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The armory, meanwhile, was renovated in 2002 and Pike County supervisors are working now to repair minor leakage problems in the roof. Ball said MDWF&P needs only to install communication lines 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 and future expansion," Ball said Wednesday while sitting at his desk at the Brookhaven office. "It's just a good situation. Any time you make a move, you want to look to the future."
Sportsmen from the 12 counties comprising District Five will now have to drive to Magnolia to straighten out some wildlife issues.
"There's some things you can do there you can't do at Wal-Mart," Ball told Pike County Supervisors Thursday, making light of the fact that many sports licenses may be purchased at retail outlets like Wal-Mart. "Boat inspections, trouble with your license, commercial fishing licenses ... you'll have to come to a district office."
MDWF&P's current office, the Lincoln County-owned Courthouse Annex at 304 South Second St. in Brookhaven, will no longer be available to the department on Oct. 1. Lincoln County supervisors voted in January to let the department's lease on the building expire, planning to relocate the expanding Lincoln County Tax Assessor's Office into the space.
Public opposition to the decision throughout the summer months forced supervisors to reconsider their decision, but MDWF&P rejected the county's last offer and the county, in turn, rejected the department's demands.
County supervisors were willing to renovate the rundown Courthouse Annex to house both the wildlife department and local tax office, but they planned to cut MDWF&P's office space down to 2,200 square feet and increase its rent to $1,000 per month to help cover renovation costs. MDWF&P wanted to retain the whole building - making county renovation plans impossible - and continue paying $500 per month.
In Magnolia, MDWF&P will enjoy almost three times the floor space at half the price of Lincoln County supervisors' plan.
"We're excited - we're glad to have them here," Pike County Board of Supervisors President Chuck Lambert said of MDWF&P. "That's 10 people who will be here pretty much full time, with another 30 who will be in and out of the office."
Lambert said he and fellow supervisors approached MDWF&P when they first heard it was considering a relocation to Percy Quin.
"We knew we had a vacant building, we had been looking at doing some other things with it ... and we just felt like this may be a better fit," he said.
With the armory totaling around 14,000 square feet in size and MDWF&P signed on to lease less than half that space, Lambert said Pike County may seek to give the wildlife department some company in the future. He said another law enforcement agency would be an ideal fit, but options remain open.
Ball, meanwhile, said MDWF&P harbors no ill feelings about its eviction from its Brookhaven office and move to Pike County.
"We totally understand the need for (the Courthouse Annex)," he said. "We regret we're having to leave here, but we understand that decision. The Lincoln County Board of Supervisors has been more than good to us in the 14 years we've been here."
Ball said Lincoln County supervisors' offer of renovating the building was "gracious," but 2,200 square feet was not enough room for the district office. Supervisors also offered the department the use of the old Keystone-Seneca manufacturing plant, but Ball said the massive structure "wouldn't work for us."
"A couple of businessmen from Lincoln County came to us with buildings, which had room, but the rent..." Ball said. "When you compare apples to apples... Magnolia is ready to go."
Ball said MDWF&P would host a grand opening at the Magnolia office sometime in October or November after officers there are settled in.
