County looks for ways to control pests

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, July 3, 2001

With the onset of mosquito season, Supervisor Darryl Grennell is looking into ways to keep the bugs at bay in Adams County

&uot;I’ve been talking to some entomologists across the state who actually work for the state,&uot; Grennell said. &uot;(A state expert) did verify this year is a terrible year for mosquitoes.&uot;

Grennell, who is also a biology professor at Alcorn State University, is looking into getting temporary support from the state in the form of pesticides to control the mosquito population in Adams County

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&uot;I’ve noticed it myself how bad they are – how plentiful they are,&uot;&uot;he said.

Grennell said he thought both the City of Natchez and Adams County sprayed for mosquitoes years ago but he is not sure what happened to the program.

Grennell said he looked on the project as good idea if it would prevent diseases.

&uot;We in government are responsible for the health of the residents we represent,&uot; Grennell said.

The board also discussed downtown Natchez and the need for other improvements.

Supervisor Lynwood Easterling said he would like more downtown lighting like that which now illuminates the Adams County Courthouse.

&uot;It really does look good at night,&uot; Easterling said.

By comparison Main Street and other downtown streets are dark, he said.

&uot;Main Street to me – it’s not light enough,&uot; Easterling said. &uot;It’s like this town shuts down at night. The only thing lit are the beer signs (on the road.)&uot;

Tammi Mullins, of the Natchez Downtown Development Association, said is working to improve downtown in several ways.

New trashcans are on order and expected to arrive within two week. The association is also trying to receive grant funding for benches for downtown

&uot;That’s really one of our main drives right now is beautification,&uot; Mullins said. &uot;We need to do this beautification for the convention center. It’s imperative we have the downtown looking good.&uot;

The association is also looking into ways to motivate the owners of downtown storage buildings to beautify their buildings. It also plans to set up the 400 block of Main Street as a &uot;sample block.&uot;

This will include trimming trees to make buildings more visible, planting trees in empty tree wells, planting ground cover around the trees and planting flowers in green barrels.

&uot;It’s going to be what we’d like the whole town to look like,&uot; Mullins said.