Editor’s note: The original version of this story unclearly stated that the original grant match for the North Natchez Drainage Project came from the City of Natchez. City Engineer David Gardner said while the city was responsible for the match, the Mississippi Department of Transportation designated the full $2 million to the city for the project.

NATCHEZ — The City of Natchez recently received a $250,000 grant for the North Natchez Drainage Project, which city officials say they hope will be enough to finish the remainder of the 10-year project.

Natchez City Engineer David Gardner said engineering department staff recently reevaluated the project and found some ways to cut costs.

Gardner said crews discovered an abandoned underground canal on Maple Street while working on the first phase of the project.

The canal, Gardner said, will be rehabilitated to function as drainage infrastructure, and he said it will cut costs by eliminating having to install new infrastructure and reducing the amount of street that will have to be torn up on Madison and Canal streets.

Gardner also said a cheaper — but equally capable — open ditch drainage system will be used where work was stopped on the first phase at the Natchez Children’s Home, instead of installing solid piping as originally planned.

In addition to the cost-saving changes to the project, Gardner said the low bid the city received on the first phase of the project also helped save money.

Work for phases I and II-A of the project replaced underground drainage pipes and equipment on Canal Street to Madison Street to Wall Street and finally to Oak Street. Phase II-B will entail drainage work for Buckner’s Alley, such as the field behind the Natchez Children’s Home and the areas going toward Elm Street.

Gardner said the remaining $700,000 for the project, funded by the new grant and the approximately $450,000 currently in the bank, will fund the city’s match for the $3 million for the final phase of the project.

The project is funded through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Environmental Infrastructure and Resource Protection and Development Program, also known as Section 592, and requires a 25-percent cost share match from the city.

The latest grant is funded by the Mississippi Disaster Recovery Fund set up by the governor and distributed through the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Block Development Grant program. The grant is specifically for the Hurricane Gustav disaster recovery.

Gardner said the total project cost is approximately $10 million. He said the project, which was first proposed in 2002, was originally scheduled to be completed in three years but has stretched nearly 10 years because funding from the USACE has taken so long to secure because of budget cuts.

The original $2 million match was fully funded by the city using funds designated by the Mississippi Department of Transportation during the early stages of the project.

Gardner said, however, since the federal money was not given to the city by the USACE in a timely fashion, and because construction costs have increased in the past 10 years, the city now had to come up with the additional $700,000.

In November, Gardner said the city would need to provide $750,000 for the match. The Natchez Board of Aldermen has discussed the option of borrowing the money to complete the project.

Gardner said since $50,000 has been cut from the match, he believes the city will not have to borrow any money for the project.

Ward 1 Alderwoman Joyce Arceneaux-Mathis, whose ward the project is in, said at Tuesday’s aldermen meeting she, too, hopes the city is not forced to borrow any money.

She said, however, she would not be afraid to come to the board and ask for additional money for any unexpected costs, even if it was an election year.

“People live during an election year, water rises during an election year, mosquitoes bite people during an election year. We’re about the quality of life for the citizens that live here and pay our salaries,” she said.

Plans need to be finalized and a contractor bid in place, Gardner said, before a definite time frame for completion of the drainage project can be established, but he said he hopes construction begins in May. Gardner said the project could possibly be finished by the end of the year, but he said it may carry over into 2013.