NATCHEZ — While 2016 featured good news, some Adams County Supervisors said the year was less than stellar and they hope to pick up the pace in 2017.

For 2016, the supervisors pointed to the county receiving the first round of grant money, approximately $2.3 million, to construct a levee at the former Belwood Country Club industrial site, the deal signed in December with von Drehle that will see an additional estimated $400,000 in tax dollars for the county’s coffers this year and the YMCA coming to town to manage the county’s recreation as top good news from the year.

Many also saw increased cooperation with the city — particularly in potentially lowering fire ratings in the county — as good news from 2016 that will carry over into 2017.

Some supervisors, however, said they believe the county did not do enough paving roads in 2016 and Natchez Inc. disappointed by not reeling in any new industrial prospects.

“For me personally, 2016 was a bit of a disappointment,” District 2 Supervisor David Carter said. “We didn’t see any major industrial or economic changes to the landscape, and we were not able to get any roadwork done.”

“When I came in, the county was already dealing with the $9 million bond to get the former (International Paper) property ready for industrial development,” District 4 Supervisor Ricky Gray said. “I am looking forward to bringing some jobs in and hopefully they will locate out there on some of that property we are paying bonds on, so we can relieve the taxpayers on some of that money.”

Gray said in 2017 he wants to get the county organized with a comprehensive plan through holding town hall meetings to see the direction in which the collective community wants to see Adams County go.

“I want to have meetings with everyone and figure out where we are at and where we need to go,” Gray said. “We need to set goals about what direction to take the county in. We’ll have less fussing and fighting if we do that.”

In the state that has the highest poverty rate in the nation at 21.9 percent, Adams County’s rate is well above that average at 30 percent. Gray said another purpose of the town hall meetings has to be figuring out how to get the poverty rate down.

“I believe if we focus on reducing the poverty rate, the (school) drop out rate will go down, the graduation rate will go up and the crime rate will go down,” Gray said. “We have to get the people together, put the problem on the table and find away to alleviate this problem, all through working together.”

All of the supervisors said they wanted to see road improvements for their districts in 2017. District 5 Supervisor Calvin Butler has a plan after attending several conferences related to rural roads.

In 2016, the county bought a chip seal machine to get more bang for the buck in resurfacing county roads.

With a $250,000 budget for comparison, the chip seal machine can pave four more miles of roadway compared to asphalt’s two miles.

While the chip seal option is not a long-term solution — lasting approximately 7 to 8 years compared to asphalt’s 15 to 20 years — Butler said it would provide smoother surface to roads potentially aiding in industrial recruitment or just for the  public to ride on as the county buys time for a major asphalt upgrade.

“If you don’t try to address issues like the roadways, the problem is only going to get worse and cost more money,” Butler said. “Our infrastructure is crumbling. Improving it just adds for a better quality of life.”

An example of a chip seal paved road is Col. John Pitchford Parkway.

District 3 Supervisor Angela Hutchins said her district received some good news on Deerfield Road, which received a new bridge through a $1.5 million state aid grant that required no local match. Hutchins said she had been working to replace the bridge since 2014.

The county will also receive some relief through Emergency Watershed Protection project funds secured in Washington, D.C., earlier this year, Hutchins said.

While it was good to see von Drehle add 150 jobs to the economy this year, Hutchins said it was also sad to see Kmart close, taking 30 jobs with it, and the community is only a couple years removed from losing JC Penney and its 55 jobs.

“I don’t think we had a bad year, but hopefully 2017 will be a better year,” Hutchins said. “I look forward to getting roads paved in 2017, continuing to add to recreation and hopefully, in 2017, we can bring more economic development here.”

While Carter said 2016 was disappointing to him, his district did see some good news — Kingston’s fire rating went down to 8, which has helped lower insurance costs for residents.

But to balance that, Carter said the Kingston School building — a community center — burned down and the rural area is in danger of losing its natural gas line in early 2017.

Carter said he was hopeful a permanent solution for the gas line would be found in 2017.

The supervisor also said other utilities needed upgrades in his district, namely high speed Internet and expanded cell coverage through new towers. Carter said Elgin, Forest Plantation, the Meadows and South Fork are some areas that need Internet service.

“Some places have basic dial up internet, and some have nothing at all,” Carter said. “We need fiber optics.”

Carter said ambulance response time in the community is unacceptable and was an issue he would continue to bring up in 2017.

Law enforcement agencies use a queue to dispatch two private ambulance services. The issue relating to response time is the first company in the queue does not always have the closest truck, leaders have said.

Concerning the roads, Carter said supervisors needed to stop waiting until an election year to pave them and put aside some money every year for reinvesting in infrastructure.

When District 1 Supervisor and board President Mike Lazarus was growing up, the YMCA had a facility on Broadway Street with an indoor gym. Though the YMCA has not committed to building a gym in Natchez, Lazarus said he is happy to see them back.

“I think the YMCA coming to Natchez is going to be a big thing,” he said. “Recreation has really started to kick off in Natchez and I think the YMCA is going to bring it to another level.”

Lazarus said the county finished another year with a positive cashflow, despite setbacks in the economy.

“I pay a lot of taxes here myself, so I want to make sure all of our money gets spent wisely,” he said.

Another big issue for the supervisors has been working to improve fire ratings through discussions of potentially expanding the county’s involvement with Natchez Fire Department, including even potentially building two stations in the county.

Lazarus said the county would continue to look for ways to work with the city to collectively save money.

“(Natchez Mayor Darryl Grennell) and I had a great working relationship during the last eight years when he was on the board of supervisors,” Lazarus said. “I think that creates a lot of possibilities for us. We are going to work together, no doubt about that.”

The board — which will meet Tuesday — intends to keep its appointments as is for 2017, all five supervisors said. Lazarus will continue to be president, Board Attorney Scott Slover will continue and Joe Murray will be County Administrator.

Gray said he knows rumors are out in the community that he came over from the city to take over the county board and become president.

Gray said he wanted to clear that up — he came over to be a team player.

“I played point guard in high school,” Gray said. “My job is to distribute the ball and make everyone happy. I don’t have to be president to get that done, and I think Mike has been doing a good job.

“I came over to move Adams County forward. This is all about the people, it is not about me.”