Magnolia is going ahead with plans to annex Quinlivan Road.
Aldermen voted 5-0 Tuesday night to approve an ordinance of annexation that would extend the city limits 2.03 miles north to the Airport-Fernwood Road and take in an additional 344 people.
The ordinance will be filed sometime this week with the Pike County chancery clerk, board attorney Wayne Dowdy said. The ordinance is the first step in the annexation process.
Once the ordinance is filed with the clerk, a hearing on the proposed annexation will be held in chancery court to determine if the annexation is reasonable. If the judge determines it is, it becomes effective 10 days after the judge’s decree, if no appeal is filed.
Dowdy said Tuesday that he believes the annexation hearing could be held within the next 90 days.
Mayor Melvin Harris introduced the proposed annexation during the board’s work session on Monday.
Part of the reason for the move is to stop a plan by the Sunny Hill Water Association to cross Interstate 55 and provide water service to residents along Quinlivan Road and in the North Street community, which is adjacent to Magnolia’s northwest boundary. The annexation will include the North Street area, city officials said Tuesday.
Sunny Hill has filed a petition with the Mississippi Public Service Commission to take over the North Street Rural Water Association lines, which run north from the community along Quinlivan Road.
Magnolia has filed an objection to Sunny Hill’s petition.
A PSC hearing on the petition is expected in August, but Dowdy told the board on Monday that the annexation petition would delay the hearing until the annexation issue is resolved.
Harris has said previously that Magnolia’s growth corridor is north and the city wants the water rights on Quinlivan Road.
