If the grant is approved, the money will come from the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, matching the money that now funds the system. The GIS allows emergency officials to locate the cell phones from which they receive calls instead of the cell towers, City Engineer David Gardner said. &8220;We&8217;ve had a lot of tremendous accomplishments with E911,&8221; Gardner said. &8220;If a caller calls from a cell phone, the dispatcher knows where they&8217;re calling from. And that is so critical in emergency response.&8221; Tracing emergency cell phone calls is one of many advantages the system provides, Gardner said. The system stores information that can be used in projects like soil classification and determining pipe locations, as well, he said. In other business, the aldermen also renewed a lease of Margaret Martin Performing Arts Center to the Natchez Festival of Music. However, the lease for the separate building used for constructing sets was not renewed. It has been designated a site for the Boys and Girls Club of the Miss-Lou. The aldermen accepted a bid for $541,132 for drainage work from Lamkin Construction Company out of Vicksburg. The work will concentrate on three areas that accept drainage from much of the city. Aldermen approved a proposal by the Natchez Coffee Company to use the concessions area of the Natchez Convention Center as a satellite coffee shop.

They will have a six-month trial of serving during the morning hours and when a conference or special event comes to downtown. The alderman and the owners of the coffee shop agreed it would likely enhance the convention center.