NATCHEZ, Miss. – The Board of Aldermen on Tuesday moved forward in seeking construction bids for renovating the North Natchez Park Youth Center.
However, it voted down an attempt by Alderman Billie Joe Frazier to have new bathrooms built there after testy verbal exchanges between him and Mayor Dan Gibson, who bristled at the alderman’s insinuations that city officials are neglecting the predominantly black section of town’s recreation needs.
They’re “not slighting any park over another. …We are fairly looking at all of our parks,” said Gibson, who accused Frazier of being unruly.
“I will entertain no more grandstanding – because we are accomplishing great things,” the mayor said of the city’s ongoing improvements of parks and playgrounds.
“I don’t have to grandstand or anything like that,” Frazier rebutted. “I’m just expressing my concerns and what my constituents have said about the park and what needs to be done out there.”
He said the park’s toilet facilities are inadequate and should be replaced.
“I’m not trying to be confrontational, but it just needs to be done,” Frazier said. “I do not want the North Natchez Park and my constituents on that side of town to be neglected.”
Frazier asked his fellow aldermen Tuesday to spend more money to add new toilet facilities there, but they turned him down in a 4-2 vote. New North Natchez Park restrooms are not in the city’s recreation renovation plans or budget.
The board did vote Tuesday to get builders to submit proposals on how much it’ll cost for renovating the dilapidated North Natchez Youth Center. Preliminary budget estimates have it costing about $365,000.
The Board of Aldermen last year borrowed about $2 million through bonds to upgrade city parks. The park projects include improving the youth center and restoring the deteriorating Duncan Park Golf Course clubhouse. Ballfield upgrades and new tennis courts, playground equipment and splash pads are also in the plans.
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Design changes have increased expenses for making Silver Street floodproof, with it now projected to cost about $2 million to raise the riverside thoroughfare, according to estimates presented to Natchez aldermen Tuesday. The budget has the city and two riverboat companies footing about $1 million and state funds taking care of the rest.
The elevated section will be at the lower part of Silver Street along the Mississippi River.
Plans call raising the street to a level that will avert the river’s high rises. It has flooded more frequently in recent years to make accessibility difficult for Natchez Under-the-Hill businesses and riverboats.
The city has applied for $1 million in road funds from the state Department of Transportation. The city’s share is to come from federal American Rescue Plan funds Natchez as received while $500,000 has been committed by Viking and American Cruise Lines to help elevate the street where they plan to build docking facilities for their riverboats.
The street-reconstruction project has been in the planning phase since 2020 with construction to have started soon, but that’s been delayed by design changes and high water.
The changes have increased the construction costs by about $200,000, according to a report presented to city officials. The board on Tuesday reallotted $44,000 for the engineering costs of revising plans for accommodating stormwater drainage on Silver Street.
The rebuilt street should improve capacity and accessibility for the riverboats, their buses and their passengers, according to plans presented to city officials. The work will also include putting in new sidewalks, lighting, walls and fencing.
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