NATCHEZ &8212; After almost six months without a city planner, Natchez has a new employee to head the planning department.

Mayor Phillip West said Friday that Dennis Story of Alexandria has agreed to fill the position.

West said the board of aldermen gave him permission at their last meeting to select a city planner. Story has been working for the city since then, West said.

&8220;It hasn&8217;t been formalized yet,&8221; he said. &8220;He asked me to be employed on a contractual basis, but the board hasn&8217;t had the opportunity to discuss this yet.&8221;

West said he would bring the subject before the board at Tuesday&8217;s meeting. He would not discuss why Story requested to work for the city under a contract instead of as a city employee.

Story applied for the job in 2005, when former planner Andrew Smith was hired. At the time, West said, Story received the second-highest number of votes.

Smith was fired in June after West said he received a number of complaints from Smith&8217;s co-workers and the public.

Story applied again in July but pulled out at the time because of health problems, West said.

West said Story called him recently and expressed interest in the position again.

Story served as the planning director for Alexandria, La., from 1991 to 2002, City Personnel Directory Patricia Gibson said Friday.

From the information she had, Gibson said, Story was not certified by the American Institute of Certified Planners.

He most recently worked as a consultant on grants for different agencies, Gibson said.

He has also worked with the state economic and planning departments, she said.

Story could not be reached for comment by press time, but in 2005, he expressed interest in working in Natchez because of the city&8217;s history.