LUY-Development

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  • Natchez Aldermen Appoint Fred Marsalis Jr. and Sheila Duffy-Lehrman to Tourism Board

    Aldermen appointed two new members Tuesday to the city tourism board: Fred Marsalis Jr. and Sheila Duffy-Lehrman. They replace Lance Harris and Helen Moss Smith, who recently resigned after several years on the Natchez Convention Promotion Commission.

     

    Marsalis is a personal fitness trainer and event planner-promoter who owns MDP Fitness of Natchez. Duffy-Lehrman is an advertising-marketing professional and mother of Butter Cakery owner Lexi Lehrman of Natchez.

     

    They were among six candidates seeking to fill vacancies on the six-member commission. It’s appointed by Natchez aldermen but is an independent municipal agency that determines how to spend the city’s tourism tax revenues to market the city. It also oversees Visit Natchez, the city’s tourism office.

     

    Mayor Dan Gibson noted Tuesday that two NCPC candidates withdrew from contention because organizations they’re affiliated with receive tourism-related funds from Visit Natchez: incoming Pilgrimage Garden Club president Terrel Williams and Live at Five organizer Sarah Lindsey Laukhuff.

     

    State ethics laws prohibit government board members from allocating public funds that could directly benefit them or their associations.

     

    Another candidate was former Natchez Garden Club president Donna Sessions, who the mayor said would’ve served on the commission with the stipulation her tourism group wouldn’t receive Visit Natchez money.

     

    Marsalis and Duffy-Lehrman will join the other NCPC members: Jennie Guido, John Grady Burns, Robbie Cade-Furdge and Barbara Bruce. The commission in August selected Guido to serve as its chairman to replace Smith as she transitioned off the board. 

  • Adams County weighs legality of allowing homeless to use storm-shelter showers

     NATCHEZ, Miss. – Adam County supervisors are reviewing the legality of allowing homeless people to use the showers adjacent to the county storm shelter.

     

    Tom McGehee, who represents a group trying to help the homeless, asked supervisors’ permission for this Monday. He also noted his group has plans to further help those without homes find places to stay.

     

    A state law enacted in July has forced local officials to crack down on homeless people encamped in public spaces.

     

    McGehee, a retired Natchez police officer, said his homeless aid group is trying to detail the number of people who need shelter, evaluate their circumstances and find places to house them. This, he said, could be aided by periodically giving them organized access to the showers recently erected outside the county Safe Room building. The Liberty Road facility was constructed primarily to provide temporary refuge for people during weather-related emergencies.

     

    Vagrants have routinely gathered on the premises outside and must be chased off by sheriff’s deputies, said Adams County Emergency Management Director Brad Bradford, who pondered in August whether the property should be fenced off.

     

    The state homeless law, which went into effect in July, 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, local officials 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 board President Kevin Wilson on Monday asked county attorney Scott Slover to review the legal ramifications and liabilities of allowing homeless people to shower at the county bathing facility. Adams County supervisors in the past have briefly opened the community Safe Room to people without homes during frigid weather.

  • Adams County directs $100K in opioid settlement funds to Drug and Youth courts

    NATCHEZ, Miss. – Adams County supervisors have allocated $100,000 in opioid funds for courts dealing with drug-related cases. 

    The county received the money as part of a nationwide multibillion-dollar settlement being paid by pharmaceutical companies and distributors blamed for addicting people to pain-killing drugs. 

    Meeting Monday, the Board of Supervisors agreed to earmark $50,000 for the Adams County Drug Court and another $50,000 for the Adams County Youth Court. The county has a total of about $160,000 in opioid funds, said board President Kevin Wilson. 

    The appropriation comes after the news outlet Mississippi Today reported last month that many local governments throughout the state have been spending their shares of opioid-settlement funds on routine expenses rather than addressing addiction.

    About $26 billion is being made available in the coming years to more than 3,000 state and local governments throughout the United States to reimburse them for tax dollars spent dealing with the opioid epidemic.

    Drug distributors McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen, along with manufacturer Janssen Pharmaceuticals and its parent company Johnson & Johnson, agreed in 2021 to pay the money to resolve lawsuits filed against them by states’ attorneys general.

     

    “These agreements resolve legal claims against those companies stemming from actions that fueled the opioid addiction epidemic in return for their payment of $26 billion and commitment to make major changes in how they do business to improve safety and oversight over the distribution of prescription opioid,” states a report posted by the National Association of Attorneys General.  

  • Officials Mum After Closed Meeting on New Business Set to Locate in Natchez

    Adams County supervisors met Monday with Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson in a session closed to the public to discuss a new business locating here. County board President Kevin Wilson said it’s a “worldwide company,” but he and Gibson declined to give more details. “It’s a good thing for Natchez and Adams County,” Wilson said.

    Gibson did say after the meeting that people doubting the city and county will experience such economical growth are going “to be eating crow.” The mayor acknowledged the new business is unrelated to Trace Town, the dilapidated 1960s-era Natchez shopping center the city and county are helping private developers rebuild.

    The Board of Supervisors closed the public out of the 20-minute meeting with Gibson for reasons state law allows for government boards involved in discussions or negotiations about the location or expansion of a business. City and county officials have publicly discussed plans for Trace Town’s redevelopment along with the renovation of the downtown Eola hotel to carry the Marriott brand.

    Also being openly bandied is a new retail center envisioned on land the city owns by Walmart.

    While they declined Monday to publicly name and describe the business discussed behind closed doors, Wilson said an announcement about it could be forthcoming.

  • Natchez mayor predicts “best is yet to come” for city

    Natchez mayor predicts “best is yet to come” for city

    NATCHEZ, Miss. – The city is strongly positioned to thrive onward despite the political division that’s “tearing this country apart” and the “naysayers” who doubt Natchez’ economy is actually growing.

     Those are the words of Mayor Dan Gibson, who delivered his annual “State of the City” address Tuesday.

     “The Natchez Renewal is not stopping, but we may have to turn on the steam engine and go upstream,” said Gibson, evoking the refrain he’s recited since becoming mayor in 2020 and the steamboat Natchez that chugged Monday by the city going upstream against the river’s current.

     “We may have to be going upstream, but we’re playing that calliope and we’re not slowing down.”

     The mayor cited various economic and municipal improvements he credited to his five-year administration he predicted will be surpassed during his second term, which began in 2024.

     The city’s next two years will see major commercial developments to bring more businesses, jobs, people and money to Natchez, according to the mayor’s forecast. He pointed to the Hobby Lobby store being built at Trace Town and the construction of new stores being planned for the now-largely vacant shopping center at Seargent Prentiss Drive by Merit Health hospital.

     He also expressed confidence Natchez will have another shopping center built near Walmart on city-owned land that developers have an option to buy for well-known stores appealing to Natchez shoppers.   

     “You think you’re excited about Hobby Lobby and you will be excited about Trace Town, but wait until you hear the names announced at the other development. You will really get excited then,” Gibson said.

     He also said the long-delayed renovation and reopening of the now-closed Eola hotel will become reality in 2027 – just in time to mark the 100th year of the hotel’s construction. Downtown Natchez’ structural centerpiece has been closed since 2014 as developers struggled to finance its refurbishment, but plans are advancing for it to be branded a Marriott-affiliated hotel.

     Gibson acknowledged Natchez faces problems, such as the current slump in sales tax collections as the city begins its new fiscal year today. He also pointed to “fake news” spread about Natchez by a “minority of voices – yet they are very loud.”

     “But we are a city that has overcome every challenge…and we will overcome this,” he said.

      “Let’s not give any power to the naysayers…. This is our time to shine.”

     Gibson delivered his 35-minute address – without notes or a teleprompter – with eloquence and evangelical flourishes in front of City Hall to a crowd of onlookers he gathered into a hand-holding prayer to end his speech. It can be viewed at: www.facebook.com/ListenUpYallcom/

  • Natchez OKs $25M plan to revive Trace Town; city to issue up to $6.5M in bonds

    In a move to rehabilitate one of the city’s largest blighted parcels, Natchez aldermen on Monday approved measures to partner with private developers on a $25 million reconstruction of the long-neglected Trace Town shopping center on Seargent Prentiss Drive.

    The board voted to designate Trace Town as an urban renewal area, a step that enables the city to help developers access a state program used to finance projects that revitalize blighted properties. Officials said the designation will make it easier to assemble public financing and incentives necessary to attract national retailers and complete the site’s redevelopment.

    A Tennessee-based developer, Noon Real Estate of Chattanooga, has formed an incorporated subsidiary called Noon Trace Town to lead the project. Noon,  which has developed more than two dozen shopping centers housing national chains such as TJ Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, Academy Sports and Dick’s Sporting Goods — will be the lead private partner on the Natchez project.

    The board also approved a financing arrangement under which the city may issue up to $6.5 million in bonds to help pay for the redevelopment. To repay that public investment, the city will forgo a portion of property and sales taxes generated by the new development and use those revenues to reimburse the developer for eligible expenses tied to construction and site improvements, officials said.

    Plans already under way include demolition of most existing structures on the site — with the exception of the U.S. Post Office branch — to make room for new construction. Local businessman Jimmy Smith, who purchased Trace Town in 2023, unveiled plans in April that included Hobby Lobby as an early anchor tenant; city and developer documents indicate a Hobby Lobby is expected to be built where the former Sears once stood, near the Regions bank and Walgreens, with construction slated for completion by next spring.

    City officials said a written agreement negotiated with Noon outlines the developer’s responsibilities for the project alongside the city’s commitment to reimburse eligible redevelopment costs. Officials framed the public-private partnership as a way to remove blight, restore commercial activity to a major retail corridor and spur additional investment in the area.

    The aldermen’s action represents a two-track approach to the city’s longstanding blight problem: while some properties around town are being declared public nuisances and slated for cleanup by city crews, officials are pursuing larger-scale private redevelopment tools like the Trace Town project to address bigger commercial eyesores that require substantial investment.

  • Natchez Board of Aldermen declare seven properties public nuisances;

    In other action Tuesday, the Natchez Board of Aldermen declared seven dilapidated and unsightly properties to be public menaces after determining their owners would not repair or clean them up.

    The properties include houses on Roselawn Drive and Maple Street, as well as the long-neglected house at 907 State Street, located in the heavily traveled block between Martin Luther King Street and Arlington Avenue.

    Under the board’s action, city crews or agreed contractors will perform the necessary remediation and cleanup. The city will then recoup those expenses by tacking the costs onto the properties’ tax bills, effectively charging owners for the work.

    Officials said the declarations allow the city to address blight that affects neighborhood safety, property values and public appearance when owners do not take voluntary action to remedy conditions.

  • Natchez aldermen approve pay raises for 10 city employees

    Natchez city aldermen on Tuesday approved pay raises for 10 municipal employees, bringing the affected workers’ annual salaries to a range of roughly $36,000 to $65,000.

    During the meeting aldermen did not publicly name the employees. Instead, council members recited employee ID numbers while voting to approve the new salaries. No effective date for the raises was announced at the meeting.

    Mayor Dan Gibson said the raises were intended, in part, to correct past inconsistencies in compensation — noting some employees had been left out of raises given to others in previous years. He also emphasized the need to keep pay competitive for essential-service positions that could be attracted away by higher wages elsewhere.

    City officials provided no additional details about which departments or job titles were affected.

  • Natchez, Adams County governments spending less but some taxpayers face paying more

    Natchez, Adams County governments spending less but some taxpayers face paying more

    NATCHEZ, Miss. – The city and county boards are spending less in the coming year for running Natchez-Adams County governments, but some local taxpayers face paying more because their property values have increased.

     

    The Natchez Board of Aldermen and Adams County Board of Supervisors on Monday approved their separate budgets and tax millage rates for the fiscal year that starts in two weeks. The two budgets project how much to spend in the coming year — about $41 million by the city and $43 million by the county.

     

    City and county officials envision spending about $3.6 million less in each budget than what was disbursed for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30.

     

    Natchez aldermen didn’t increase the city property tax millage rates that generate revenues for funding city government. Adams County supervisors approved a tax millage increase of 0.48 mills for county government operations.

     

    While city officials didn’t increase taxes imposed on Natchez taxpayers, property values have been increased due to inflation. It’s not known yet how much landowners’ taxes will actually be until they get their bills later this year. Property tax values are based on use, construction and market worth.

    Mayor Dan Gibson noted the tax millage rate for Natchez property owners remains the same as what it was in 2016.

    As Natchez aldermen approved the budget, Gibson stressed that some property taxes are going up because of a state-mandated reassessment – not because of city officials’ actions.

     

    “This year the Mississippi Legislature required a reassessment of property values, and there are some that have asked the city to cut its millage rate. But just as a business has to ensure enough revenue is collected to meet expenses, the city is having to make some tough choices,” Gibson said.

    “We’re not going to stop doing good things,” but “we have got to balance the books.”

    Gibson noted the state required properties to be assessed and revalued to reflect inflationary factors.

    “We looked at it. I think on average, considering the number of households we have and the number of properties we have, (tax increases) could be anywhere from $12 to $20 to $25 a month, depending on the size of the house,” the mayor said.

    As city officials plan for the coming year, they envision spending $3 million or so less than the past year. Gibson noted the city is getting less money from outside sources in the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.

    “In the coming year, state and federal grants, COVID-relief funds and other funding sources are being cut. And, overall, the City of Natchez will likely post revenues $3.4 million short of what we posted last year.”

    However, city officials are expressing relief about retaining the $24.5 million federal grant Natchez was awarded in 2024 for infrastructure improvements. The grant was temporarily frozen earlier this year by the Trump administration. However, the Board of Aldermen on Monday affirmed the agreement to receive the money from the U.S. Department of Transportation for the “Forks to Freedom Corridor” project. For the new fiscal year, city officials put $700,000 from the $24.5 million in a “to be determined” category for spending.

    Aldermen are also considering pay raises for a few selected city employees who could get lured away by higher pay elsewhere.
  • City officials propose naming bridge after former Natchez mayor

    City officials propose naming bridge after former Natchez mayor

    NATCHEZ, Miss. – City officials want to name the Sergeant Prentiss Drive bridge crossing Liberty Road after former Natchez mayor Butch Brown.

     The Natchez Board of Aldermen agreed Tuesday to get the Mississippi Department of Transportation’s permission for this bridge designation honoring Brown, who died in 2023. 

     The board last year had proposed naming the city’s flyover bridge that connects U.S. 61 with Sergeant Prentiss Drive, but officials later realized it’s already named in memory of military veterans.

    Brown’s son Larry said it’s more appropriate to name the Seargent Prentiss Drive-Liberty Road bridge to honor his father because he helped design the decorative span with its black wrought-iron railings and ornate columns.

     “It was very important to him,” he said.

     His father also headed the Mississippi Department of Transportation in between stints as Natchez mayor. “He designed that bridge himself with an ink pen on a napkin in a steakhouse in Jackson and gave it to the design people at MDOT.”

     Brown’s son met Tuesday with Natchez aldermen and Mayor Dan Gibson to express appreciation for paying tribute to his father. 

     Naming the bridge must be approved by MDOT because it’s part of the state highway system.

     In addition to serving 12 years as Natchez mayor, Larry L. “Butch” Brown was MDOT’s executive director for 10 years.

     Brown died at age 79 in April 2023. His three terms as Natchez mayor were from 1992 to 2000 and 2012 to 2016. His stint as MDOT executive director was from 2001 to 2011.