After a five-day trial last week in Forrest County Chancery Court – during which officials from the City of Hattiesburg did not have time to fully lay out their case for the city’s proposed annexation into three areas of Forrest and Lamar counties – that trial is now set to resume on May 1.
At that point, city officials will be given time to finish their side. Opponents to the annexation, including representatives from Lamar County and the area in question in Forrest County, will be given the chance to present their case. Last week’s trial was a continuation from early December, when the 10 days offered in court turned out to be insufficient time for all sides involved.
“We haven’t rested yet, so we’ve still got a ways to go,” said Randy Pope, who serves as attorney for the City of Hattiesburg. “Ann Jones, the city’s (chief administrative officer) spent almost three days on the stand, and the chief of (Hattiesburg Police Department, Peggy Sealy) spent a day.
“So these are just witnesses that we have called, and we’ve got a few more to go. They were just explaining the city’s position and why we believe this is something that the court should grant – that’s why we’re there.”
Pope said he estimates city officials will probably need three days to finish their side once the trial resumes.
“I hope we can get through in that one week – I hope we can,” he said. “To my knowledge, the judge hasn’t scheduled anything after that, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to get through.
“It’s just been a very slow, tedious process.”
If successful, annexation – which was originally proposed during an April 2016 meeting of Hattiesburg City Council – would see Hattiesburg expand its borders by taking in much of the commercial corridor on U.S. 98, the Windlass Drive area and a portion of U.S. 49 north of the current city limits.
That same month, Hattiesburg’s annexation was opposed by the Lamar County Board of Supervisors, whose attorneys filed a notice of appeal in Lamar County Circuit Court. Ridgeland attorney John Scanlon, who is representing Hattiesburg in that matter, then filed a motion to dismiss the appeal in that court.
Robin Roberts, an attorney in Hattiesburg, then filed a motion against the move in both counties.
In addition, a group representing the Bellevue community also opposed Hattiesburg by filing a legal response to annexation. If successful, expansion would interfere with Bellevue officials' plans to incorporate that community, because annexation would include many properties that would be in the proposed city of Bellevue, including Corner Market, Hattiesburg Clinic – Bellevue and Mack's West.
However, Bellevue officials’ case was dismissed after they were unable to gather the required number of signatures to incorporate.
“But it was dismissed without prejudice, which means they could come back,” Pope said. “But right now, there is no effort to incorporate Bellevue.”
Perry Phillips, who serves as attorney for the Lamar County Board of Supervisors, did not return a call for comment Tuesday.
In May 2016, Lamar County officials said Hattiesburg’s attempted entrance into Lamar County might be stifled by Senate Bill 2198, which as of July 1 of that year required cities to include at least 50 percent of a census block's residents in any annexation efforts. If that number isn't reached, city officials would be made to cede control over zoning and subdivision regulations to the board of supervisors of the county in which the territory to be annexed is located.
Lamar County contended that Hattiesburg City Council had not included the required 50 percent of the population in its annexation request, as the city was leaving out areas such as Woodstone, north and south Lake Serene, Canebrake and Bridgefield.
However, Scanlon said Hattiesburg would indeed hit that 50 percent mark, as the annexation ordinance was drafted to do so.
In September 2016, retired chancellor Robert L. Lancaster of Columbus consolidated the cases in both counties and allowed 120 days for discovery for both sides, with pre-trial motions to be filed by the 100th day of discovery. The judge then set a hearing for January 27, 2017, at which point the trial dates were set.
Pope said annexation would be beneficial to not only current residents of Hattiesburg, but also to residents in the portions of Forrest and Lamar counties that would be included.
“Now, there’s not a lot of people out in Lamar County in this annexation, but the businesses – primarily in Lamar County – I think would benefit from increased fire and police protection, and lower insurance costs because of the fire rating that Hattiesburg has,” he said. “Then of course, as far as the City of Hattiesburg, that is clearly the path of growth out on Highway 98.
“I don’t think anybody can really argue with that; that’s the direction that Hattiesburg has been growing in for a long time. You have to continue to grow and grow your boundaries, or you stagnate or become potentially surrounded by other cities. We can’t go east, because Petal is there … and a city cannot just stay where it is and continue to grow.”
