Looking to make some changes to the city’s wards, Magnolia officials hired a Hazlehurst attorney last week to draft redistricting plans following the 2020 census results.
The board unanimously voted to hire Carrol Rhodes to handle redistricting after Census results showed a slight loss in population over the last decade.
Magnolia had 2,420 residents according to the 2010 census count. The 2020 census put the city’s population at 2,166.
Governments must draw new district lines whenever the population change reflects at least 10% of residents moving in or out of a district.
Witherspoon noted that the city’s population deviation was not over the 10% threshold, but officials wanted to make sure wards accurately reflect Magnolia’s demographics.
“We expect no drastic changes,” Witherspoon said.
Rhodes is the same attorney handling McComb’s redistricting, but because Magnolia does not have an upcoming election, unlike McComb, it doesn’t have the same time crunch.
In another matter, aldermen voted unanimously to hire architecture firm M3A of Jackson to provide plans and services for the renovation of the fire and police station as well as the community center.
Magnolia recently acquired the former health department building from the county to use for fire and police headquarters.
Witherspoon said she expects the plans to come back before during the next meeting in December and hopes the project could be completed by next summer.
The board also tabled a discussion to appoint Dennis Tobias to the Pike County Economic Development District board. Witherspoon said the board wanted to find another recommendation from within city limits for the board position.
In other news, the board,
• Set the city-wide cleanup for 9 a.m. to noon Saturday.
• Appointed Interim Fire Chief Terrell Bell as the full-time fire chief.
• Hired Tyreek Magee as a part-time police officer.
• Hired Toymie Grady and Troxey Bullock for the Public Works department.
• Executed a memorandum of understanding with Pike County under the county’s contract with Land Company Development and Debris Tech for cleanup for Hurricane Ida and approved a general services agreement with Neel-Shaffer for consultation services for the cleanup.
• Terminated services with Elavon, Inc. for credit card processing and authorized the mayor to sign a contract with Certified Payment for the service.
• Approved a $27,863.74 to renew the city’s workmen’s compensation insurance policy.
