NATCHEZ &045;&045; Tuesday morning marked the first meeting for Mayor Phillip West and the newly elected Board of Aldermen &045;&045; which started with a host of appointments.

The board appointed Alderman David Massey as mayor pro tem for next two years and Alderman Theodore &uot;Bubber&uot; West for the next two years.

Massey was sworn in to that position during the meeting by Municipal Judge Jim Blough.

&uot;Thank you for that vote,&uot; Massey said told the board as he returned to his seat.

&uot;Thank you for being the target&uot; when the mayor is out of pocket, Phillip West joked.

Aldermen reappointed Walter Brown as city attorney, Gillon & Co. as the city’s auditor and Everett Sanders as Civil Service Commission attorney. The board also reappointed city personnel and members of city commissions and boards.

They also appointed the aldermen as chairmen over the following board committees: Bubber West, Police Committee; Jake Middleton, Recreation; Bob Pollard, Utilities; Joyce Arceneaux-Mathis, Public Properties; David Massey, Public Works; and Rickey Gray, Fire.

In other business, the board:

4Voted to hold $3,427 in payments from Environmental Management Plus, which conducted asbestos abatement in several buildings for the city.

That is because the company damaged a building at Martin Luther King Jr. Street and Minor Street, where asbestos was being removed as part of the city’s impending Minor Street improvement project.

The city will go ahead and pay $3,800 to repair damage to the building’s roof until it is reimbursed with funds from either the abatement company or the insurance company.

4Recognized the Natchez High School girls’ track team as part of its Presentations Representing Our Unique Diversity program. The team has won the state championship four years in a row.

4Recognized the Bluff City Post newspaper as the city’s Business of the Month.

The business, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in December, serves as a Partner in Education with the Natchez-Adams schools. And its publisher, William Terrell, has served on a number of boards throughout the community, Phillip West noted.

4Authorized Phillip West to sign the area’s homeland security plan, which spells out how emergency response agencies in Natchez and Adams County will respond to a variety of security situations.

4Voted to declare overgrown Watkins Street Cemetery a public nuisance and to send a written request to the state prison at Woodville for prisoners to help with cleanup.

4Voted to send in an application for emergency funds to control erosion near the Alcorn State University School of Nursing facility.

4Approved a change order for $3,500 for erosion control work on Brenham and Arlington avenues. Additional &uot;rip rap&uot; rocks were needed to stabilize soil in those locations due to the recent heavy rains.

4Recognized Officer Kenneth Stampley, who graduated among the top five officers during the recent police training academy in Jackson.

Stampley was also elected president of his class &045;&045; the first from Natchez in Police Chief Mike Mullins’ memory &045;&045; and delivered the commencement speech at his graduation.

4Authorized Phillip West to sign documents related to Community Development Block Grants for three projects. Those include Government Fleet Road improvements, drainage projects on West Stiers and Martin’s lanes and a project to detect and repair sewer line leaks.