Natchez to begin curbside pickup of storm debris, plan for riverboat docks and get tough on street panhandlers

NATCHEZ, Miss. – City workers and prison inmates will soon be picking up Natchez residents’ storm debris left by Hurricane Delta.

While the city normally limits how much its crews and contracted garbage collector haul away, those restrictions will be temporarily canceled, said Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson. Residents with fallen limbs and other vegetated rubbish produced by Delta’s rage should place the storm remnants on their street curbs “in manageable amounts” for the city workers to pick up, the mayor said.

The Board of Aldermen on Tuesday approved Gibson’s plans to have about 10 inmates from a McComb detention facility brought to Natchez to help the city’s short-staffed Public Works Department gather the storm debris. Hurricane Delta’s strong winds roared through Natchez Oct. 9.

—

Police Chief Walter Armstrong said Natchez needs a tough panhandling law forbidding people from begging for money on city streets. He said they’re posing traffic hazards at busy intersections as they solicit money from motorists at stoplights. The Board of Aldermen asked city attorney Bryan Callaway to draft a panhandling ordinance.

In meeting with the mayor and aldermen Tuesday, Armstrong also said motorists going too fast and playing loud music continues to be a problem, He noted Natchez police have “stepped up enforcement efforts” by issuing tickets to violators.

—

The mayor said his recent meetings with river cruise-ship operators show keen interest in building three docks on Silver Street in three years and also making Natchez Under the Hill flood-proof. Viking Cruises already plans to build a riverside dock past the end of Silver Street on city-owned property. In addition, Gibson envisions American Cruise Lines mooring at the existing boat ramp by the end of the street. And, he said, The American Queen Steamboat Co. could dock its boats by the ramp in front of The Camp and Under the Hill Saloon.

Gibson expressed hopes the three docks could accommodate about 10 or so boats a week. While cruises have been halted since March because of COVID, Gibson said to expect ACL and AQ to resume its river runs early next year. Viking plans to inaugurate its Mississippi River cruises in 2022. The mayor said the riverboat companies could help pay for measures to protect Silver Street from the river’s high rises, which have been more frequent in recent years to make accessibility to Under the Hill more difficult.

The city in recent years has tried unsuccessfully to get state and federal funds for a riverboat docking facility.

—

Gibson also said planning continues for outfitting the Mississippi River bridges with decorative lights. However, the Mississippi Department of Transportation has not “firmly committed” to providing the funds for this while Louisiana officials have agreed to pay half the costs of the new lighting. Gibson said it would give the interstate bridges an “elegant glow.”