Citing the city’s debt and opposition to giving up city buildings, the Magnolia Board of Aldermen on Monday rejected a proposed land swap from the Pike County Board of Supervisors for the county-owned Fernwood Industrial Park water and sewer system.
Aldermen indicated after the vote that they did not intend to make a counter-proposal for the system. Mayor Melvin Harris and several aldermen said they would wait and see if supervisors make another offer.
Supervisors gave the city and the Homestead Water Association, whose district borders the industrial park, until Nov. 19 to make proposals for taking over the system.
The county is looking to get rid of the system, including a sewer treatment lagoon, and get out of the utility business altogether.
Supervisors in October approached the city about swapping the Magnolia City Hall building for the well, with the provision that the city operate and maintain the sewer treatment lagoon.
The city is relocating city hall to the old Magnolia Depot, which is under renovation. The county wants the city hall building for office space.
“When you start talking about city hall, you’re stepping on toes,” Harris said. “This building has so many useful purposes.”
City clerk Melissa Thornhill said Magnolia may want to keep city hall, adding that the depot may not work out as city hall because of its proximity to the railroad tracks.
The board initially saw the system as a solution to getting water and sewer to newly annexed areas on Airport-Fernwood Road, and as a way to encourage further annexation.
But the prospect of giving up city buildings and possibly increasing the city’s $4 million debt still owed on a previous water system project gave them reason Monday night to reject the offer.
“It (the well) could be a valuable asset to Magnolia in years to come, but the thing I’m afraid of is ... I don’t want to put Magnolia deeper in debt than we already are now,” Harris said.
The tank comes with a price tag.
Whoever gets it will spend $70,000 to install a new liner and filter to prevent sand from coming into the well, remove existing sand from the well and install water meters to the industrial park’s tenants.
Thornhill said there are other issues with the tank. She said a check with Mississippi Department of Health officials indicates that the tank has not been inspected in the past five years. Also, the well has no master meter to record water flow, no backup power supply, and the chlorinator to treat the water with chlorine needs work.
Another issue is who will pay to close the lagoon and connect the industrial park’s sewer system to the McComb’s wastewater treatment plant.
Magnolia faces a $2.4 million project to close its lagoons and move the city’s sewage to McComb. City officials have applied for grants to cover the project costs.
“To do what you want to do with that well, you’re looking at having to raise water rates and raise taxes,” Thornhill told the board. “I don’t know how you will feel about that or how the residents will feel.
“The city is strapped and we have other needs,” she said.
Alderman James Jones said the immediate benefits of getting the tank do not equal the value lost to the city by giving up the city buildings.
“The only people who will benefit immediately from us taking over that well are the industries in the park,” he said.
Jones suggested that the city wait and begin applying for grants to drill a new well and build a new water tower.
“That will give us a new tank, and new is always better than old,” he said.
The cost of a new well and tank is estimated at $1.2 to $1.5 million according to the city’s engineers.
“We need to tell the county that their proposal is unacceptable,” Jones said.
