NATCHEZ — The City of Natchez could have a new fire truck in service within two weeks.

Natchez Fire Chief Aaron Wesley told the Natchez Board of Aldermen Tuesday the truck — which was ordered by the Adams County Board of Supervisors as a good faith gesture to show the county’s support of the fire program — has arrived in town.

The $524,980 fire fighting truck by Pierce Manufacturing is intended to replace one in the Natchez fleet that is more than 20 years old. Wesley said Tuesday the truck will be housed at the Bypass Fire Station — station No. 2 — and will support coverage of the county’s industrial areas.

“This is a 750-gallon pumper,” Wesley said. “To give you a picture, it’s like two dunking booth’s size tank.”

Wesley said that while the truck is now in town, it still has to be fitted with some equipment before it can be put into service.

Once the city officially receives the truck, the truck it is replacing will be sent to one of the rural fire stations in Adams County, which has a 10-year fire protection agreement with the city under which the city fire department supports the rural volunteers when needed.

Adams County Emergency Management Director Robert Bradford said the county has to enter the truck into its inventory before it has an official handing-over ceremony for the truck.

In other news:

-The aldermen voted to approve an inter-local agreement with the Emergency 911 board that will allow the E911 service to direct some of the funds it collects to the Natchez Police Department for dispatching services.

The E911 board receives its funding through a 911 fee attached to every land line and cell phone bill.

The city board had not previously ratified the agreement because of questions the aldermen had when the 911 system was changed to have calls that originated outside the city limits directed to the Adams County Sheriff’s Office.

Previously, all calls were routed to the NPD, and any that needed dispatching from the ACSO had to be transferred. But after the switch, some calls outside the city limits — for example, fire calls, which the NFD responds to — required transferring to the city for dispatch.

The aldermen and the Adams County Board of Supervisors have recently agreed in principle to move dispatch to a consolidated system in a single location controlled by the E911 board.

City Attorney Hyde Carby said the vote Tuesday would not hinder that move, but would free up the dispatch funds that had been held in limbo because no agreement was in place.

-The board adopted a resolution of general support for New Hope — The Vision Center’s plans to renovate the former Brumfield School apartments.

The Rev. Stanley Searcy, pastor of New Hope, said the resolution was needed in the church’s application for tax credits.

The project will be done in partnership with The Bennett Group, a for-profit consulting group. Holly Knight with The Bennett Group said the project would require approximately $6 million in hard construction and $8.2 million total.

The group will also seek to purchase two adjacent properties and will ask the city for a zoning amendment before it moves forward, she said.

When Alderwoman Mary Toles said she had a problem with the plan if it included tearing down some of the adjacent properties, Knight said the Brumfield property has some issues with water seepage.

“We would be able to address the water infiltration on the left side of the building if we could demolish and regrade the entire site,” she said. “It may be a deal killer if we cannot demolish those particular units.”

When the aldermen voted on the measure, Toles abstained from voting.

-The board authorized the cutting of grass at the bean field site on U.S. 61 near Walmart after Alderman Mark Fortenbery said it is unfair for the city to require residents to keep up their property but not maintain its own.

The site, which was deeded to the city by the state last year, is a proposed location for future development for recreation, but no hard plans have been made for it at present.

Fortenbery suggested returning the property to agricultural use in the short term, but the board ultimately decided to take the matter under advisement until they could meet with the parties involved in the deeding and recreation process to determine what can and can’t be done on the field, which was given to the city with some restrictions on its use.

-The board heard a proposal from the Open Session Foundation, which wants to open a youth program in the space at the former Margaret Martin School that the Boys and Girls Club formerly occupied.

Representatives with the program said they would offer programs similar to what the Boys and Girls Club did, but would also focus on life skills. The organization would use the gym and classrooms in the basement.

The board members said they supported the general idea but would need to check with other people who use the facility or might have an interest in it, such as the youth basketball league and the Natchez-Adams County Recreation Commission.