NATCHEZ — Adams County officials during the Adams County Board of Supervisors Tuesday meeting expressed their disappointment in missing out on their slice of the state’s disbursement of BP oil spill settlement funds, which granted $900,000 to the City of Natchez for land erosion projects.

The Emergency Watershed Program restores land after severe cases of erosion and is funded mostly by the Natural Resource Conservation Service, with the local government entity picking up the remainder.

On Aug. 29, the Mississippi Legislature passed a bill in Jackson that would disburse some of the $700 million received from BP as reparation for lost tax revenues to the state as a result of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion.

Supervisor Ricky Gray said during Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting he “had no idea” some of that money could fund EWP repairs.

“We could have put in for some of that money to offset some of the EWP money,” Gray said. “I’m glad the city put in and received $900,000. I could be wrong, but there is a disconnect somewhere from here to Jackson. … We (the Board of Supervisors) need to have a meeting with our legislators.”

Gray further specified that he and other supervisors were at fault for missing out on the funds, however, board attorney Scott Slover said the county advertised for Emergency Watershed Protection funding and should have been contacted about the bill.

“We had a joint meeting with all of our delegation and told them specifically about the (watershed projects),” Slover said. “We requested it. That was a huge shot in the arm, which would have made this budget season a lot easier.”

In other matters at Tuesday’s board of supervisors meeting, the board:

4Unanimously approved a request from Frances Bell, the Adams County purchase clerk, for her to receive timely advance notices of supplies that require outside purchase from her department and to limit those purchases to one day each week — with the exception of emergency items for the sheriff, first response and fire departments.

4Heard a report from Natchez YMCA Director Alice Agner on the public swimming pool. Pool attendance has been in decline since the start of the school year for students, Agner said. Over the summer, the pool sold $13,750 in daily passes and memberships and approximately $2,300 in concessions. The pool now receives approximately seven swimmers each day, she said. Agner recommended that the pool hours be adjusted. No changes were made as of Tuesday.

4Unanimously approved roadwork on a flooding area at Cedar Creek subdivision off Morgantown Road, which will cost approximately $2,700 to repair.

4Unanimously approved a request from Adams County Emergency Management Director Robert Bradford to spend $37,222.63 received in grant money to purchase an “ambus,” which is a regular school bus to be converted in to an emergency response bus with medical equipment. The grant must be spent by Sept. 30 or be returned to the state, Bradford said.

4Unanimously approved advertising a public hearing for the adoption of a traffic ordinance. The new ordinance would require drivers to reduce their speed to 10 mph below the posted speed limit when passing sanitation trucks.

4Agreed to move the next regularly scheduled meeting from Sept. 17 to Sept. 14, because supervisors Mike Lazarus and David Carter will be in Washington, D.C., for a Leadership Mississippi Conference on Sept. 17.