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NATCHEZ, Miss. – Mayor Dan Gibson said he looks forward to Natchez next year being able to simultaneously accommodate riverboats from three cruise-line companies that could bring more than 2,000 visitors per week.

 

“We’re excited about the cruise lines, ” Gibson said. “They will be seeing Mississippi and seeing Natchez in first-class style.”

 

Gibson said he’s finalized negotiations with American Cruise Lines, the American Queen Steamboat Coand Viking Cruises for them to build docks on the city’s Silver Street riverfront.

 

By autumn 2022, the three cruise lines together are projected to bring up to 2,000 passengers per week to tour Natchez, the mayor said. ACL, AQSC and Viking are building boat-docking facilities for each at their own expense.

 

After a year of no river cruises because of COVID, ACL and AQSC resumed their Natchez visits last month.Viking plans to inaugurate its Mississippi River cruises in August 2022.

 

With the city charging the riverboats a $2-per-passenger docking fee, Natchez could receive up to $4,000 a week in revenues based on maximum passenger counts. This is on top of money generated for Natchez shops and tourism venues that passengers visit.

 

The riverboat companies have also committed to give the city $500,000 to help Natchez build an elevated street where the river frequently floods Under-the-Hill. ACL and Viking are putting up $250,000 each, Gibson said.

 

An additional $250,000 is needed for this street-raising project, Adams County Supervisor Angela Hutchins said Wednesday at a meeting city and county officials had with Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann to present their wish list for state funds.

 

The rebuilt street will be atop a levee-like formation at Silver Street’s lower section before it converges into D.A. Biglane Street leading up to Canal Street. Gibson has said the section would be built up enough to avert the river’s high rises to the record height it reached in 2011. The river has flooded more frequently in recent years to make accessibility for Under-the-Hill businesses and riverboats more difficult.

 

Gibson noted that Viking and ACL have specified the separate spots they’ll anchor at to ensure there’s enough space between the two when their riverboats dock at the same time. The Natchez Board of Aldermen on Tuesday voted to confirm those locations and get final leases drawn up for approval.

 

Viking and American Cruise Lines plan to build their docking facilities 100 feet apart at the end of Silver Street by the boat ramp where the Isle of Capri floating casino was formerly berthed.

 

The American Queen Steamboat Co. plans to dock its boats by the ramp in front of The Camp restaurant and Under-the-Hill Saloon.

 

Gibson said the ACL dock will be open to the general public for viewing the river and sunsets but not for fishing. The Viking pier will not be accessible for the public.

 

In addition to being scrutinized by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – which regulates river structures — dock designs will be reviewed by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History and the Natchez Preservation Commission because of the site’s historic setting.

 

NATCHEZ, Miss. – Mayor Dan Gibson said he looks forward to Natchez next year being able to simultaneously accommodate riverboats from three cruise-line companies that could bring more than 2,000 visitors per week.

 

“We’re excited about the cruise lines, ” Gibson said. “They will be seeing Mississippi and seeing Natchez in first-class style.”

 

Gibson said he’s finalized negotiations with American Cruise Lines, the American Queen Steamboat Coand Viking Cruises for them to build docks on the city’s Silver Street riverfront.

 

By autumn 2022, the three cruise lines together are projected to bring up to 2,000 passengers per week to tour Natchez, the mayor said. ACL, AQSC and Viking are building boat-docking facilities for each at their own expense.

 

After a year of no river cruises because of COVID, ACL and AQSC resumed their Natchez visits last month.Viking plans to inaugurate its Mississippi River cruises in August 2022.

 

With the city charging the riverboats a $2-per-passenger docking fee, Natchez could receive up to $4,000 a week in revenues based on maximum passenger counts. This is on top of money generated for Natchez shops and tourism venues that passengers visit.

 

The riverboat companies have also committed to give the city $500,000 to help Natchez build an elevated street where the river frequently floods Under-the-Hill. ACL and Viking are putting up $250,000 each, Gibson said.

 

An additional $250,000 is needed for this street-raising project, Adams County Supervisor Angela Hutchins said Wednesday at a meeting city and county officials had with Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann to present their wish list for state funds.

 

The rebuilt street will be atop a levee-like formation at Silver Street’s lower section before it converges into D.A. Biglane Street leading up to Canal Street. Gibson has said the section would be built up enough to avert the river’s high rises to the record height it reached in 2011. The river has flooded more frequently in recent years to make accessibility for Under-the-Hill businesses and riverboats more difficult.

 

Gibson noted that Viking and ACL have specified the separate spots they’ll anchor at to ensure there’s enough space between the two when their riverboats dock at the same time. The Natchez Board of Aldermen on Tuesday voted to confirm those locations and get final leases drawn up for approval.

 

Viking and American Cruise Lines plan to build their docking facilities 100 feet apart at the end of Silver Street by the boat ramp where the Isle of Capri floating casino was formerly berthed.

 

The American Queen Steamboat Co. plans to dock its boats by the ramp in front of The Camp restaurant and Under-the-Hill Saloon.

 

Gibson said the ACL dock will be open to the general public for viewing the river and sunsets but not for fishing. The Viking pier will not be accessible for the public.

 

In addition to being scrutinized by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – which regulates river structures — dock designs will be reviewed by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History and the Natchez Preservation Commission because of the site’s historic setting.

NATCHEZ, Miss. – The much-delayed remaking of the old Natchez train station into a culinary and entertainment venue is expected to be completed by the end of the year with developers planning to spend more than $1 million.

 

“This has been long in the making,” said Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson. “It’s time to get this baby born and start work…. This is going to happen soon.”

 

The Natchez Board of Aldermen on Tuesday finally approved the lease that allows developers Tate Taylor and John Norris to start their restoration of the century-old Broadway Street railroad depot.

 

Norris said construction should start immediately so the restaurant can open this coming autumn.

 

He and Taylor are filmmakers who also operate the nearby Crooked Letter movie studio, Smoot’s bar and The Little Easy eatery – all integral parts of an entertainment district city leaders have been trying for years to develop in the Natchez bluff area.

 

Taylor said he envisions the area becoming “a destination weekend spot” and “mini central park” for visitors and local residents to enjoy food, libations, concerts and other recreational activities overlooking the Mississippi River.

 

“It’s going to be the people’s spot to go,” he told the mayor and Board of Aldermen as they were setting Tuesday to approve leasing the city-owned depot building to the partners. Taylor and Norris are planning to spend more than $1 million to enhance the old train station and surrounding grounds.

 

The board in December 2019 selected them to pursue their plans for the depot. Lease negotiations have been underway since then to finalize the agreement. During that time, plans for what the depot will become have been enhanced, Taylor said.

 

“This project is getting bigger and bigger, and we’re doing it right,” Taylor said.

 

The terms of the lease – which Natchez city attorney Bryan Callaway noted brings “good news and a good business to our community” – has the depot being leased officially to Church Hill Music Group, the corporation that has Taylor and Norris partnered to redevelop the property. The lease calls for the rent being $1,700 a month, but that amount is deducted by credits given based on the improvements the lessees make to the building, Callaway said.The lease is for five years with the option to renew. Church Hill Music will pay for maintaining the building and grounds.

 

In addition to converting the old depot’s interior into a “farm-to-table” restaurant, plans include the adjacent bluff-side grounds having an amphitheater for musical performances and a patio for outdoor dining. Public restrooms will also be built outside the depot.

 

A state-designated Mississippi landmark, the passenger-train station was built around 1912 by the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad and later owned by Illinois Central Railroad. Passenger-rail service for Natchez ended in the 1940s after World War II. The building became a restaurant — The Sidetrack — in the 1970s.

 

The building has been empty since 2013, when The Cock of the Walk restaurant and The Old South Trading Post souvenir shop were evicted by the city so the building could be refurbished.

 

Its exterior was renovated in 2016 by the city, but the building has remained an empty shell as the Board of Aldermen held up plans for completing the interior’s restoration as city officials sought developers.

 

With it being an historic landmark, its redevelopment is being done under the watchful eye of the state Department of Archives and History and the Natchez Preservation Commission, which both have to approve the architecture and construction plans before they’re implemented. The Historic Natchez Foundation is also providing input.

 

NATCHEZ, Miss. – The city Board of Aldermen is considering a request to remove the Natchez Confederate monument at Memorial Park placed there in 1890.

 

This comes a week after Mayor Dan Gibson unveiled plans to erect another monument at the Main Street park to honor black Union soldiers who fought in the Civil War.

 

Gibson is not calling for taking down the statue that memorializes Confederate soldiers from Natchez-Adams County killed during the war, but Alderman Billie Joe Frazier said it should be. The men it honors “were traitorous to the Union,” Frazier said.

 

He wanted Tuesday to get the board to vote for removing the 131-year-old monument from the city park. Aldermen instead voted to further review a request by Frazier and Natchez resident Lee Ford.

 

“That statue downtown represents oppression and intimidation, and it needs to come down,” Ford told the board and mayor during their Tuesday meeting.

 

The tall, stone monument — topped by a standing soldier with a rifle pointed down in a surrendering pose — was placed there in 1890 “in Memory of the Confederate Dead from Natchez and Adams County” by the local Confederate Memorial Association, according to inscriptions on the statue’s base.

 

“From each Lost Cause of Earth, something precious springs to birth, though lost it be to men, it lives with God again,” reads the monument engraving.

 

Voting Tuesday to put off a final decision on the Confederate memorial’s fate were Aldermen Valencia Hall, Sarah Carter Smith, Felicia Irving and Dan Dillard. Frazier voted against this, wanting instead to rid the monument from Memorial Park. Alderman Ben Davis was absent and did not vote.

 

In announcing plans last week to erect a monument paying homage to black Union soldiers, the mayor said: “Now is a time for building up, not tearing down. This monument will be a significant step forward for all of us.”

 

Gibson is forming a committee chaired by black community activist Robert Pernell for advancing the monument honoring the U.S. Colored Troops, who were mostly freed slaves enlisted in the Union army during the Civil War. About 3,000 USCT soldiers were posted in Natchez during the Union occupation of Natchez beginning in 1863, according to historical accounts.

 

Irving said she agrees with Frazier about the Confederate monument, but a consensus is needed by the city’s four black aldermen and two white board members with historic preservationists’ help on what to do with it. “It involves all of us to make the change…. It’s about uniting people and uniting the community,” she said.

NATCHEZ, Miss.  – County supervisors voted 3-2 Monday to hire contractors to build and install improvements for the Natchez-Adams County swimming pool.

 

The long-stalled upgrades can move forward now that both the county and city boards have agreed to award the contracts for heating the pool and building shower-and-locker facilities, poolside decking and bleachers. Total cost: about $363,000.

 

The Natchez Board of Aldermen approved the construction and installation bids last month. The city and county boards are providing equal amounts — almost $96,600 each – to add to the federal recreational park funds allocated by the state for the pool project.

 

The Natchez Aquatic Center at Liberty Park opened in June 2018, giving Natchez-Adams County its first public swimming pool since the one at Duncan Park closed in 2001. The city and county jointly funded the new pool’s construction and share the costs of operating it.

 

The city and county boards have been planning the past couple of years to enhance the new aquatic center – which costs about $1.3 million to build – but put it off last year because of the COVID pandemic.

 

Upgrading the pool will make it usable during cool-weather months and more accommodating for swimmers and swimming events.

 

Adams County supervisors voting Monday for the pool improvements: Angela Hutchins, Ricky Gray and Warren Gaines. Voting against: Wes Middleton and Kevin Wilson.

 

Wilson expressed concerns about the increased costs of the pool enhancements. “This thing is getting out of hand,” he said.

 

However, Gray said the extra costs are justified “to get the swimming pool to where it should be.”

 

Two local companies — Thorpe Sheet Metal and Wilmar — will install the pool-heating system (Thorpe) and construct the new concrete decking and shower-locker addition (Wilmar). An out-of-state business – The Lifeguard Store – will provide the thermal-insulation pool cover.

 

Once the swimming pool heater and insulation cover are installed, the energy costs have been estimated to be about $8,000 a month if the pool opened in April and closed in October. The current season is late May till early September.

 

NATCHEZ, Miss.  — County supervisors Monday appointed two more new members for the Natchez-Adams County Airport Commission in a move that reconstitutes the five-seat board that supervisors have recently criticized.

 

With supervisors tapping Mitzi Conn and Cane Callon to replace David Gaude and Gary Holloway, the airport commission will now have three new members.

 

The Board of Supervisors last month appointed Dante Weir to replace Theodore Johnson. Edward Ealey – who earned reappointment last month — and John McCullough – whose term doesn’t expire until next year — remain on the airport commission.

 

Amid concerns about how the commission oversees the airport, county supervisors last month discussed dissolving the commission they appoint and govern the airport themselves. County board President Angela Hutchins said in March that two airport commission members were unduly “calling the shots.”

 

No commission members’ names were mentioned during the Board of Supervisors’ expressed beefs about how the airport is being governed. They did express concerns that the commission was running off aviation director Richard Nelson, who manages the airport’s day-to-day operations.

 

NATCHEZ, Miss.  — Adams County supervisors are awaiting details about the multimillion-dollar allocation the county is getting from the American Rescue Plan, the huge package of money Congress approved last month to help local governments recover from the economic ravages of COVID.

 

Adams County could get $5.9 million, according to estimates made by the National Association of Counties. It’s to come in two allotments– 50 percent this year and 50 percent next year.

 

The money will augment Adams County’s general budget, which was projected to total about $33 million for the fiscal year that began in October.

 

The American Rescue Plan has a total of $65 billion for all U.S. counties and another $65 billion for all municipalities. Natchez’s share is estimated at about $3.3 million, according to a report by the National League of Cities.

 

Reports indicate local governments can use the ARP money for a wide variety of flexible uses, such as extra pay for essential workers, aid for businesses hurt by the COVID crisis and improvements for public water systems.

 

However, Adams County board President Angela Hutchins said county supervisors need more details on how the ARP money can be spent and when it comes.

 

“We don’t know until we get the (federal) regulations,” Hutchins said Monday during a meeting of the Board of Supervisors.

 

She said it could be June or July before Adams County receives its first ARP allocation, but a National Association of Counties report says federal law requires the funds to be distributed by mid-May.

 

Hutchins did say a special bank account will be created for Adams County’s ARP money with assurances to watch it carefully. “We’ve got to make sure this money is being spent right,” she said.

 

President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan into law March 11 after it barely passed the U.S. Congress that’s near-evenly divided along party lines.

 

Questions about how to spend the ARP money came up Monday when Adams County supervisors expressed concerns about the large amount of overtime pay given to Adams County sheriff’s deputies.

 

While supervisors said it appears the payments are going beyond what’s been budgeted, Sheriff Travis Patten said he can justify the expenditures for the heavy workload deputies have shouldered in recent months “These guys are busting their tails,” he told the board.

 

Adams County Supervisor Kevin Wilson said the county is financially strained. “We have got a serious budget problem…. Our revenues have not come in like they’re supposed to,” Wilson said.

 

Hutchins said Adams County did recently receive $3.7 million in federal funds awarded for airport improvements. The Natchez-Adams County Airport’s master plan includes runway resurfacing and new lighting at the aging facility, which dates back to 1946.

 

NATCHEZ, Miss. – The Board of Aldermen approved bids Tuesday from contractors for upgrading the community swimming pool. The improvements include installing a heater and insulation cover and constructing an expanded concrete deck, bleachers and lockers.

 

The awarding of the contracts is contingent on the Adams County Board of Supervisors also approving them. The pool is owned and operated by the city and county boards.

 

The winning bids were Thorpe Sheet Metal for the pool heater and Wilmar Construction for the building.

 

A state grant has been provided to partially pay for the pool improvements, which had been estimated to cost at least $345,000. The state Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks has committed to pay 50 percent of the costs, while the rest of the expenses will be borne by the city and county boards.

 

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Clean-up efforts continue following February’s ice storm as crews specially hired by the board are still picking up vegetative debris. “They are making progress. It’s a ton of work,” said Alderman Dan Dillard.  A separate pick-up phase will be conducted for construction debris left from the winter storm that felled trees and damaged structures.

 

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Aldermen approved the contract for Johnny Wahlborg to manage the Duncan Park tennis courts. The Baton Rouge-based tennis pro said earlier this month his wish list includes new tennis courts and pickleball courts. Pickleball combines elements of badminton and tennis using paddles.

 

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The board on Tuesday approved the purchase of a jaws of life tool for Natchez firefighters to cut through wrecked vehicles and rescue trapped victims. Natchez Fire Chief Robert Arrington said the old one needs to be replaced.

 

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The board approved Entergy’s request to erect a 300-feet telecommunications tower near U.S. 61 south at the edge of Natchez. The tower is needed after last month’s ice storm revealed communication gaps between utility personnel as they worked to restore power for Natchez residents.

 

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Mayor Dan Gibson was absent from Tuesday’s meeting as he was traveling on the American Countess riverboat to promote Natchez tourism.

 

NATCHEZ, Miss. – Adams County supervisors on Monday approved appointments to the Natchez-Adams County Airport Commission after two weeks ago questioning whether it should be disbanded.

 

The Board of Supervisors voted to put Dante Weir in a seat previously held by Theodore Johnson and to reappoint Edward Ealey to the five-member commission that oversees the airport’s operations.

 

Adams County supervisors on March 1 delayed making the appointments after expressing concerns that Airport Commission members were “micromanaging” operations and could run off Director of Aviation Richard Nelson. The supervisors discussed whether the commission should be dissolved and have the county board run it.

 

Various grievances have been cited by supervisors, including complaints that pilots are being charged too much for fuel at the airport. Meeting Monday with the Adams County Board of Supervisors, Nelson said the commission sets the prices.

 

Each of the five county supervisors has a commission member to nominate. Weir was nominated by Supervisor Ricky Gray, and Ealey was nominated by Supervisor Angela Hutchins. The other Airport Commission members are Gary Holloway, David Gaude and John McCullough.

 

The airport is inviting the public to come Saturday for its Natchez Fly In festival. Nelson said 68 planes are scheduled to come for the all-day event, where people can see a variety of planes and enjoy food and music.