NATCHEZ — Even though the Natchez-Adams County Port Commission was doubled in size last month by a vote of the county supervisors, the port commission’s president said Wednesday it will continue to function in the same way as it has previously.

The Adams County Board of Supervisors voted in February to add themselves as voting members to the five-member port commission, and had their first meeting with the commission Wednesday.

Prior to meeting with the supervisors, the port commission had a meeting to discuss port business.

Though the supervisors added themselves to the commission, the county board set the minimum attendance for a quorum at the commission to three, supervisors’ attorney Scott Slover said.

When they met with the supervisors, the commissioners discussed an economic prospect’s possible expansion in the port area, and when the meeting was over the supervisors voted to enter into a letter of intent with the prospect. The meeting was in executive session.

Slover said he would not discuss the details of the letter of intent, but it “is a very solid deal for all parties.”

Supervisor Calvin Butler said the board would not press the issue of the port commission meeting without them present. Instead, Butler said the supervisors’ vote was about ensuring future access to information.

“We didn’t want to be in a position like we are with the hospital, where we got left out of the loop,” Butler said.

The supervisors have contended in recent months they have not been given enough access to the financial information for Natchez Regional Medical Center, the county-owned hospital that recently was given legislative approval to file for bankruptcy.

Port Commission President Wilbur Johnson Sr. said meeting with the supervisors Wednesday helped provide “clarity” to their decision to make themselves voting members of the commission.

“We can understand their desire to have an understanding of all of the entities they oversee, and we were kind of curious why they isolated the port,” he said. “We have nothing to hide, so we had no problem with it.”

The port commission has offered to provide the supervisors with all of the records of its finances prior to their vote to become commissioners, Johnson said.

The port commission will continue to operate as it has in the past, he said.

“We are not expecting any interruption in any form from the supervisors,” Johnson said. “Maybe (being voting members of the commission) was a security blanket they wanted to have, but we plan to conduct business as usual.”

Supervisor Mike Lazarus, who made the initial motion to add the elected officials to the appointed board, said the newly expanded commission is a work in progress.

However, Lazarus said he thinks the supervisors as voting members should attend all future meetings of the commission.

“The last thing we want to do is hurt the feelings of the port commissioners, and they do an excellent job, and I don’t want to knock on them,” he said.

“We definitely need to attend their meetings, maybe not all of us every time, but we definitely need to attend the port meetings. That way, we will know what is going on and we will have a good grip on it, and we don’t have to hear information second-hand.”

Lazarus said he believes the supervisors will continue to have an excellent working relationship with the port.

“At the end of the day, we are all trying to create jobs for Adams County,” he said.

The supervisors appoint one port commissioner from each district in the county. The commissioners serve for a four-year term.