NATCHEZ — Supervisor David Carter proposed Monday an ordinance that would impound automobiles and charge at least a $500 fine on those caught damaging county property with their vehicles.

Carter put the idea before the board because he said area youths — and perhaps adults — are tearing up county rights-of-way with their vehicles.

“Our ditches look like mud racing tracks,” he said. “They are racing down our rights-of-way, going to the Kingston ballpark and doing donuts.

“People are saying it is what kids have always done out there, but we need to put a stop to it.”

Road Manager Robbie Dollar said the problem is also pronounced in the Liberty Road and Palestine Road areas.

“There is a pack of them tearing stuff up as quickly as they can, and eventually we have to fix these rights-of-way and ditches,” Carter said.

To address the issue, Carter proposed having an ordinance drafted that would impound the vehicle of anyone caught damaging county property with a vehicle for 15 days on the first offense and 30 days for every offense afterward.

The associated fine would be $500 for the first offense and $1,000 for each subsequent offense.

“I talked to (former sheriff) Tommy Ferrell, and he said this is what they had to do a while back, and it did slow things down,” Carter said.

Board Attorney Scott Slover said once the county has a conviction on the books for an offender, they can pursue damages in civil court to make up the cost of repairing the damage.

Until any new ordinance is on the books, the county can press charges against suspects under existing laws for malicious mischief, he said.

In other news:

-The board heard a proposal from representatives of the AirEvac ambulance service.

AirEvac representative Rhonda Clifton told the board the company could cover every resident of the county with AirEvac transports from for $136,000. The coverage would be for needed medical transports from Adams County.

For an additional $35, residents would have the option of coverage anywhere in the country AirEvac operates, Clifton said.

With the coverage in place, AirEvac would not bill the residents, but would bill their insurance companies.

Those who do not have insurance would receive a Medicare allowable billing rate, she said.

“Instead of getting a $37,000 bill, they will be getting a $5,000 bill,” she said. “By federal law, there shouldn’t be that many people uninsured right now.”

Those who are currently AirEvac members will receive a notice at the beginning of the year that they can continue their membership by paying the $35 upgrade instead of the current $65 annual fee if the county covers everyone, Clifton said.

-The board adopted a resolution to name the Lower Woodville Road bridge in honor of board President Darryl Grennell, who is leaving the board at the end of the year.

Grennell was first elected in 1998, and has served continuously on the board since.

The motion to adopt the resolution was made by Supervisor Angela Hutchins and seconded by Supervisor Calvin Butler.

Grennell left the room after the motion was made, and Vice President Mike Lazarus officially conducted the vote, which passed unanimously.

“I want to thank God for allowing me to be here all these years to serve on the board and thank my family for all their support,” Grennell said after returning to the meeting.

“I want to thank all my constituents and all my supporters through all the years. Every time I ran for office, I never had to pay anybody they all volunteered to support me.

“I appreciate all the department heads and employees of Adams County, and especially I would like to thank all these people at the table for all the support over the years.”

-The board heard from county resident Aaron Wesley, who asked for county help in reducing nuisance gatherings at M&M Grocery on Martin Luther King Jr. Road, which neighbors his property.

Patrons often loiter there and defecate and urinate in the area and do drugs, Wesley said, and there was recently a shooting.

The amount of litter from the loiterers — including bottles — has been enough to clog drains in the area, Butler said.

Wesley said he has complained to the sheriff’s office before, but the business owners have not made significant changes.

The supervisors voted to have Slover draft a letter telling the business owners to cut down on the problem behavior or the county could move forward with legal action to have their beer permit revoked.

-The board voted to approve an amendment to the county’s cell tower ordinance that allows the county to charge a $250 application fee for equipment that has come into use in recent years and was not previously covered under the ordinance.