NATCHEZ — An Adams County supervisor called Monday for members of the county government to meet with their appointees to the Natchez-Adams School District board of trustees.

Supervisor David Carter said the recent announcement by Natchez High School Principal Will Smith that he would not be returning next year is creating uncertainty in the community.

“It gets kind of concerning when three years straight you have principals leaving,” Carter said. “When you have happy bosses, you have happy people all the way down.

“I think we need to get our school board members in here to find out what is happening. Certainly there is a lot of discontentment with the people, and when you have people leaving left and right who are doing good jobs — at least by the standards of the parents and students I’ve spoken with — it needs a look.”

Board President Darryl Grennell said the supervisors have in the past asked their appointees to the board to come and update them on the situation in the school district, and the supervisors agreed to request the school trustees’ presence.

The county’s appointees to the board are school board president Tim Blalock and Cynthia Smith.

During the meeting Carter also suggested the county look at adopting an ordinance to directly hold heavy equipment operators responsible for damage to county roads.

“As oil prices go up, chances are more oil exploration will go up on our lower weight roads, and we need to do something now to protect them,” he said. “A lot of these are out-of-state oil companies, they come in, do work and leave and the taxpayers are stuck with it.”

Board attorney Scott Slover said the county already has protection under the law for damage done to roads, but taking a proactive approach can make things easier.

“(Requiring) posting bonds is a lot easier than after damage trying to go after them,” Slover said.

Carter said he certainly didn’t want to discourage anyone from working in Adams County.

“But we need to protect our local people from having to carry that burden (of damage),” he said.

Carter also suggested the board consult with Jordan Carriers about what to do since the local company operates heavy-hauling equipment across a number of states.

In other news:

4Road Manager Robbie Dollar said he’d been approached about election signs being placed in county rights-of-way.

Dollar said the signs weren’t affecting most of the county’s operations on the rights-of-way.

Grennell said the county at one time had a policy about political signs that interfered with grass cutting operations, but at that time it was left up to the road manager to decide if signs should be moved.

Signs should be moved from county rights-of-way if they restrict visibility for drivers, Grennell said.

4The supervisors adopted two letters of support for the City of Natchez to apply for grants for railroad improvements and for a boat landing near Natchez Under-the-Hill.