NATCHEZ — Recycling in Adams County could be at a crossroads.

Concordia Metal Recycling Coordinator Jim Smith told the Adams County Board of Supervisors Tuesday the recycling program would ultimately need to make some changes to be sustainable.

Though 25 percent of households that the recycling program serves — all of the City of Natchez and select neighborhoods in Adams County — routinely recycles, Concordia Metal still loses approximately $2,000 a month on the recycling initiative, Smith said.

“Recycling commodities are the lowest they have been in years, and costs are going through the roof,” he said.

“Concordia Metal, and (owner Travis Brown) knew going in it was going to be an uphill battle and agreed take that loss, but we can’t continue.”

The City of Natchez’s recycling contract will end next June, Smith said, and the necessary changes can be made then.

One of the recommendations the recycling program has been given by other experts is to form a task force comprised of all the interested stakeholders before the program is renewed to find out what the goals of the community are, he said.

“There is a possibility that all households in the county would be able to participate in curbside recycling if the right contract is put in place,” Smith said. “We have the opportunity to be the model for the rest of rural America.”

The City of Natchez’s government has already voted to form the task force, and community members David Gardner and Doug Wimberly have agreed to be on it, Smith said.

The board agreed to allow Supervisors Mike Lazarus and Darryl Grennell to serve as liaisons to the task force.

“It is really disturbing that (recycling) is not going too well here in Natchez-Adams County,” Grennell said. “There are a lot of people I know who aren’t recycling, and they are people who ought to know better.”

In other news:

4The supervisors heard from County Emergency Management Director Robert Bradford, who told the board the contractor for the FEMA 361 storm shelter — AEDD plus — believes the county should be responsible for installing the exterior lighting system.

“They are saying that when they originally did the plans, Adams County was going to do the parking lot lights,” Bradford said.

The supervisors, however, said the county has made all of its required contributions to the project, and County Road Manager Robbie Dollar said the lighting system has never been mentioned to him at any of the meetings he has attended.

Board attorney Scott Slover suggested the emergency manager find out what the costs would be before further committing the county to the project, but Lazarus said the county is in the clear for its part.

“You can get all the costs you want, I don’t think the county is responsible,” he said. “Land cost, dirt work, that was us, that was it for what we had to do.”

Bradford said any arrangements about the lighting were made before his appointment as emergency manager.

“I can go back to AEDD and run that down and see who made that agreement,” he said.

The board took no formal action on the matter.

The $3.4 million shelter was funded through a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and is meant to serve as a short-term shelter that can survive the force of an EF5 tornado.

4The board voted to include the county among the employers participating in the Miss-Lou Work Readiness campaign, which will officially launch today.

The campaign is broadly intended to assess the area’s workforce and its needs so economic developers can market the area to potential new businesses and to better train workers for existing businesses.

The assessments will primarily be done through the WorkKeys program offered by ACT Inc.

4The board heard a funding request from Judge George W. Armstrong Libray Board Chairman Duncan McFarlane, who said the City of Natchez has not been able to fully fund many of the repairs needed at the library, though it has sought grants.

Grennell said the county has stepped up in the past when addressing specific needs for the library, but does not budget general funding because of an agreement made in the 1990s between the city and county governments.

Under that agreement, the area’s joint projects were decoupled, with the county government providing funding for the Hardy-Anders Field airport and the Natchez-Adams County Port, while the city took over the funding of the library and the Natchez Convention Center.

“Unless you are talking about the county taking ownership of the library again and making appointments to your board, I don’t see it,” Grennell said.

“I am of a frame of mind that I am not going to give you money to put in a pot. I am thinking emergency funding. I would like to see the city put some effort into it.”

But Grennell and the other supervisors said while the board wasn’t willing to commit general funding, it would be willing to help with emergency needs as they arise, and before the meeting ended the board members agreed to help the library replace a door that was damaged by a recent burglary and vandalism.