Wesson annexing public land only — Some residents alarmed by posted signs on Hwy. 51
Published 11:01 pm Friday, April 27, 2018
Wesson’s annexation plans won’t take in any private property and at least one Lincoln County resident is relieved.
Mandy Case found signs posted along her Lincoln County property on Hwy. 51 saying that area would be annexed.
“This was posted at our property line and two more places along Hwy. 51 and the Copiah County line,” Case posted on Facebook. “It’s concerning the City of Wesson moving it’s line.”
She told The Daily Leader she had concerns that because theirs is the last house on Hwy. 51 in the Brookhaven School District, her children may be required to go to Wesson Attendance Center if that area was annexed.
She was relieved to find out that the city wouldn’t be taking in any personal property. And besides, Wesson is a county school and the city’s annexation wouldn’t affect school lines, said Wesson Mayor Alton Shaw.
“It affects really no one, what we’re doing,” he said. “It’s a small area of Hwy. 51 South we’re annexing. It includes no private property. It’s nothing but right-of-way. It’s being done for safety and potential economic development.”
Shaw offered few details about what economic development project could be on the horizon.
“There’s something that we’ve got coming in looking at the south end of town but it’s still in the planning stages,” he said. “This this sets an area to be able to feed off of that if necessary.”
Aldermen made plans in October to annex a one-mile strip along Hwy. 51 from the Copiah County to St. John’s Road. They voted in November, however all the Ts weren’t crossed and all the Is were dotted. Officials recently realized signs needed to be posted in the area, Shaw said.
They’d placed them throughout town and at the Wesson Post Office. Legally, though, that wasn’t enough.
“I thought more people would see it at the post office than on the side of the road,” he said.