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NATCHEZ, Miss. – The Tennessee-based developer’s plans for revitalizing Natchez’ dilapidated Trace Town shopping center took what its chief executive said is a “necessary and critical first step” to help fund it.

The Natchez Board of Aldermen on Tuesday approved measures for designating Trace Town an urban renewal area enabling the city to help further redevelop it. This entails borrowing money through bonds. They would be repaid with sales and property taxes generated by the new development that would otherwise go to the city’s coffers.

Noon Real Estate of Chattanooga, Tenn., has a $25 million plan to rebuild Trace Town, the once-premier shopping center on Seargent Prentiss Drive that’s now in disrepair.

Meeting Tuesday with Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson and the six city aldermen, Noon Real Estate President Kevin Jennings said there are more hurdles to leap before his company’s Trace Town plans become a reality. Noon has been involved in developing more than 25 shopping centers with retailers including TJ Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, and Dick’s Sporting Goods.

In what’s being described as the Trace Town redevelopment’s Phase 2, Noon’s plans complement what’s already being done for building a Hobby Lobby store. It’ll be where Sears’ once stood at Trace Town near Regions bank and Walgreens. Natchez businessman Jimmy Smith bought the Trace Town property in 2023 and unveiled plans in April for Hobby Lobby and other retailers to occupy it. Existing structures are being demolished – except for the U.S. Post Office – to make space for the new construction. Plans have the Hobby Lobby store being built by next spring, with more stores to follow.

In the meantime, city officials are taking steps designating Trace Town an urban renewal area enabling developers to finance the project through the use of a state program authorizing the city to help rejuvenate blighted areas. Up to $6.5 million in urban renewal bonds could be issued by the city but with Noon repaying bondholders. Sales and property taxes Noon owe the city would be used to pay off the bond loan.

The Trace Town revitalization plan will be presented at a public hearing Sept. 22 before it can officially be approved as an urban renewal project eligible for the public financing. 

In addition to being designated an urban renewal area, Trace Town is being aided by a state program that helps developers defray the costs of cleaning up contaminated properties so they can be commercially viable. Trace Town’s buildings have asbestos-containing materials and other pollutants that must be removed or abated.

NATCHEZ, Miss. – Adams County supervisors have concurred with city officials to keep the Natchez-Adams County pool open through September. While it was scheduled to close Labor Day for the season, senior citizens made special pleas to extend the outdoor aquatic center’s swimming calendar as the city’s indoor swimming pool is closed for repairs.

The old Carpenter school’s natatorium is normally open year-round mostly for elderly swimmers. With the century-old pool now out of commission – and possibly beyond repair — they asked city and county officials to extend the outdoor pool’s swimming season as the weather remains warm.  

The Natchez Board of Aldermen last week agreed to this for the general public contingent on lifeguards being available to work. The Adams County Board of Supervisors acted likewise Tuesday for the Liberty Park pool that’s jointly owned by the city and county. 

NATCHEZ, Miss. – Three people are vying to be the new Natchez-Adams County Airport director.

An advisory committee is considering who to recommend for Adams County supervisors to decide whether to appoint, said county Administrator Mitzi Conn. Former county aviation director Richard Nelson resigned in July after working seven years in that post.

Conn said Tuesday she couldn’t publicly reveal the names of the three candidates being reviewed as Nelson’s replacement.

His resignation came three months after the Board of Supervisors decided to dissolve the five-member commission that’s been governing the county-owned airport for years. County supervisors took over the oversight duties with an aviation director and Conn handling day-to-day management.

Conn was an airport commission member before county supervisors made her the county’s chief administrative officer in April.

The change in the airport’s governance and management comes as Natchez-Adams County leaders continue trying to reestablish commercial air service here.

After about 30 years without, city and county officials since 2021 have been aggressively recruiting without success a passenger airline to serve the community on a regular basis. State and federal grants have been provided to subsidize airline services and improve airport infrastructure.

NATCHEZ, Miss. – Two candidates are running to be elected Adams County Justice Court judge for the northern district: appointed incumbent Shameca Collins and former court clerk Verna Johnson.

The special election will be Nov. 4. Collins, a former district attorney, was appointed judge by Adams County supervisors last October to replace Audrey Minor, who resigned a year ago citing health problems.

Collins and Johnson will be on a special-election ballot just for north Adams County voters to select the one to serve the rest of the judicial term, which runs through 2027. Adams County’s other Justice Court judge is Danny Barber, who was elected in 2023 by southern district voters.

Minor was first elected Adams County Justice Court judge in 2019 and again in 2023. She resigned in September 2024 amid published reports she was being sued by Johnson, a Justice Court clerk, and was the subject of a complaint filed with the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance.

Collins was unseated in 2023 as Adams County’s district attorney when she lost her second-term reelection bid to Tim Cotton.

Justice Court judges – who are not required to have law degrees – consider civil cases involving amounts of $3,500 or less, misdemeanor criminal cases and traffic-related cases that occur outside a municipality. They also conduct bond hearings and preliminary hearings in felony criminal cases, and they can issue search warrants.

The Natchez Board of Aldermen voted Tuesday to keep the community pool open longer than planned. Originally set to close Monday, the Natchez-Adams County Aquatic Center will now remain open through September.

Mayor Dan Gibson said the extension makes sense as warm temperatures continue and residents can still take advantage of the facility’s summer schedule.

Natchez aldermen are weighing improvements to the city’s recreation facilities. Meeting Tuesday, the board agreed to seek cost estimates for resurfacing tennis and pickleball courts at Duncan Park and North Natchez Park.

Several of the courts are badly cracked, and the total expense of repairs could reach about $70,000, according to a report presented to the board. City officials said part of the cost may be covered by private contributions.

Plans also call for converting some of Duncan Park’s tennis courts into dedicated pickleball courts.

The Board of Aldermen has taken a major step toward reshaping downtown. On Tuesday, members reviewed a $500,000 loan agreement from the state Department of Environmental Quality to help fund the demolition of the long-vacant Fry building. The city-owned structure, considered a polluted property, will be razed to make way for expanded parking for the neighboring Eola Hotel.

Plans to renovate and reopen the century-old Eola are advancing, with officials promising “good news” to be announced today regarding the long-delayed project, according to Mayor Gibson.

In other business, aldermen voted to apply for a federal grant aimed at enhancing city-owned land near Walmart on Seargent Prentiss Drive, where developers are exploring the possibility of building a new shopping center.

 Lance Harris, Helen Moss Smith and another member “are ready to step down” after several years on the six-seat board, said Mayor Dan Gibson.

 Six people have submitted resumes to serve on the commission, which is appointed by aldermen but is an independent municipal agency. It determines how to spend the city’s tourism tax revenues to market the city. It also oversees Visit Natchez, the city’s tourism agency with a staff of five.

NATCHEZ, Miss. –City officials are preparing new regulations to ensure group homes housing vulnerable adults are being properly run. Mayor Dan Gibson expressed concerns Tuesday about several residential neighborhood houses in Natchez becoming commercial ventures where “special-needs” adults are allegedly being abused. 

 “This will not happen in Natchez. … It will not happen under our watch,” Gibson said.

 He said measures are being drafted for the Natchez Board of Aldermen to adopt next month to require these group homes to be reviewed in order to get city permits for their locations. These licenses could be revoked if found in violation of the state law aimed at protecting vulnerable people from being abused, neglected or exploited. The city regulations are also to ensure the homes are adhering to city fire codes, sanitation safeguards and maintenance standards, Gibson said.

 The mayor noted complaints have been reported to him about group homes becoming neighborhood nuisances in wards represented by Aldermen Sarah Carter Smith and Curtis Moroney in central and south Natchez.  

 The Adams County Board of Supervisors earlier this month also heard a constituent’s grievance about a group home near his residence in the Natchez Indians Grand Village area. County board attorney Scott Slover said a federal law for disabled people prohibits local governments from zoning out group homes.