NATCHEZ — Adams County Supervisor Mike Lazarus said Monday the county and the City of Natchez had begun initial talks about potentially expanding the city fire department’s coverage into the county.

Lazarus said he approached Natchez Mayor Darryl Grennell just to gauge the interest in the city and county working together on this project.

Lazarus said from here the plan is figuring out how much this endeavor might cost county taxpayers and to engage residents to see if expanding the fire department would be something they even want.

“The public has to buy into it,” Lazarus said. “I like public hearings. I like having the input and knowing where everyone is at.

“I think this will be something good for the community. But if the community does not want it, then I will not endorse it.”

While he could not project how much, Lazarus said a millage increase for county residents would likely be involved. City residents would not likely have to pay any additional taxes due to the change, Grennell said.

Lazarus said an initial bump would occur in building two fire stations — one on the north end of the county, and one on the south.

Adams County Emergency Management Fire Coordinator Darryl Smith said he projects an additional 18 firefighters would be needed to staff the proposed two stations.

Other potential funding questions include equipment and fire trucks, Lazarus said.

To have the city make runs into the county, Lazarus said taxpayers are paying approximately $700,000 a year. While that number would go up, Lazarus said he felt like residents would get more bang for the buck to go in with the city 100 percent on the fire department.

Lazarus said insurance bills would go down with the fire rating. City residents currently have a rating of five, while many in the county have a rating of 10, which is the worst rating the state gives.

Supervisor David Carter said in Kingston moving from a nine down to a rating of eight has saved people hundreds of dollars a year. Carter said Beau Pré residents have the infrastructure in place to potentially get down to a rating of five, which could mean savings in the thousands.

Carter said he felt like people would go along with it because they are getting a tangible benefit as well as a potential life-saving device.

The county is at least a year from making any changes, Lazarus said. Public hearings, negotiation with city officials, meetings with water associations to make sure they are willing to enhance water lines and studies for where the fire stations would potentially go are amongst the next steps, he said.

Grennell, who was not present at Monday’s supervisors’ meeting, said he is happy to work with the county, and he also said expanding the fire department could also mean insurance savings for residents in the city because fire ratings could go down.

“With this type of endeavor, you will see substantial improvements,” Grennell said. “It is a win-win for everybody.

“I think this will have a tremendous impact on people outside the city limits, especially people in the extreme rural areas. To have a manned station on both ends of the county, I think would be wonderful.”

Smith said the volunteer force would not go away with this potential agreement.

“The volunteers work very hard at what they do,” Smith said. “They don’t ask for pay. They just want to help people. We don’t want to get away from the volunteers.”

In other news:

-Supervisors took under advisement three bids for an Emergency Watershed Protection project on Oakridge Road. The engineer’s estimate is approximately $75,000, County Engineer Jim Marlow said.

The lowest bid was from Theobald Construction of Vicksburg at $108,169. Camo Construction of Vidalia and Midway Construction of Roxie bid $141,986 and $127,763, respectively.

The Oakridge project was voted for rebid in September after Midway’s lone bid of $169,945 came in 100 percent more than the engineer’s estimate.

-Dr. Scott Wolfe was hired to oversee the work of newly hired county nurse practitioner Stacy V. Cook. Wolfe will be paid $375 an hour for a minimum of two hours a month.

The board of supervisors’ attorney Scott Slover said Wolfe should work two hours most months. Slover said Wolfe’s pay is within the expected range to deliver the anticipated savings on hiring a nurse practitioner rather than contracting one, as the county had previously done.

-The adult drug court budget was revised to $150,000 after Wilkinson County agreed to fund $10,000 to help its residents involved in the program. In addition to Adams and Wilkinson counties, the drug court also serves Amite and Franklin counties.

The drug court program is designed to provide an alternative to costly incarceration for those convicted of drug crimes by helping participants get off drugs into and employment.