NATCHEZ, Miss. – Adams County supervisors have approved a long list of county roads to repave with $8 million they borrowed through bonds and have received from the federal government.
While the list was not made available to the public at the county board meeting Monday, roads getting new overlay include stretches of Lower Woodville, Liberty, Morgantown and Hutchins Landing. The asphalt-laying work could begin this week, said county road manager Robbie Dollar.
To ensure more roads get new blacktop, supervisors voted Monday to add $1 million in federal funds the county has received to augment the $7 million in bond revenues originally budgeted to pay back in increments with added interest over time.
Dollar declined to give the public the list of roads to resurface. However, board President Wes Middleton said he’ll make the list available when the additional thoroughfares are compiled with the extra $1 million the board agreed to spend Monday.
The $1 million is from the federal American Rescue Plan Act enacted last year by Congress to help state and local governments recover from the economic disruption caused by the COVID pandemic. The county has received about $6 million in ARPA money.
As Adams County supervisors green-lighted the $8 million road-overlay project Monday, Middleton acknowledged the “good news” received last week about Natchez-Adams County receiving nearly $899,000 from the state to help improve a mile of Morgantown Road.
He said the board is “very grateful” to those involved in helping the city and county get the funds needed for the much-discussed and long-delayed effort to upgrade Morgantown Road. It’s been cited as the county’s most dangerous byway because it’s narrow and prone to rain-induced flooding. It begins inside Natchez and stretches out into the county.
The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality awarded the $899,000 grant to Natchez from a state water infrastructure grant program funded by federal ARPA money. The state program is geared partly to build structures to correct problems caused by stormwater.
The funds for Morgantown will be combined with $2.4 million Natchez-Adams County previously received from Congress to match with city and county funds exceeding $1 million previously budgeted to fully fund the project.
MDEQ also awarded Natchez $1 million for the city to rebuild a section of Silver Street to curb it from Mississippi River floods. The $2.5 million street-raising project had been stalled by city officials because of higher-than-expected costs.
The state water infrastructure funds will be combined with city funds along with $500,000 committed by Viking and American Cruise Lines for accommodating their riverboats that dock here and use Silver Street for busing their passengers to tour Natchez.
The Board of Supervisors put off a decision Monday to use federal ARPA funds to pay off some of the county’s debt that totals $16 million.
Supervisor Kevin Wilson has been pushing the board to repay ahead of schedule some of the money borrowed through bonds and loans so the county can reduce the amount of added interest attached to the gradual paybacks. However, other board members said more information is needed before deciding whether to pay down debt as Wilson has proposed. He wants to use the federal funds intended to help state and local governments recover from the economic impact of the COVID pandemic.
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