Nearly 10 years ago, former Natchez Mayor Larry L. “Butch” Brown pushed a wheelbarrow full of fake money into the meeting room at the Ramada Hilltop Inn.

He wanted to prove a point.

And Brown did just that with his usual dramatic flair.

Brown spoke to the Mississippi Recreation and Parks Association’s annual meeting in November 1999. One of the discussions was on the economic impact of recreation.

His wheelbarrow prop contained $3.5 million in phony dough, the amount Brown estimated our community had received over the previous four years through hosting sports tournaments.

It was an impressive display, even for Brown.

The “beanfield” recreation complex plan was born sometime around that time. The beanfield project was a genius partnership between the City of Natchez, the Natchez-Adams School District and Adams County.

The plan was inspired by cooperation, mutual need and common benefit.

It was, to use a cliché, a “win-win-win” for all parties.

Unfortunately, Brown was unable to get a recreation complex off the ground before challenger F.L. “Hank” Smith ousted him from office.

Smith picked up the beanfield baton and ran long and hard with it before concerns over the archeology at the site put the brakes on the deal.

Then former supervisor and state representative Phillip West ousted Smith.

Nothing tangible happened on the recreation complex during West’s administration.

More recently an interesting hodgepodge recreation committee sprang to life. Several public and private citizens who want to see a new recreation complex formed the committee.

They’ve been meeting for months looking at the needs, considering locations and scratching their heads on how to get things started.

Obviously, a recreation complex will ultimately come down to money. Questions yet to be decided include: How much will the complex cost? And, how much will it cost to maintain?

But those questions should be secondary to the ultimate question: Do the people of the community really want the complex?

Yes or no?

November’s sheriff’s race has given the community — and its elected leaders — an almost unheard of chance to poll the populace.

By placing a non-binding referendum on the ballot, the community would receive a fair, accurate judge of what taxpayers truly want out of government.

The City of Natchez has already approved entering into the agreement, as has the school district.

The last step is for the Adams County Board of Supervisors to vote on the issue. They are expected to discuss the matter this week.

If the supervisors are truly interested in hearing what the majority of people — not just those in their own close, personal inner circles — feel about recreation, they should put the issue on the ballot.

The referendum would not commit the county to spending anything. In fact, it could help prevent wasting funds on moving ahead with such a project if, in fact, taxpayers ultimately show a lack of support for the general plan.

Supervisors would still have to vote before a single penny was spent on the project.

If the public winds up supporting the concept, with any luck, a wise investment in recreation could transform the wheelbarrow of play money into real cold hard cash for our community.

Kevin Cooper is publisher of The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached at 601-445-3539 or kevin.cooper@natchezdemocrat.com.