NATCHEZ — Members of the Adams County Board of Supervisors questioned Wednesday why the Natchez-Adams County Port is contracting mechanic work at a much higher rate than hiring a mechanic would cost.

Contracting the work is costing an average of $680 a day, Supervisor David Carter said at the port commission’s monthly meeting.

“That seems extreme to me,” he said.

While the port commission is a separate body from the county government, the supervisors appoint the commissioners and in recent years have taken the unorthodox step of adding five more slots to the board and appointing themselves.

They also appointed County Administrator Joe Murray to one of the port commission slots when it was vacated last year.

In addition to the five port commission members, Supervisors President Mike Lazarus joined Carter at the table.

Lazarus said he understood that specialized training was needed to repair port cranes and other large equipment, but other repairs and maintenance could be done by county workers.

“I’m talking about changing oil and air filters, working on fork lifts and front-end loaders — we work on that every day,” Lazarus said. “Those mechanics are good mechanics.”

Lazarus said the county could likewise provide parts at cost instead of with a markup for the port.

“A mechanic can come at $15 an hour and the cost of parts,” he said. “That’s cheaper than $65 an hour.”

Port Commissioner Michael Winn expressed some concern about relying on the county’s mechanics because they could be engaged in other business.

“When we need a mechanic, we need a mechanic,” he said.

Port Commission President Wilbur Johnson said the supervisors should bring the people required to make such an arrangement work to the port and they would look at the feasibility of making it work.

Port Director Anthony Hauer said the port at one time had hired mechanics, but they retired or left and were not ultimately replaced.

In other news:

-The commission voted to engage The Gillon Group for the port’s annual audit at Hauer’s request.

The Gillon Group has done the audit for several years, and Murray advocated for changing auditors, saying it was nothing against Gillon but that, “new eyes can find different things.”

While the other four commissioners voted for the engagement, Murray, Lazarus and Carter voted against it.

-The commission voted to send a letter to Elevance saying it would decline a request to purchase an air compressor for the company’s use at the liquid loading dock.

Genesis Energy had an air compressor at the dock at one time, but has since moved it to the north dock, Hauer said. Elevance later asked the port to purchase one to replace the one that had been moved.

The compressor can cost between $14,000 and $20,000, Hauer said, and if the company leaves the port, the port authority, “has no use for it.”

-Hauer said the port brought in $170,843 in revenue in January and handled 19,750 tons of product.

“January was a month of high water, and we did have water over the mooring islands where the barges are tied,” he said, calling the port’s ability to keep working barges during that time a matter of determination.

Hauer said the port was able to meet all of its financial obligations and every month since the start of the fiscal year in October has been in the black