NATCHEZ — Adams County supervisors agreed Tuesday to pay half of the cost of an engineering estimate for repairs to a large culvert on Pecan Way and Highland Boulevard.

County Engineer Jim Marlow brought the issue of the dilapidated culvert Tuesday in the regular meeting.

Marlow said the lining of the culvert is rusting and has caused a depression in the road where it is sinking.

The road is a City of Natchez street but is next to a state-aid project on Highland Boulevard that is the responsibility of the county.

Natchez aldermen asked the county for aid in assessing the damage to the culvert and asked that Marlow perform the assessment.

Supervisors discussed at length the responsibility of the county in fixing the culvert.

“City needs help getting it done,” said Mike Lazarus, District 1 supervisor. “They’re trying to drag us into it.”

Marlow said the estimated cost of fixing the culvert could be up to $500,000, since the conduit is approximately 30 feet underground in some areas.

“Why are we even being bothered with it when it’s a city problem?” District 3 Supervisor Angela Hutchins said.

District 4 Supervisor Ricky Gray asked a similar question.

“It’s the county’s and the city’s,” Marlow said. “If it comes down to it and the road falls in, it falls to the county.”

At the time of the meeting, the Natchez Board of Aldermen had not yet offered to pay up to half of the cost of the assessment.

The road is a primary access route to the Natchez-Adams County Port, Lazarus said.

Supervisors agreed that they needed to know how much the city would pay before deciding whether they would aid in the cost of the assessment.

Lazarus called Mayor Darryl Grennell and asked him to decide how much the city would contribute.

Near the end of the meeting, Lazarus said Grennell told him the city agreed to pay half of the cost, up to $3,000.

Marlow said the entire cost of the assessment would likely be less than $3,000.