Author: Imported Author 1890002

NATCHEZ, Miss. – Adams County supervisors received complaints Monday from volunteer county firemen about having to be subordinate to Natchez’ professional fire fighters when called into action.

The agreement the Adams County Board of Supervisors has with the city calls for the Natchez Fire Department to be in charge when it and county volunteers are combating fires. “That’s very demeaning, insulting and almost offensive,” said Everett Baker, who noted he was speaking on behalf of other volunteer fire fighters. He said several of them are just as experienced and well-trained as city firemen.

With Adams County only having a volunteer fire department and four small stations not fully equipped, residents outside Natchez rely mostly on city fire fighters. This is through a compact supervisors have with Natchez going back to 1994. That arrangement was renewed last year with the county paying the city more than $900,000 a year, which includes the salaries of 16 NFD firemen.

Baker urged the county Board of Supervisors to spend more money to expand the county fire department’s capabilities to ensure it can respond quicker than the NFD in the county’s outlying areas. He noted better fire protection coverage for the county should reduce insurance premiums property owners must pay.

County board President Kevin Wilson said supervisors will continue to consider Baker’s concerns as they prepare the budget for funding county government operations in the coming year. “We got a budget coming up, and things are going to change a little bit,” he told Baker.

Adams County does annually get a share of state funds distributed throughout Mississippi for local fire departments.

The Adams County Board of Supervisors in recent years has discussed plans for establishing a full-fledged county fire department but hasn’t followed through with funding. About $500,000 would be needed at the outset, county Emergency Management Director Brad Bradford said Monday. About $100,000 from the county’s state fire protection money would pay for upgrading Adams County’s fleet of fire trucks, he said.

Bradford pointed to plans for two fully-manned fire stations in the north and south parts of Adams County that could better serve residents living outside the city and reduce their house insurance costs.

Potential fire station sites reviewed by the board in 2018 included the old Washington school property on U.S. 61 north and a location near the Beau Pre residential subdivision south of Natchez.

NATCHEZ, Miss. – Testing of Natchez water should be completed Thursday afternoon to determine if it’s safe to drink and the city’s self-imposed boil-water notice can be lifted.

The Mississippi State Department of Health is conducting the tests after the city water treatment plant’s pumps were crippled by a lightning strike Monday morning – temporarily diminishing water flow for many Natchez residents.

“Samples came into the lab this morning. Results should be available early tomorrow afternoon,” MSDH spokesman Andrea Dilworth said Wednesday. 

While Natchez’ water pressure was quickly revived Monday, the MSDH must conduct tests to ensure the water is safe to drink, brush teeth, wash dishes, clean fruit and vegetables without first boiling.

Individual water systems issue “precautionary” boil-water alerts when water pressure is lost, according to information posted on the MSDH’s website. Water systems are responsible for notifying their customers directly using whatever means necessary when such a self-imposed boil-water alert is issued.

When water testing by the MSDH Public Health Laboratory indicates problems related to water quality, MSDH immediately sends a “state-issued” boil-water alert to the public. The local water system is again responsible for notifying customers directly.

NATCHEZ, Miss. – Aldermen approved the purchase Tuesday of decorative lights for the Mississippi River bridges with state funds provided in 2022 that would be taken away if not used soon.

“We are under a time limit to spend this money or it goes back,” said Mayor Dan Gibson.

Facing a deadline to spend all of the $500,000 the Mississippi Legislature appropriated to Natchez three years ago for illuminating the two bridges, the Board of Aldermen agreed to buy LED bulbs from a Jackson-based supplier for nearly $283,000. Other expenses have already been paid for engineering and design work.

“This will allow us now to go back to the Legislature and request for assistance in the installation costs,” Gibson said.

The Mississippi Legislature is holding a special session today to fund state government, but it’s unlikely any money would be earmarked for the bridge-lighting project now. The Legislature will not reconvene until January for its annual regular session. 

Gibson expressed hopes the Louisiana Legislature will also allocate funds for fully illuminating the bridges. That state assembly is in session until June 12.

“We never give up. People thought it couldn’t be done. Wait for it to happen,” Gibson said of his pet bridge-illumination project.

Some engineering and design work has been done for the new bridge-lighting display, which is a scaled-down rendition of the special-effect, multicolored luminosity Gibson earlier envisioned at an estimated cost of more than $5 million. 

The revised plan calls for lights to be placed on the north side of the bridge exiting Natchez and the south side of the one coming from Vidalia. Lights might also be placed on the bridges’ piers.

Necessary permits have been granted from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Coast Guard, which regulate structures and navigation on the Mississippi River. The lights would be dimmer to ensure they aren’t too bright and not interfere with birds’ flight paths during their migration seasons.

NATCHEZ, Miss. –  The mayor and aldermen commended the Natchez Water Works for its quick response getting the system pumped back up after Monday’s lightning storm damaged the water treatment plant.

“I think they responded really well,” Alderman Curtis Moroney said as he also commended other essential service agencies and workers activated by two consecutive nights of Natchez storms that downed trees and outed electricity Monday and Tuesday.

However – as the city remained in a “precautionary boil water” advisory Tuesday evening– aldermen agreed to ask the city’s water operator to consider expanding its modes of communications with customers: establish a phone text-messaging option to provide them service alerts.

The NWW does issue notices on its website and Facebook page and informs the news media, but some residents aren’t tuned into such sources, said Alderman Sarah Carter Smith. Sending texts to NWW subscribers would be another option. Meeting Tuesday, the Board of Aldermen voted to ask NWW officials to look into this.

The city’s water plant near Morgantown Road was hit by lightning early Memorial Day, briefly diminishing water flow for many Natchez residents. While the water pressure was quickly revived Monday, the Mississippi State Department of Health must conduct tests to ensure the water is safe to drink, brush teeth, wash dishes, clean fruit and vegetables without first boiling.

Individual water systems issue “precautionary” boil-water alerts when water pressure is lost, according to information posted on MSDH’s website. Water systems are responsible for notifying their customers directly using whatever means necessary when such a self-imposed boil-water alert is issued.

When water testing by the MSDH Public Health Laboratory indicates problems related to water quality, MSDH immediately sends a “state-issued” boil-water alert to the public via press release and the agency’s website. The local water system is again responsible for notifying customers directly.

In addition to posting state-issued alerts, MSDH will issue self-imposed alerts if properly notified by local water system officials. MSDH will issue press releases to radio, television and newspaper outlets in the affected area to supplement the public notification efforts of the local water system.

The Natchez Water Works is a semiautonomous branch of city government that’s overseen by a board of commissioners appointed by Natchez aldermen, who also decide how much to charge customers as recommended by NWW officials. “Other than that, the Natchez Water Works runs its own operations,” said Mayor Dan Gibson.