Officials: City needs county rec help

Natchez Staff

Published Tuesday, July 26, 2005

NATCHEZ - City and county officials who met in a joint retreat Wednesday at the community center said a combination of funds will probably be needed to piece together a countywide recreation system.

"The city's not anywhere near where it needs to be (financially) to address all these issues," Mayor Phillip West said. "That's why we're here."

Most officials at the meeting agreed they need to lobby the Legislature, in its next session, to pass a bill that would let the city and county hold a countywide referendum on a sales tax - in this case, for recreation.

Some aldermen bandied about the idea of the county putting up $100,000 more, in addition to the $50,000 it now pays, per year to help better fund recreation.

Some also mentioned the possibility of a city-county bond issue to help fund recreation.

For her part, Alderwoman Joyce Arceneaux-Mathis favored a combination of sales tax and bonds, in addition to a possible $300,000 to $400,000 grant supervisors President Darryl Grennell said could be used to build a pool.

Natchez-Adams County has been without a public swimming pool for several years, ever since leaks, a faulty water filtering system and other problems closed it.

What are the area's recreation needs, according to city officials, and what would be their estimated cost be?

Jake Middleton, chairman of the Board of Aldermen's Recreation Committee, said it would cost $1.4 million to build an Olympic-size outdoor pool, one that could host statewide swimming meets.

In addition, he presented figures B&G Associates crunched in 1999 that showed just over $3 million was needed to upgrade the Duncan Park golf course.

That would include such things as rebuilding of the back nine holes, landscaping of greens, irrigation and other improvements, as well as construction of a new clubhouse and support buildings.

No further action was taken on recreation at Wednesday's retreat.

But Arceneaux-Mathis recommended the city and county take a look at a plan of recommended improvements a city-county-school district committee compiled in recent years.

Then, she said, the city and county need to look at ways they would like to revamp the plan - and review what their options for funding it might be.