NATCHEZ, Miss. – City aldermen and county supervisors five years ago formed a recreation compact to jointly upgrade and maintain Natchez-Adams County parks and sports venues, but it’s “kind of fallen by the wayside” and needs to “retooled,” said county board attorney Scott Slover.
While the city and county boards would continue to jointly fund and operate the community swimming pool they built together, Adams County supervisors might stop allocating $440,000 it annually budgets for the joint recreation program, Slover said Monday.
Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson has said city officials are developing a comprehensive plan for improving recreation that could be funded by Natchez borrowing money through a bond issue.
Slover said he and the mayor met last week to discuss the future of the joint recreation program, which hasn’t lived up to expectations since the compact was made in late 2015. City and county officials agreed then to consolidate funds to enhance the community’s recreational offerings under the governance of the Natchez-Adams County Recreation Commission.
It began with ambitious plans when the YMCA was contracted to manage recreation, but the Jackson-based organization pulled out in 2019, and then the Recreation Commission became largely dysfunctional with it going months without enough members showing up to meet.
The swimming pool at Liberty Park – which opened in 2018 – appears as the only enhancement produced by the consolidation.
The city Board of Aldermen and county Board of Supervisors voted earlier this year to move forward with additional pool improvements, it came with opposition from board members who questioned how the costly upgrades could be made when so many other recreational facilities remain in bad shape and need more money.
Installing a pool heater, insulation cover, a deck, lockers and other improvements has been estimated to cost about $345,000. The state Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks is paying 50 percent of the costs while the city and county boards are paying the rest.
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