LUY-Development

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  • Adams County tornado sirens to be fixed in September

    NATCHEZ, Miss. – Adams County’s out-of-order tornado warning sirens are expected to be fixed next month.

    They’ve been functionally useless for several months because of faulty radio equipment, but the needed parts are expected to arrive early next month and be installed by the end of September, said county Emergency Management Director Brad Bradford.

    The 18 alarm towers spread throughout Natchez and Adams County currently can’t be automatically switched on remotely because of the defective radio system.  Each would need to be climbed and manually sounded off if a tornado was approaching. However, when repaired, they “should be good,” Bradford told county supervisors Monday.

     

    The repair costs have been projected to be about $76,000 plus $8,000 for labor, according to prices presented to supervisors in April. Bradford asked the Natchez Board of Aldermen in June to pay for fixing four sirens within the city, but the board declined. Aldermen said city taxpayers are already helping fund the fixes with county property taxes they pay.

  • Adams County supervisors reject taking land dispute to court

    NATCHEZ, Miss. – Adams County supervisors were divided Monday in voting down legal action to force state Rep. Robert Johnson to open up his family’s property to ensure public access on Carthage Point Road.

    Supervisors Warren Gaines, Ricky Gray and Angela Hutchins rejected a motion by supervisors Wes Middleton and Kevin Wilson to get a judge to order unlocking the gate to the Johnson family’s property located on the rural south Adams County road.

    Middleton and Wilson said the county has a legal right of way to the property. However, the other supervisors questioned whether public access is actually being denied or if court action is needed.

    Carthage Point Road — which extends past the old International Paper mill site and runs along the Mississippi River — is prone to flooding and erosion. Part of it has collapsed, but county workers are doing the dirtwork needed to rebuild it. While there are no residences along the road, it has oil wells and hunting camps that are currently unreachable.

     

    Johnson – who met earlier this month with supervisors and other stakeholders concerned about the closed road— said his family has owned the Carthage Point property for about 35 years.

     

    Access through the Johnson property is needed as a bypass for the road’s closed section, Wilson said. He said the county was granted a right of way to the land in 1983. “It’s a deeded right of way, and we don’t need to lose it,” Wilson said. 

    The divided vote Monday not to take Johnson to court prompted sharp words between two supervisors. Gray said he took offense at Wilson’s comments after Gray voted against the motion.
  • Repairing Natchez’ indoor pool could be financially out of reach

    Repairing Natchez’ indoor pool could be financially out of reach

    NATCHEZ, Miss. – Fixing the city’s century-old Carpenter swimming pool could be “astronomically expensive” and beyond repair.

     

    Located inside the Natchez Senior Citizens Center on Washington and Martin Luther King streets, the basement pool has been closed this summer because equipment inside emits toxic carbon monoxide. Other problems to fix include leaks that could threaten the stability of the 112-year-old building it occupies.

     

    An engineer’s assessment of the needed repairs has the work costing a budget-busting amount.

     

    “This sounds like this could turn into an astronomically expensive proposition,” Natchez Alderman Curtis Moroney said Tuesday after hearing the engineer’s report of what’s needed to repair the swimming pool’s structural defects.

     

    “We just need to put our thinking caps on and be prepared that we might not get this pool back,” Moroney said.

     

    Meeting Tuesday with the Board of Aldermen, Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson said efforts will be made to find money to get the indoor pool back in operations.

     

    “We’re going to have to determine if there are grant funds available – other sources of funding available. That’s going to take some time,” Gibson said.

     

    The mayor declined to publicly cite the potential cost for refurbishing the pool. Letting contractors know the estimated amount could prompt those bidding for the job to inflate how much they’d charge for the project, he said.   

     

    Considered Mississippi’s oldest indoor swimming pool that’s still been in use, the natatorium is in the former Carpenter school building constructed in 1913.

     

    Crippled by water leaks and circulation problems, the pool’s repairs would involve ground excavation work and replacing its tiles with a plastered floor and walls, Gibson said. The pool’s mechanical equipment would have to be placed outside in a newly built structure because of the toxic fumes it emits.

     

    The indoor pool in recent years has been a popular place for the elderly and others to swim year-round. It had previously been closed for decades but was put back into use several years ago. 
     
    The only other public swimming pool in Natchez is the aquatic center at Liberty Park. 

  • Natchez board helping Trace Town developers finance revitalization of old shopping center

    NATCHEZ, Miss. – The city board approved plans Tuesday to help Trace Town developers finance the revitalization of Natchez’ once-premier shopping center.

     

     

    Through a state urban renewal program, bonds can be issued to generate funds for developers to rebuild the dilapidated Seargent Prentiss Drive property. 

     

    This can bring the shopping center “back to its former glory,” said attorney Brad Davis, who’s been hired by the Natchez Board of Aldermen to manage the city’s use of the state program authorizing it to help rejuvenate blighted areas. 

     

    Developer Jimmy Smith bought Trace Town in 2023 and unveiled plans in April to rebuild it for Hobby Lobby and other retailers to occupy. Existing structures are being demolished – except for the U.S. Post Office – to make space for 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. They can borrow money through bonds that are repaid with sales and property taxes that would otherwise go to the city coffers.

     

    Natchez aldermen voted Tuesday to send the Trace Town redevelopment plan to the Natchez Planning Commission for review. A public hearing will be held before city officials officially approve it as an urban renewal project eligible for public financing. 

     

     

    The total investment for Trace Town’s renewal has been estimated to be more than $30 million and projected to create 150 job opportunities – what Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson calls “the largest retail development in our corner of the state in four decades.”

     

    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 that must be removed, according to the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality.

     

    Built in the 1960s, the shopping center has deteriorated and been an eyesore for several years.It does house a few businesses, medical clinics and a U.S. Post Office branch, but its buildings are mostly empty.

  • Adams County Property Value Reassessments Raise Concerns Among Landowners

    Adams County supervisors heard several concerns Monday from local property owners objecting to recent increases in their property value assessments for tax purposes. The objections came as the county moves through a mandated reassessment process that has seen property values rise due to inflation and other contributing factors.

    While reassessed values have gone up, officials noted it is still too early to determine how much landowners will owe in property taxes. Final tax bills are expected to be issued later this year.

    In Mississippi, property tax values are calculated based on several factors, including how the property is used, its construction, and its current market value. The Mississippi Department of Revenue requires counties to reassess property values every four years to reflect changes in the market and ensure tax equity.

  • Carthage Point Road Repairs Delayed

    Two years after Adams County received a $500,000 allocation from the state to repair the frequently flooded Carthage Point Road, progress has been hampered by a series of complications. County officials continue to face delays tied to environmental and bureaucratic hurdles, but remain committed to seeing the project through.

    Adams County Supervisor Wes Middleton met Monday with concerned citizens regarding the continued closure of the road. “I’m going to fight to the end to make sure these people get access to their property,” Middleton said, acknowledging frustrations over the ongoing delays.

    Board of Supervisors President Kevin Wilson echoed the urgency to resolve the matter. “We’re going to get to it as fast as we can. I’m sorry it’s taken so long,” Wilson said. In the meantime, county crews are hauling in dirt in an effort to address erosion and make the road passable again.

    The project has faced multiple challenges. The Mississippi River’s persistently high water levels have limited access and workability. Further complicating efforts are questions surrounding how the $500,000 can legally be spent. Carthage Point Road, which runs past the old International Paper mill and parallels the Mississippi River, is highly susceptible to flooding and erosion. Though there are no homes on the road, it provides access to oil wells and hunting camps.

    Among the affected landowners is State Representative Robert Johnson of Natchez, whose family has held property on Carthage Point for approximately 35 years. Johnson joined Monday’s meeting with the Board of Supervisors, raising concerns about prolonged inaccessibility to private land.

    The $500,000 grant was included in a broader $372 million infrastructure package passed by the Mississippi Legislature in 2023. Funding came from the American Rescue Plan Act, a federal initiative enacted in 2021 to aid states in recovering from the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Johnson pointed to confusion at the state auditor’s office over how the funds may be used, including questions about whether formal contractor bids are required before work can proceed. These uncertainties continue to delay the much-needed repairs.

    Local leaders reaffirmed their intent to push forward, despite the setbacks, to ensure landowners regain access to the flood-prone route.

  • New state homeless law revives discussions about shelter

    New state homeless law revives discussions about shelter

    NATCHEZ, Miss. – A new state law is forcing local officials to crack down on homeless people encamped in public spaces and is reviving discussions about Natchez-Adams County’s lack of a homeless shelter.

    Adams County Emergency Management Director Brad Bradford is wondering whether the county must now fence off the grounds of the county’s disaster shelter, where homeless people have been congregating. The community’s Safe Room building on Liberty Road was constructed to provide temporary refuge for people during weather-related emergencies. However, vagrants routinely gather there and must be chased off by sheriff’s deputies, said Bradford, who met today with the Adams County Board of Supervisors.

    The state homeless law, which went into effect last month, specifically prohibits encampments on public properties not intended to be campsites. People convicted of violating this law can be fined and jailed for up to six months.

    To enforce the new law, Natchez has begun posting signs in known homeless encampments telling people to vacate the premises and remove their belongings and litter or face legal action.

    Adams County Supervisor Ricky Gray expressed concerns about the state Legislature enacting the law against the homeless but doing little to help local officials enforce the law or provide itinerants a place to stay.

    Bradford pointed to previous discussions about Natchez-Adams County’s lack of a homeless shelter. In 2018, he called for creating a committee to find a location and come up with money to pay for a fully operational facility. Nothing has come of that.

    Adams County supervisors in the past have opened the community Safe Room to people without homes during frigid weather but only for brief periods.

  • Natchez officials tackle blighted properties

    NATCHEZ, Miss. – City aldermen have adjudicated 26 parcels of blighted private properties for workers to clean up if owners continue refusing to do so.  

      

    The Natchez officials authorized the work needed to clear out overgrown yards or demolish dilapidated structures that have been formally deemed “a menace to the public health, safety and welfare of the community.”

     

    Owners of these nuisance properties have failed to follow warnings by city officials to take corrective measures.

     

    Efforts will be made to force landowners to reimburse the city for the cleanup expenses, but that’s frequently futile. 

     

     

    “Now we’re stuck with taking care of 26 properties,” said city Alderman Sarah Carter Smith. “So this is not a good thing. It’s a terrible thing. When people don’t keep up with their property, all taxpayers pay for it unless we get reimbursed – and oftentimes we don’t. So it’s very, very frustrating for people that do take care of their homes.”

     

    The list of nuisance properties presented Tuesday to the Board of Aldermen to judge are on various streets – mostly in north Natchez — that include Beaumont, Brenham, South Concord, East Woodlawn, Metcalfe, North Rankin and Purnell.

     

    While the city will take the necessary remediation measures for these deteriorated structures and overgrown land, there are nearly 200 previously blighted properties that city officials have gotten owners to make right, said Mayor Dan Gibson.

     

    As of Tuesday, there are “close to 200 you have worked with without have to adjudicate, and that is good progress,” Gibson told Natchez Police Commander Lee Best, who enforces city laws against blighted properties. 

     

    Tuesday’s meeting of the Natchez mayor and Board of Aldermen can be viewed at youtube.com
  • Mayor breaks Natchez aldermen’s tie vote for picking sidewalk contractor

    Mayor breaks Natchez aldermen’s tie vote for picking sidewalk contractor

    NATCHEZ, Miss. – Mayor Dan Gibson had to break Natchez aldermen’s 3-3 tie Tuesday in voting to hire a local contractor to do more work needed for Commerce Street sidewalk improvement project.

     

    Gibson rebuffed the three dissenting aldermen’s assertions that Hope Enterprises has been too slow renovating the Natchez Convention Center and doing other city construction projects.

     

     “They have done good work for us,” said Gibson, noting delays renovating the convention center have been due to conferences held there that city officials didn’t want to disrupt with construction work. He also noted Hope’s $8,000 costs for sealing the Commerce Street sidewalks is far less than what two other construction companies proposed. 

     

    Siding with Gibson were Aldermen Sarah Carter Smith, Ben Davis and Curtis Moroney. Dissenting were Aldermen Valencia Hall, Billie Joe Frazier and Felicia Bridgewater Irving. 

     

    Frazier argued the city awards Hope a lopsided share of city construction work and takes too long to finish. “They have too many projects and they are not coming in on time,” he said.

     

    The Commerce Street project, which began last year, is largely finished for the downtown block between Main and Franklin streets. It’s been envisioned as an arts district with the old Ritz theater as its centerpiece. Natchez in 2022 got nearly $470,000 in federal funds for this funneled through the Mississippi Department of Transportation. The money was combined with city funds to make sidewalks more handicapped accessible and to install new sidewalk lighting and light poles.

    Meeting Tuesday evening, the Board of Aldermen also approved the purchase of 83 computers for most Natchez municipal offices. The Dell computers — with a total cost of about $74,000 — are needed to replace the city’s outdated computers.

     

    Getting new computers “is a good move and something we really need to do,” said Alderman Curtis Moroney.

  • Rotary Fountain at Bluff Park to Be Reimagined as Flower Bed

    The iconic Rotary Club water fountain at Natchez’s bluff park is no longer functional due to severe leakage and structural damage.
    Installed in 1969 to mark the Rotary Club’s 50th anniversary, the fountain is set to be replaced. A proposal is under review to repurpose the site as a decorative flower bed featuring a smaller, modern water feature.