The Natchez Convention and Promotion Commission Board approved a change in their contract with the city at Wednesday’s meeting.

The convention and visitors bureau contracts with the city to bring in tourism. Recently, it has been partly managing the convention center, but a decision by the city has brought in a management firm to take over that duty.

So, the CVB board voted to allow New Orleans Hotel Consultants to manage the convention center as well as the future hotel across the street from the center.

“Our role will be more out of the building business and into the marketing (the city) business, which is what the board was originally designed for,” CVB board member Royal Hill said at Wednesday’s meeting.

They also voted to change the contract to a five-year term to match that the city has with the management group.

The city will pay the management group $240,000 a year to manage the convention center, the city auditorium and community center. The city currently spends $421,000 to operate the facilities.

Convention center employees will be given the opportunity to work for the management company, attorney Walter Brown said at Wednesday’s meeting.

CVB board member Ron Riches suggested the board meet in January in an executive session to discuss the topic, as two of the board members were absent from Wednesday’s meeting. He also said he would like more time to review the contract changes.

“I want to make sure we don’t jump into something,” Riches said.

Brown said hotel developer Tom Bauer said he hoped to have paperwork done before Dec. 31, so it would be best if the board voted Wednesday.

Board member René Adams said while she didn’t want to be hasty, she also did not want to hold up a process that had been ongoing and that would benefit the city.

“I don’t want to throw a monkey wrench into the process,” Adams said. “If (the management group members) don’t have the convention center, they’re not coming,” Adams said.

Riches withdrew his motion to vote at a later date, and the board accepted the contract amendment.

The board then went into executive session to discuss property.