Natchez board discuss police firing, visitor center leases in closed-door session

NATCHEZ. Miss. – The mayor and Board of Aldermen closed the public out of their meeting for more than three hours Thursday to discuss the firing of a Natchez Police Department employee and new leases for occupants of the Natchez Visitor Reception Center.

The police employee’s name or circumstances were not discussed when the board emerged in open session to approve NPD Chief Walter Armstrong’s request for the termination.

After the closed session, aldermen also voted to authorize Mayor Darryl Grennell to sign leases with Natchez Pilgrimage Tours and the Mississippi Department of Transportation to continue occupying the visitors center.  MDOT and NPT use the facility to welcome tourists, provide information and sell tour tickets.

The board also directed the mayor to work out terms for the city’s tourism agency — the Natchez Convention Promotion Commission and Visit Natchez — to stay at the visitors center. The National Park Service is in the process of taking over the city-owned facility.

While state law allows government boards to have closed-door meetings about personnel and property leases, no explanation was given in open session why the public could not be privy to the board’s discussions about the visitors center leases.

Grennell and aldermen also discussed personnel in the city clerk’s office but provided no other details to the public.

The mayor and aldermen held their Thursday meeting by telephones and the Internet using the GoToMeeting app, which has been their mode to meet remotely since the COVID-19 pandemic flared in March.

In a 30-minute session before the public was disconnected, the board voted to hire a new firefighter and a clerk for the Duncan Park tennis courts. Aldermen imposed a hiring freeze earlier this spring because of the city’s pandemic-induced revenue shortage. However, a new firefighter is much needed because six have left the Natchez Fire Department in the past three months, according to city officials.

A tennis court attendant is needed to ensure players pay the required fees for using the park facility, said city Recreation Director Fay Minor. She noted three tennis court employees have recently quit — including longtime tennis instructor Henry Harris.