NATCHEZ — The Natchez-Adams County Port Authority will now manage the second-largest site in Adams County’s industrial property inventory.

The Adams County Board of Supervisors authorized President Darryl Grennell Monday to sign a lease between the county and the port authority for the former Belwood Country Club.

The lease — which will not realize any money for the county — will allow the port to use the property but also requires it to keep Belwood clean and its grass cut, Grennell said.

The county had previously advertised for bids for private companies or agricultural interests to take over the maintenance of the property with the proviso that it would immediately revert back to the county should an industrial prospect need the property.

Grennell said the county had to reject the bids that were offered following the advertisement because the county had erroneously advertised not only the main parcel of Belwood but a small riverfront parcel of the property as well.

“The riverfront is already leased to Vidalia Dock and Storage, which ties off barges there on behalf of the port,” Grennell said.

“In order to get out of that dilemma, we decided to reject those bids and put that property in (the port’s) name.”

The county has owned the 120-acre Belwood property since the 1990s and has marketed it as an industrial property since its purchase.

Most recently, KiOR held an option on the property for what would have been its second Mississippi biorefinery. While the company had made some improvements to the property in anticipation of building on the site, it let the option expire after experiencing significant financial difficulties and closing its first Mississippi plant in Columbus.

The property was also considered at one time for the site of Rentech’s proposed coal-to-fuel plant in Adams County. The company ultimately decided to purchase the former International Paper site before shelving the project altogether. The IP site was later sold to the county.