Jody Thind presented his plan for a C-Store at I-55 in Como.

By Myra Bean

The Como Town Board of Aldermen meeting was moving along pretty smoothly and routinely Tuesday night until Jody Thind made his announcement.

Thind is the owner of 24-Hour Tanker out of Pearl and also numerous C-Stores in the state. He sought approval of the board to open a C-Store at the Como exit. The board and the room full of citizens sat forward to hear what Thind had to say.

The Como Travel Center will be a truck stop open 24 hours/7 days a week, cover 7,000 square feet with a 5,000 square foot C-store. It will be a Shell brand by Sayle Oil with 10 gas hubs for cars and three for diesel trucks.

There will be a full kitchen open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It will have three showers. The store will be patterned after the C-Store in Horn Lake and employ at least 25 people.

“It’s one of the top stations in Horn Lake,” said Keller Williams Realtor Jamie Tipton, who sold Thind the property in Horn Lake. “They are extremely community-minded, a first-class operation.”

The store will sit on the four-and-a-half acres across from the Champion Mobile Home Center. There will be dual access from Frontage Road and Highway 310.

Thind hopes to break ground in a couple of months and expect the entire process to buy and get the architectural drawings and to build the station will take at least six months.

The board was immediately on board to help bring this lucrative business to Como. The manager of the Horn Lake store told them they earmark a tank and take a penny for every gallon and give it to the school or the ROTC in Hernando which is about $300 to $400 every month.

Alderman Melvin Crockett brought up the question of whether water and sewer system were out there. Mayor Everett Hill said water was out there. Using the USDA grant, Hill said this will help push getting the sewer system out there. There are four houses in that area that have septic tanks, according to Hill.

Alderwoman Ruby Higginbottom said, “We need to do what it takes to make sure this project stays in Como.”

In other City Board business:

● Alderman Tonia Heard

was absent as she was stung by some bees and was hospitalized.

● Jennifer and Tim Angle were told to get her permits from the city clerk to finish the barn and pool house in their backyard.

● Lillian Hillson represented North Delta Planning and reported that the park trail was under construction. They should hear from the Community Development Block Grant on the lagoon by mid-August.

She said Phase 1 of the Home grants are due by Aug. 6. The max the city can apply for is $500,000. Sixty percent will be reconstruction-tear down and rebuilding and 40 percent will be rehab. The board approved for North Delta Planning to apply for the grant for the city.

They also approved the measure to advertise a public hearing to answer questions on the grant.

● Mr. Willie Dishmon came before the board about being hit by a car driven by Larry Jackson. He complained his case was dismissed after he was not able to come to court because he was in the hospital for seven days. He and others had called the court to let them know he was hospitalized and could not be in court.

“I don’t think I was treated right,” Dishmon said.

Assistant police Chief Faye Pettis said in her report on the police department that the judge had made Dishmon aware that the case was going to be settled that month because it had been continued each month for several months.

That was confirmed by board attorney Ravonda Griffin who said the judge could not just go back and pull up a case that had been remanded. She was told Dishmon was going to hire a lawyer and go to civil court over the matter.

Hill instructed members of the board to look into the matter.

● The board approved the claim docket of $35,137.90.

● The mayor recognized the Northwest Community College speaking class which was in attendance as part of a class requirement.

● Hill announced Oct. 13 is Como Day.