NATCHEZ, Miss. – A recent study shows nearly 1,000 airplane passengers a week are coming in and out of the Natchez area, a number that Natchez-Adams County Airport Director Richard Nelson said can be used to help entice a passenger airline back to the airport after years of being without commercial service.
“This is good data, but that does not mean all 980 would fly out of Natchez. There is still more information that has to be gathered and lots more work to do,” Nelson said Monday after meeting with the Adams County Board of Supervisors.
The Natchez-Adams County Airport has not had regular commercial airline service since the mid-1990s, according to the airport’s historical records.
Nelson said meetings continue with small-craft airlines about their interest in Natchez-Adams County. Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson, Adams County board President Angela Hutchins and other local leaders have stepped up efforts in recent months to persuade an airline to include the local airport on its regular service routes.
“This is a slow process but moving in the right direction,” Nelson said.
This comes as the airport has recently received $3.8 million in federal funds for resurfacing runways.
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Adams County supervisors received a report Monday about poverty conditions from former Natchez Alderman Joyce Arceneaux-Mathis, who recommended a local commission be appointed to develop ways to increase people’s income and alleviate dismal living conditions.
Arceneaux-Mathis noted “two different worlds” exist in Natchez that include the affluence of the city’s downtown area and the blighted sections of north Natchez just a few blocks away. The written poverty report was compiled by the local NAACP chapter, which she is a leader of.
She said local poverty can be traced back to past racism, which relegated blacks to low-paying jobs, such as house maids, with few opportunities for better employment. “That’s basically where we still are in this community.” Arceneaux-Mathis said.
She said one way to help improve north Natchez is to renovate the former Sadie V. Thompson school. That, she said, could “completely regenerate that part of town.” Requests for state funds will be made for this from the Mississippi Legislature, which begins its annual session next month.
Arceneaux-Mathis served 24 years as a Natchez alderman but was defeated in 2020 by Valencia Hall.
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Adams County supervisors continue to struggle with finding a financially affordable way to fix Robins Lake dam, which is deteriorating and could flood large parts of south Adams County if it broke. They’ve been discussing for at least two years various measures to buttress the small but hazardous earthen dam that includes a county road atop it. Remediation measures must be approved by the state Department of Environmental Quality, which monitors dams to ensure they’re safe.
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Adams County Chancery Clerk Brandi Lewis’ employees are getting a $4-an-hour pay raise thanks to fee increases the state Legislature imposed on users of the county clerk’s services.
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