Petal is looking to expand beyond city limits

Petal, Miss. - Some people may think that Petal is a small town, but now those same people may think differently.

Petal Mayor, Hal Marx said, "We've been studying this for about a year now. We employed a firm out of Oxford, Slaughter and Associates, to do a study of several areas around the city that we would like to be brought in to the city and the result was we choose six areas to be annex in the City of Petal.

The board of alderman voted unanimously on Friday to pass the ordinance of annexation.

"It's beneficial for the city because if you don't grow, eventually a city is going to die. That's the two options you have and Petal is growing, said Marx."

The City of Petal will be expanding several areas, but Marx said he is not targeting subdivisions.

"We don't want to force large groups of people in the city that don't wish to be a part of the city, but we need room to build houses for people who do wish to be a part of the city, so that's why we've included some large areas of land for residential growth as well as the highways for commercial growth, said Marx."

Marx said finances shouldn't be an issue.

"We've talked to all of our departments and we feel like we can cover the city services in these areas without having to add personnel right now and as we continue to grow, the revenue will be there to add personnel as needed, said Marx."

Marx's said taxes will slightly increase, but the fire insurance rating has a good chance to decrease.