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The money is from a federal grant program and donations by a private community group.

It’ll be west of the park’s old, abandoned swimming pool near the antebellum mansion Auburn. Duncan Park is the city’s main recreational venue with its golf course, tennis courts, ballfields, playgrounds and picnic areas.

The trail is being funded mostly by a grant Natchez received in 2024 from the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks. It gave the city $96,000 from funds states get from the federal Recreational Trails Program. The Natchez-Adams County Community Alliance donated money to fulfill a 20 percent local matching fund requirement to receive the grant.

The Natchez Board of Aldermen on Tuesday selected Hope Enterprises to build the trail. The contractor submitted the lowest bid of about $110,000 for the work that two other companies also competed for. The construction work is scheduled to start around Feb. 15 and take four months to complete, Porter said

NATCHEZ, Miss. – The city’s number-one request for legislative funds is for replacing the deteriorating Canal Street bridge that faces being impassable in a few years.

With construction costs for a new bridge projected to be nearly $6 million, the Natchez Board of Aldermen agreed Tuesday with Mayor Dan Gibson to ask the Mississippi Legislature for money.

Gibson said the aged, much-traveled bridge only has about four years of life left.

“If that bridge is closed, it would handicap all of us – the city and the county,” Gibson said. “We can’t afford to let it be closed. We need to be proactive.”

The state Legislature, which began its annual session Jan. 6, has in recent years  provided funds to local governments for a wide variety of infrastructure needs. Gibson – a former professional lobbyist – said efforts will be intensifying to persuade legislative leaders to earmark money for the Natchez bridge  before the session ends in April. 

The old Canal Street bridge, which dates back to the mid-1900s, was repaired last year after all large vehicles were prohibited from crossing the bridge beginning in December 2023, when inspectors discovered corroded undergirdings that rendered it unsafe for heavy weight. While about $630,000 spent on the repairs restored its capacity for buses and fire trucks, 18-wheelers continue to be banned from crossing the span.

Engineers have declared the bridge safe for most vehicles to traverse until around 2030 as efforts are made for funding, designing and building a replacement. City officials last year received engineering plans that envision a new 75-foot bridge looking the same as the current overpass but structurally different underneath. Gibson said Tuesday the estimated cost is $5.7 million, which he noted could come from the U.S. Congress as well as the state Legislature.

Much of the money the state Legislature has given to local governments since 2020 has been from federal funds Congress distributed to states to help recover from the economic impact of the COVID pandemic.

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City officials will also be asking the state Legislature to enact a bill needed to extend the operations of Natchez-Adams County’s business recruitment agency for another five years. The state-authorized funding of Natchez Inc. expires later this year.

The Natchez Board of Aldermen on Tuesday approved the necessary resolution asking the Mississippi House and Senate to pass the legislation required to permit local governments to donate funds to a nonprofit organization such as Natchez Inc. The Adams County Board of Supervisors is expected to do the same. 

Natchez Inc. was established in 2010 as the economic development arm for Natchez and Adams County. The agency headed by Chandler Russ and a board of directors works to recruit, retain, and expand businesses in the area for more jobs.

The city board in recent years has annually given it $100,000 while the county board allocates $165,000. The state authorization for local funding is renewable every five years.

NATCHEZ, Miss. – City trash collectors will haul away Natchez residents’ tree debris left from this week’s ice storm if cut up and left on street curbsides.

“Be patient,” said Natchez Alderman Sarah Carter Smith as city officials Tuesday discussed the arduous recovery and cleanup efforts underway since the winter blast hit Natchez on Sunday.

To be picked up, limbs must be no more than six feet in length and be less than eight inches in diameter, according to the limits set by Meridian Waste, the city’s contracted trash collector. Piled-up limbs are limited to eight cubic yards per residence for Meridian’s grapple truck to haul off.

Collecting large amounts of yard waste is part of the routine curbside trash-pickup services Meridian provides Natchez. Such bulky landscape debris is normally removed every two weeks for the Natchez households Meridian serves on a scheduled basis.

Natchez residents with questions about trash services can call Meridian Waste at 1-866-440-3983. It does not serve those outside the city in Adams County, which has another contracted waste collector.

Mayor Dan Gibson said the city could be reimbursed by the federal government for storm cleanup costs if Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves issued the high-level disaster declaration needed to make impacted areas eligible for such federal funds.

The mayor and Natchez aldermen praised the first-responders who’ve worked long hours in icy, frigid weather since Sunday. They include crews from the city public works, police and fire departments along with utility companies.

While broken trees and limbs caused power outages throughout Natchez and Adams County beginning Sunday, nearly all of the 11,300 customers served by Entergy now have their electricity back. 

“In less than two-and-a-half days, they’ve gotten almost everybody restored. That’s unheard of,” Gibson said Tuesday.

However, that’s not the situation for rural Adams County residents served by Southwest Mississippi Electric Power Association. As of Wednesday afternoon, about 500 of its customers were still without electricity, according to PowerOutage.com. That’s about 9 percent of the 5,500 Southwest Mississippi EPA customers in Adams County.

NATCHEZ, Miss. – Mayor Dan Gibson and aldermen are looking for a new Natchez police chief after Cal Green announced Tuesday she plans to retire after three years in the post.

However, the mayor and aldermen argued over how to start finding a replacement after Gibson said he wanted preference given to someone already working in the Natchez Police Department. Aldermen were so sharply divided that Gibson had to break a 3-3 tie vote just to begin seeking candidates.

Green said she’ll remain on the job indefinitely to give city officials time to conduct what will likely be a trying process for them to agree on who to appoint as her successor. “I hope you’re not in a hurry because it’ll take some time,” Gibson told Green.

She was appointed Natchez’ first female police chief in 2023 after Joseph Daughtry resigned to take over the Columbus Police Department. Green said she’s now ready for the pension-paying retirement she’s earned after nearly 29 years with the NPD and Adams County Sheriff’s Office.

The tie-broken vote Tuesday to begin searching for a new chief had Gibson joining aldermen Valencia Hall, Sarah Carter Smith and Curtis Moroney in favor while aldermen Billie Joe Frazier, Felicia Bridgewater Irving and Ben Davis were against taking this step. The three dissenting aldermen said they want more discussions before seeking candidates in a process they contended shouldn’t be tilted toward promoting someone from within the NPD.  However, Smith stressed that “anyone can apply – including from within.”

The discord displayed Tuesday evening by Gibson and aldermen prompted the mayor to pound his gavel to quell it. “I’m calling for order. … I will not stand for any more grandstanding,” Gibson said.

This reprises the 2023 search process leading up to Green’s appointment as police chief. The mayor had to break 3-3 tie votes in a process limited to only NPD officers.  Three aldermen wanted to open it up to more candidates. Green served as interim chief for two months before the board finally voted 5-1 to make her permanent.

Gibson and aldermen expressed appreciation Tuesday for Green’s service as concerns about violent crime have heightened in Natchez the past few months.

“You’ve been fantastic. I appreciate your 28-and-a-half years of service to this community,” Gibson told Green. “There are a lot of people who hate to see you go.”

NATCHEZ, Miss. – Natchez, Inc., in coordination with the Adams County Board of Supervisors, announced Tuesday the optioning of the Belwood property to a prospective industry representing a potential major investment in Adams County.

The agreement provides for option payments to the county of $62,500 every 90 days – renewable for up to seven consecutive 90-day cycles – as the industry takes time to complete its detailed engineering, environmental review and due diligence associated with a project of this scale.

While the Belwood property is owned by Adams County, the business interested in buying it will not be publicly named as it continues its confidential evaluation and diligence process.

“We are excited about the opportunity this project represents for our community,” said Chandler Russ, executive director of Natchez, Inc., the industrial recruitment agency for Natchez-Adams County. “This level of diligence reflects the seriousness of the prospect and the scale of investment being evaluated. We are hopeful the diligence phase progresses successfully and look forward to supporting the process as it moves forward.”

This comes after another industrial prospect last year canceled plans for building a jet-fuel refinery on the Belwood site. State and federal governments have spent nearly $6 million for building a just-completed levee to protect the site from Mississippi River floodwaters. Velocys had planned to build a plant to convert wood debris from area timberlands into fuel.

The 110-acre site is the former Belwood country club and golf course the Adams County board purchased in 1998 — the year the country club closed — to accommodate industries. However, the flood-prone land has remained vacant the past three decades as local officials struggled to find an industrial tenant. With the levee now built, it’s considered more attractive for an industry to occupy. The land is located on River Terminal Road at the outskirts of Natchez near the Adams County river port.

Russ also announced plans Tuesday for expansion at another county-owned industrial site: the old International Paper property. Winnwood Forest Products already there plans to purchase another 17 acres of the former paper mill land to expand its sawmill operations. Now employing about 30 people there, the company is expected to generate another 15 jobs and invest  $2 million.

“This expansion reflects the strength of our industrial sites and the confidence that companies like Winnwood have in Adams County,” Russ said. “Winnwood Forest Products is a great example of how investment in site readiness and infrastructure translates into real job creation, payroll growth and long-term economic stability for our community.”

“This expansion represents exactly the kind of growth we want to see in Adams County—existing employers reinvesting, creating jobs and strengthening our tax base,” said Angela Hutchins, president of the Adams County Board of Supervisors. “Winnwood Forest Products has been a strong corporate partner, and we are proud to support their continued success at the Mississippi River Energy Complex.”

Winnwood and Phibro, a tire-recycling facility, now occupy parts of it.

Adams County has in recent years received state funds to make the land on Lower Woodville and Carthage Point roads “shovel-ready” for more industries. This includes $1.7 million that Gov. Tate Reeves announced last month is being directed to Adams County.

Russ and Adams County supervisors met Tuesday in a session closed to the public to discuss the newest industrial developments. Natchez Inc. issued news releases afterward to detail the projects.

Russ said Natchez, Inc. and its partners remain committed to positioning Adams County’s industrial sites as competitive, shovel-ready assets capable of supporting industrial investment and long-term job creation.

NATCHEZ, Miss. – The higher taxes Natchez-Adams County property owners owe are due in two weeks, but amounts could be subsequently reduced if they can persuade the county Board of Supervisors that properties were erroneously valued or levied.

“If there’s an error, they can come before the board,” said Scott Slover, the supervisors’ attorney.

Properties in Natchez and Adams County were reassessed in 2025, causing values to increase and account for inflation and other contributing factors. Tax bills were sent out early this month revealing the resulting higher taxes.

Property owners can attempt to get the taxes lowered by appealing first to county Tax Assessor Larry Hughes’ office, Slover said. If the tax assessor agrees a parcel was overvalued, he can recommend the Board of Supervisors make an appropriate adjustment to the taxes owed. If the tax assessor disagrees that the property was overvalued, the owner can challenge that by asking the five county supervisors to reduce the amount. However, the owner must have two real estate appraisers backing his case that the parcel was erroneously valued, Slover said.

The appeal process can continue past the first of February deadline for taxes to be paid, he said.

The tax bills local parcel holders received earlier this month are the combined total of what’s owed to the city of Natchez, Adams County and the Natchez-Adams School District.

A state-mandated reassessment process has resulted in property values rising due to inflation and other contributing factors. Property tax values are calculated based on several factors, including how the property is used, its construction and the 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.

MDOR-guided changes made in this process resulted in the 2025 increases that accumulated into the tax bills that caused sticker shock for many Natchez-Adams County property owners. “It was a lot at one time,” said Wayne Herring, a professional appraiser who’s been assisting Adams County in recent years evaluating properties. 

Adams County supervisors said Tuesday they didn’t realize last year when setting the county budget that the property valuation changes would cause such high taxes. If they had known, the board could’ve reduced the tax millage rate that generates revenues necessary for funding county operations. “When you don’t know, you can’t do that,” said Supervisor Ricky Gray.

Board President Angela Hutchins acknowledged she and other supervisors have been feeling heat from constituents angered by their tax bills. 

To view Adams County property tax information that includes how much is owed for each parcel, go online to www.deltacomputersystems.com/ms/ms01/plinkquerym.html

To contact the Adams County tax assessor’s office, phone 601 442-6732. 

NATCHEZ, Miss. – Mayor Dan Gibson said he’s optimistic repairs will be completed soon for the city’s much-traveled Canal and Homochitto streets a year after they were poorly resurfaced.

City officials and the street contractor were at an impasse, quarreling over what corrections are needed – a dispute that prompted Natchez aldermen’s decision last May to begin the process to sue Theobald Construction Services.

However, Gibson said, “We are making good progress in working with Theobald, and we are very excited that we will see some improvements to the project coming soon – some very important repair items that were requested a while back that are going to be taken care of.”

The Vicksburg-based contractor in late 2024 put inferior asphalt on Canal and Homochitto streets that soon crumbled. Theobald had “refused to correct the unacceptable work” and pay the expenses, Gibson said last year as he discussed problems associated with the $1.1 million street-overlay project.

Deficiencies cited last year by engineers included inferior asphalt needing to be replaced and manholes too low needing to be raised.

Meeting last Thursday with Gibson, the Natchez Board of Aldermen agreed to continue paying the engineering firm hired last year to evaluate the street-paving flaws and oversee corrections. Volkert has been paid about $84,900 so far for its work on the Canal-Homochitto street project, said Natchez Community Development Director James Johnston.