Supervisors plan trip to promote economic development in county

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, May 2, 2000

Supervisors Lynwood Easterling and Darryl Grennell hope to travel across the state this month seeking future jobs for Adams County.

During Monday’s regular meeting, Easterling and Grennell asked for approval for the trip that would take place the week of May 22 and include places like Tupelo, Cleveland and Hattiesburg.

The board members plan to meet with officials from a variety of companies during the trip.

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&uot;We believe that if we go out and aggressively recruit, we should end up with something in Adams County in terms of new jobs for this community,&uot; Grennell said.

Easterling told the board, one of the reasons he wanted to be elected was so he could look for more jobs for local residents.

&uot;We need to go, as supervisors, and search for these jobs,&uot; he said.

The supervisor’s voted in approval of the trip, but since the board’s travel budget is low on funds this time of year, it may ask the Natchez-Adams County Economic Development Authority (EDA) if it can provide funding.

If funding is not available, Easterling said he wanted to plan the trip anyway.

In other business the board:

— Approved emergency repair to sections of Farr Road, Quitman Road and Carmel Church Road under the Natural Resource Conservation Emergency Watershed Projects. The three projects require a 25 percent or a $27,500 in local match funds.

The roads were damaged during a severe storm that hit Adams County on April 2 and 3.

The Emergency Watershed Program also authorized two other projects, 5 Southview Drive and 2123 Second Street. The board postponed approving those projects because they involve working on private property. The board is looking into the legal issues of the matter.

— Announced that the Natchez-Adams County area has been named an Outstanding Community for 2000 by the Searchers, Inc. The award was granted to fewer than 160 communities from across the nation. Searchers Inc., is an independent organization providing information to clients thinking about retirement or purchasing a second residence.

— Received a report from the State Aid Department complimenting the county for its excellent work in maintaining roadways.

— Authorized the National Park Service to modify its plans to extend the Natchez Trace into Natchez. If the park service chooses, it can now build a bridge near the Newell Subdivision as opposed to closing an existing road and building a replacement road.

— Heard a report from Sabrena Bartley, on the Natchez Senior Citizen Center.

–&160;Voted to schedule two public hearings in the upcoming weeks. On June 5, there will be a public hearing to discuss which roads in the county are private and which are public. The state is requiring all counties to finalize this information by the summer. On May 15, the board will hold a public hearing on a proposed zoning ordinance.

— Decided to conduct a study on the traffic conditions of Second Street on Morgantown Road. Residents have complained of excessive speeding on the strip, which is located near Morgantown Elementary School.

Depending on the results of the study, the board may consider raising the road’s speed limit. Currently the road’s 15 m.p.h. speed limit is so low all vehicles on the strip are in violation, said&160;Russell Dorris, Adams County road manager.

The board decided against installing speed humps on the street.

Speed humps can damage vehicles, decrease the response time of emergency vehicles and raise a liability issue.