Guntown looks to expand its borders
Feb. 25—GUNTOWN — Guntown hopes to expand its city limits by 65% through an annexation plan they will file in court next month.
The city of around 2,000 people in north Lee County currently covers 4.7 square miles. The annexation plan, already approved by aldermen, would add 3.1 square miles, or just under 2,000 acres.
The proposed annexation would add 123 residences, as well as two industrial and two commercial properties.
"If you don't grow, you're going to die," said Mayor Bud Herring. "We are trying to do this now, so 20 years down the road, we will have room and it won't be a problem. We are trying to look ahead."
The plan recently adopted by the board of aldermen has four proposed annex areas. The majority of the additional land is located west of town in Area 1, which is mostly open farmland and easily developable.
"We can't go north or south because of Baldwyn and Saltillo; to the east, there is no potential; the growth potential for our town is to the west," Herring said. "A lot of what we are looking at is up and down the four-lane (Highway 45). Right now, the ramps on the Guntown exit are not even in the city limits. That 45 corridor is prime commercial property, and we don't have a lot of commercial business right now. We are a bedroom community."
The other three areas are relatively small plots whose inclusion would clean up the boundary lines and offer better police protection.
Area 2 is a small parcel between Guntown and Baldwyn where there is currently no police coverage. If there is a wreck on the highway, people have to wait for a Mississippi Highway Patrol trooper to show up.
Area 3 is located to the northeast, behind the former Norbord plant and between Ford Avenue (County Road 941) and the railroad tracks. Area 4 on the south end, cleans up the city limits by adding the section between the railroad tracks and Highway 145.
The city has been working on the project for the last two years with Slaughter & Associates, an urban planning consulting firm from Oxford.
"The study showed this is the growth we can handle," Herring said. "We'll probably have to add a few more city employees to handle the additional area and services. We will offer them fire and police protection. Some of these areas out in the county have a fire rating of 8, 9 or even 10 right now. We have a fire rating of 7, which will save people a good bit on their insurance."
The city will likely have to add one policeman. The public works department might add two workers plus another tractor.
The city will submit their plans to chancery court on March 15. Anyone who is opposed or has questions can call Guntown City Hall at 662-348-5353.
"I'm willing to listen to people before we actually present this in chancery court," Herring said. "Every time we tweak it, Mr. Slaughter has to tweak it and that costs us money."
The last annexation was about 15 years ago when the city took in Guntown Hills and Woodland Hills subdivisions on the northwest end of town.
