A simple but exciting conversation could change the course of Natchez-Adams County forever.

Last week, Adams County Supervisor Mike Lazarus revealed that he and Natchez Mayor Darryl Grennell had recently begun discussing how the city and county might work together to improve the community’s fire protection.

Adams County has long partnered with the City of Natchez’s fire department to provide firefighting services to support volunteer fire departments throughout the county.

That agreement has long been a source of frustration — often for both sides of the deal — through the years.

Usually the debate boils down to this: some people in the city feel the county doesn’t pay enough for the services the city provides while on the flip side, some in the county think they pay too much.

Often that simple fact has gotten in the way of truly discussing the facts as some city and county leaders push the emotional and financial hot buttons to further their own agendas.

The fact is, as Grennell and Lazarus both seem to understand, all county residents — those living inside the city limits and those who do not — could potentially gain from expanding the fire department and partnering together to pay for any expansion.

The details of this deeper partnership have not been fully explored yet, but insurance experts in the area have long suggested such an expansion could save county residents literally hundreds of thousands of dollars on property insurance if the county’s fire rating were to improve.

We applaud the city leaders for plowing ahead with this important discussion. If we continue to work together, the future of our community looks very bright indeed.