NATCHEZ &045; A plea to city officials to help clean and maintain the Watkins Street Cemetery did not go unanswered Tuesday.

Although aldermen could not pledge maintenance, they did agree to recommend options for people concerned about the preservation of the old graveyard.

Thelma White, a retired teacher, has adopted the cemetery as a personal project. She came to ask the mayor and aldermen for guidance.

The cemetery, located in North Natchez near Frazier Primary School,

is not public property and has been a source of controversy for many years &045; especially, whether or not city workers could be used to clean and maintain it.

A new state law allowing public maintenance of cemeteries more than 100 years old does not apply because the first charter for Watkins Street Cemetery is dated 1909.

&uot;Even though it was chartered in 1909 by about 15 men, I’ll bet that cemetery is older than that. I intend to find out,&uot; White said. &uot;Meantime, I’d like to know what we can do to get that cemetery under another charter. What would be the city’s requirements?&uot;

City attorney Walter Brown said the most immediate answer to the problem would be to establish the date of the cemetery as before 1909. He suggested White get research assistance from the Historic Natchez Foundation.

Mayor Phillip West said a bill that did not pass the state Legislature changed the age requirement from 100 to 75 years. &uot;Maybe new legislation is a possibility,&uot; he said.

Alderman Ricky Gray said in the committee meeting prior to the regular meeting that the site should be given the same importance as places such as Forks of the Road.

&uot;They want it to be a place people would visit, a part of the black history just like Forks of the Road,&uot; he said. &uot;There is some idea that some of the Rhythm Club victims are buried there and some other well-known people.&uot;

Other items of business at the Tuesday meeting included:

4Recognizing Mr. and Mrs. Herman Price and honoring Herman’s Upholstery as Business of the Month. The business, opened by Herman Price in 1954, &uot;grew, prospered and now is supporting a second generation,&uot; West said.

4Hearing a report from Susan Cassagne, director of the Armstrong Library, about the recent state Library Association meeting in Natchez and about use of library facilities.

4Sabrena Bartley, director of the Senior Citizens Center, announced the Mississippi Public Transit Association meeting in Natchez, Wednesday, today and Friday. About 180 are expected to be in town for the meeting.

4Natchez Fire Chief Paul Johnson received permission to spend the latest grant from Homeland Security to purchase a vehicle that would be used for moving equipment in case of an emergency.

4Alderman David Massey reported that Mississippi Valley Gas has advised the board the company will not repair streets where entries have been made to upgrade gas lines.

4Massey also offered an amendment to the adoption of the monthly docket to withhold the docket item authorizing pay to Willie B. Jones, a police officer re-instated by the board in October without authorization of the Civil Service Commission, a move the city attorney said was illegal. Massey said if the move to re-instate was illegal, maybe paying him would be, as well. The motion passed.