pleased.

&#8220It’s going to be exciting,” Beauman said.

There are two golf courses in Warren County. The oldest is the Vicksburg Country Club course, a private facility. The Warren County Parks and Recreation Department operates Clear Creek, an 18-hole public course at Bovina, completed in 1983.

Vicksburg formerly operated a municipal course on land surrounding Vicksburg Municipal Airport on U.S. 61 South. However, that course was closed and given over to industrial development about 30 years ago.

The area south of the bridges has already seen some development with the construction of Rainbow Casino-Hotel in 1994.

Lakes Gaming is also expected to start construction early in 2006 on a $280 million casino-centered resort on riverside acreage south of the Baxter-Wilson power plant.

And in what would be a sixth casino-hotel, Pot of Gold is in the preclearance process for a $48 million project on the Mississippi immediately north of the Rainbow complex.

Regarding Pot of Gold, city officials agreed Thursday to an appeal hearing for residents of Warrenton Road who had objections before a 3-2 Zoning Board vote last week to provide conditional approval of site plans. The board set the hearing for Dec. 5.

In other matters, the city: