A large part of being a good public servant is treating public funds as if they were one’s own money and using them judiciously. The Natchez mayor and Board of Aldermen deserve credit for doing just that in working on the contractor’s bid for renovation work at the new community center.

Bids for the renovation of the old Service Motor Company building came in over what the city expected. But the city has never let a small obstacle stand in the way of getting something done.

Instead, city leaders found a way to make the plan work, by toning down some of the plans and negotiating with the contractor for a better price.

On Monday, the aldermen gave Mayor Larry L. &uot;Butch&uot; Brown and architect Johnny Waycaster permission to enter into a contract later this week after the price is negotiated.

It should be comforting to taxpayers to know that city leaders are working hard to save our money while working on a project.

The result of the city’s hard work is that everyone is happy. The city gets a newly refurbished community center and at the same time gets rid of what was a vacant building.

If all goes as planned, renovation of the building should be completed in less than four months. That leaves plenty of time for the 2000 Natchez Literary Celebration – the first event to be booked at the center – to get into full swing.

Although there is still a lot of work to be done on the center, we feel good about the cost-efficient direction the city is taking in getting the project off the ground.