NATCHEZ — Natchez officials are one step closer to funding roof repairs at City Hall after they approved a grant application for the approximately $240,800 project during Tuesday’s regularly scheduled meeting.

Community Development Director James Johnston said during a meeting last month that City Hall would be eligible for the Mississippi Department of Archives and History’s Community Heritage grant program, which would fund the majority of the project and required a minimum local match of 20% of the project cost.

The last patchwork on the roof had been completed in 2015, Johnston said, adding the roof is now in dire need of being completely replaced.

“Our roofing system is in dire need,” Johnston said. “… Replacing the old, worn, many times patched roof would be a complete project.”

Johnston explained MDAH awards the grant based on a point system — so the more the city contributes to the project the more likely the project would be approved for state funding.

Natchez Mayor Darryl Grennell said he recommended the board proceed with the application with a 35% local contribution — or $77,280 of the project cost — and the board unanimously approved a motion to that effect during Tuesday’s meeting.

In other matters during Tuesday’s regularly scheduled meeting of the Natchez Mayor and Board of Aldermen, the board:

• Unanimously approved a rezoning application for Living Word Worship Center at 8 Covington Road — which would transition the property from a single-family residential district to a special use district for the purpose of creating a daycare center.
• Unanimously approved a proclamation of recognition for John Cook for his years of service in the Natchez Public Works department.
• Unanimously approved a proclamation that would officially recognize Sept. 17 through 23 as Daughters of the American Revolution Constitution Week.
• Unanimously allocated $50,000 of city funds for the implementation of an economic development plan for downtown Natchez.
• Unanimously approved a renewal of the city’s health insurance plan with L.S. & Associates Insurance Consultants Inc.
• By a vote of 4-2, approved infrastructure repairs on Martin Luther King Jr. Street and Gloucester Court through the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Emergency Watershed Protection program with a local match of approximately $117,000 with Aldermen Dan Dillard and Smith opposed.

Dillard said he was not opposed to doing the repairs, adding the board should hold off on approving further projects until it is clearer whether funding for them can be found in the fiscal year 2019-2020 budget.