NATCHEZ — As the calendar rolls into the dog days of summer, the Natchez Public Works Department is fully equipped to handle towering and fast-growing grass.

Through the Win Job Center, the city department has nine high school students and graduates manning Weed Eaters, mowers and the shop.

The employees will work eight-hour days, four days a week, for approximately two months, and they already have one week of work under their belts.

Edging medians, cutting grass, cleaning parks and pressure washing done by the helpers has relieved some summer pressure, Public Works Director Eric Smith said.

“They’ve definitely been a help due to the increase in lot cleaning and more grass to be cut,” he said. “They’re doing the same thing that a permanent employee would do.”

Smith said a slew of work orders pile in during the summer, especially from absentee property owners who do not maintain their yards.

Smith said this past board meeting, nearly 30 orders were approved by the board of aldermen to have yards cut on private property.

“And that’s just this past board meeting,” he said.

While he fully expects this type of work load during the summer, Smith said he is nonetheless appreciative to have extra hands on deck to carry out the work orders.

And for those city residents who live near a property with uncut grass, Smith said the process is fairly simple to tackle the problem.

“The first step is to contact the code enforcement officer,” he said.

The code enforcement officers — Willie B. Jones and Anita Smith — work with the City Inspection Department.

Once a property is reported, a letter will be sent to the owners and if there is no reply, the board of aldermen can vote to have public works cut the grass.

Once cut, public works will spray the grass to keep it from growing back so quickly.

With a reinvigorated work force, Smith said the grass well be well tended to this year.

And Alderman Mark Fortenbery, who oversees public works, will be there to crack the proverbial whip.

“That is one of my pet peeves,” he said of unkempt landscapes.

Fortenbery said he has made it one of his top priorities to make sure the summer grass is kept at bay.

“I want to make every city entrance as beautiful as we can make it,” he said.

The Win Job Center has also sent more than 20 students to work in the county, County Administrator Cathy Walker said.

It’s a program that has benefited the area in the past, and Walker said through stimulus money, the program is able to employ a large group of students.

“They’re working in the justice court, and bookkeeping and the tax assessors office and the road department,” Walker said.

The students are paid minimum wage through the Win Job Center.