An overflow crowd gathered at the convention center at Percy Quin State Park Tuesday night to hear more about efforts to incorporate the town of Fernwood.
Leading the charge are Fernwood residents B. Scott Johnson and Dr. Glenn Zeidman. Johnson would be the interim mayor of the newly incorporated town, and Zeidman would be alderman-at-large.
Johnson and Zeidman acknowledged that they are venturing into unknown territory by beginning incorporation efforts, but they believe it’s the only way to prevent McComb or Magnolia from annexing the Fernwood area in the future.
“We’re here tonight because we want to control our own destiny,” Johnson said.
But not everybody agreed.
“You don’t have enough money in this room to control your own destiny,” one man answered.
Several people questioned the quiet groundwork Johnson and Zeidman laid for months before the community knew anything about incorporation efforts.
McComb NAACP branch president Anthony Witherspoon asked when the first meeting was called, noting that the people affected by the incorporation action were not consulted and there was no public hearing.
Zeidman and Johnson said they wished the whole community could have been involved in weekly meetings, but that would not have been feasible.
“In a perfect world, yes,” they agreed.
If organizers are successful with their plans, Fernwood would take in 7.5 miles, encompassing all of Fernwood, Fernwood Country Club, Pinehurst and Stonegate subdivisions, Quinlivan Road, most of Highway 48 West north to Highway 24 West, across Wardlaw Road to the railroad tracks, and south to the Magnolia city limits, and then west to meet Highway 48 West.
The town would have fewer than 1,000 people, with a racial makeup of 70 percent white and 30 percent black. Johnson and Zeidman said the total assessment of the property to be incorporated is $4.6 million.
Zeidman and Johnson, who said they’ve invested some $40,000 in legal fees and development plans, have been working with the city planning firm of Bridge and Watson of Oxford. Plans call for a town millage rate of 26.7. Some questioned whether that is sufficient to operate a town.
“There’s no way to do all of this in 26 mills,” said newly elected Pike County District 5 Supervisor Gary Honea, who added that residents at the meeting weren’t given enough information.
“You can’t undo a municipality. … We’ve already got four cities in this county, that’s crazy. … You’re fixing to put a tax base on these folks. … There is no imminent threat (of annexation by Magnolia or McComb).”
Zeidman and Johnson said planners are working on budget items for the next 10 years, but the two didn’t have information with them on the budget breakdown. The two said they would have another meeting and present all the budget items and spending plans to residents.
The town, if incorporated, would operate under the Mississippi Code and not a special charter, Johnson said.
He and Zeidman reminded residents that the start-up town representatives are only serving on an interim basis. Others who are set to serve on the initial board of aldermen are Bert Haydel, his daughter Wendy Blue, David Nelson and Charles Williams. Ronnie Frazier will serve as police chief.
“Anybody who wants to can run. We’re not here to ram anything down your throat,” Zeidman said. “… Somebody has to step forward.”
Zeidman and Johnson considered Tuesday night’s fish fry and meeting to be a public hearing. However, audience members noted that a petition was circulated at the meeting in the hope of gathering enough signatures to file incorporation papers in chancery court.
Some residents who are unsure about plans to incorporate were concerned that if they signed the petition they could not change their minds. But Zeidman and Johnson maintained that any resident who wanted his or her name removed from the petition for incorporation could do so before it’s filed in chancery court.
The racial makeup of the town — and the omission of residents in east Fernwood — was a concern for some audience members.
“We went along section lines, section boundaries,” Johnson said. “We didn’t cut anybody in or anybody out. We just went straight across.”
He acknowledged the boundary stopped at the railroad tracks, a step that Witherspoon said has been used in many towns to divide towns.
“You are aware of Old Fernwood,” Witherspoon said. “Why was it not included?”
The racial criticism stung Zeidman, who said it was never his or Johnson’s intention to leave anyone out.
“I find it very unfortunate that race has entered this discussion,” Zeidman said.
But Witherspoon said it’s a legitimate concern.
“We want to make sure we’re not creating an unfair district,” he said.
Nearly a dozen residents of Pinehurst Estates spoke up during the meeting, mostly to say they enjoy the quiet, rural atmosphere the subdivision provides and don’t want that to change.
One man noted that he moved from New Orleans to Pinehurst for its country setting. He said the rules and ordinances that come with incorporation of a town “is not what I moved here for. … We may not want the same things you do.”
Another Pinehurst resident said he moved from California to Pike County to take advantage of “the things that were very desirable to us, a country atmosphere. With incorporation, we will no longer have that country environment.
“When I go to Jackson or New Orleans, I know when I get home there will be peace and quiet,” he said.
Zeidman also spoke of his renewed efforts to bring a medical college to Fernwood. Zeidman tried last year to launch an osteopathatic medical college in the Metro-Pike Industrial Park, but the Mississippi Osteopathic Medical Association supported a college in Hattiesburg instead.
Another of Zeidman and Johnson’s long-range goals is to relocate the industrial park, a move they said is strictly preliminary and one that must have the backing of the Pike County Board of Supervisors.section boundaries,” Johnson said. “We didn’t cut anybody in or anybody out. We just went straight across.”
He acknowledged the boundary stopped at the railroad tracks, a step that Witherspoon said has been used in many towns to divide towns.
“You are aware of Old Fernwood,” Witherspoon said. “Why was it not included?”
The racial criticism stung Zeidman, who said it was never his or Johnson’s intention to leave anyone out.
“I find it very unfortunate that race has entered this discussion,” Zeidman said.
But Witherspoon said it’s a legitimate concern.
“We want to make sure we’re not creating an unfair district,” he said.
Nearly a dozen residents of Pinehurst Estates spoke up during the meeting, mostly to say they enjoy the quiet, rural atmosphere the subdivision provides and don’t want that to change.
One man noted that he moved from New Orleans to Pinehurst for its country setting. He said the rules and ordinances that come with incorporation of a town “is not what I moved here for. … We may not want the same things you do.”
Another Pinehurst resident said he moved from California to Pike County to take advantage of “the things that were very desirable to us, a country atmosphere. With incorporation, we will no longer have that country environment.
“When I go to Jackson or New Orleans, I know when I get home there will be peace and quiet,” he said.
Zeidman also spoke of his renewed efforts to bring a medical college to Fernwood. Zeidman tried last year to launch an osteopathatic medical college in the Metro-Pike Industrial Park, but the Mississippi Osteopathic Medical Association supported a college in Hattiesburg instead.
Another of Zeidman and Johnson’s long-range goals is to relocate the industrial park, a move they said is strictly preliminary and one that must have backing of the Pike County Board of Supervisors.
