Brookhaven’s loss of the Mississippi Department of Wildlife,Fisheries and Parks local office was made official Thursday morningwhen Pike County supervisors approved a lease agreement that willplace the department’s District Five headquarters in the NationalGuard armory in Magnolia.

The district office and its 10 employees will move the 30 milessouth to Magnolia during September and open for business in its newlocation on Oct. 1, said MDWF&P Southern Regional AdministratorMaj. Lane Ball. The department signed a five-year lease with PikeCounty that will cost $500 per month in rent for almost 6,000square feet of floor space.

The wildlife department had originally planned to relocate itsoffice to Percy Quin State Park near McComb, but Ball said rentingthe armory in Magnolia was better suited to the department’s needsand the monthly rent was ultimately cheaper than the expected costof renovating offices at the park.

The armory, meanwhile, was renovated in 2002 and Pike Countysupervisors are working now to repair minor leakage problems in theroof. Ball said MDWF&P needs only to install communicationlines necessary for its computers and telephones. Other than that,the building is “ready to go.”

“It fits our needs, as this building did, as far as room andfuture expansion,” Ball said Wednesday while sitting at his desk atthe Brookhaven office. “It’s just a good situation. Any time youmake a move, you want to look to the future.”

Sportsmen from the 12 counties comprising District Five will nowhave to drive to Magnolia to straighten out some wildlifeissues.

“There’s some things you can do there you can’t do at Wal-Mart,”Ball told Pike County Supervisors Thursday, making light of thefact that many sports licenses may be purchased at retail outletslike Wal-Mart. “Boat inspections, trouble with your license,commercial fishing licenses … you’ll have to come to a districtoffice.”

MDWF&P’s current office, the Lincoln County-owned CourthouseAnnex at 304 South Second St. in Brookhaven, will no longer beavailable to the department on Oct. 1. Lincoln County supervisorsvoted in January to let the department’s lease on the buildingexpire, planning to relocate the expanding Lincoln County TaxAssessor’s Office into the space.

Public opposition to the decision throughout the summer monthsforced supervisors to reconsider their decision, but MDWF&Prejected the county’s last offer and the county, in turn, rejectedthe department’s demands.

County supervisors were willing to renovate the rundownCourthouse Annex to house both the wildlife department and localtax office, but they planned to cut MDWF&P’s office space downto 2,200 square feet and increase its rent to $1,000 per month tohelp cover renovation costs. MDWF&P wanted to retain the wholebuilding – making county renovation plans impossible – and continuepaying $500 per month.

In Magnolia, MDWF&P will enjoy almost three times the floorspace at half the price of Lincoln County supervisors’ plan.

“We’re excited – we’re glad to have them here,” Pike CountyBoard of Supervisors President Chuck Lambert said of MDWF&P.”That’s 10 people who will be here pretty much full time, withanother 30 who will be in and out of the office.”

Lambert said he and fellow supervisors approached MDWF&Pwhen they first heard it was considering a relocation to PercyQuin.

“We knew we had a vacant building, we had been looking at doingsome other things with it … and we just felt like this may be abetter fit,” he said.

With the armory totaling around 14,000 square feet in size andMDWF&P signed on to lease less than half that space, Lambertsaid Pike County may seek to give the wildlife department somecompany in the future. He said another law enforcement agency wouldbe an ideal fit, but options remain open.

Ball, meanwhile, said MDWF&P harbors no ill feelings aboutits eviction from its Brookhaven office and move to PikeCounty.

“We totally understand the need for (the Courthouse Annex),” hesaid. “We regret we’re having to leave here, but we understand thatdecision. The Lincoln County Board of Supervisors has been morethan good to us in the 14 years we’ve been here.”

Ball said Lincoln County supervisors’ offer of renovating thebuilding was “gracious,” but 2,200 square feet was not enough roomfor the district office. Supervisors also offered the departmentthe use of the old Keystone-Seneca manufacturing plant, but Ballsaid the massive structure “wouldn’t work for us.”

“A couple of businessmen from Lincoln County came to us withbuildings, which had room, but the rent…” Ball said. “When youcompare apples to apples… Magnolia is ready to go.”

Ball said MDWF&P would host a grand opening at the Magnoliaoffice sometime in October or November after officers there aresettled in.