By Cain Madden

The Natchez Democrat

NATCHEZ — Natchez-Adams School Board members decided Tuesday to table a request to transfer property intended for a public pool to the ownership of the City of Natchez or Adams County.

The Adams County Board of Supervisors and City of Natchez Board of Aldermen earlier this month voted to ask the school district to temporarily deed the property near Liberty Road to speed up construction of the pool.

The move would have allowed the county and city to supersede the recreation commission on accepting bids for the pool construction. An interlocal agreement between the school, county, city and recreation boards gives the commission authority to handle awarding contracts.

However, citing delays and legal concerns, the county and city voted to have a direct role in financing the pool project.  The recreation commission would still manage the completed site, city officials have said.

The decision for the city and county to intercede came after the initial bid came in at approximately $1.7 million, much higher than $1 million original estimate.

School Board Attorney Bruce Kuehnle said county Board Attorney Scott Slover and the City of Natchez’s attorney Bob Latham contacted him about contributing the land in the Liberty Park area for construction purposes.

However, Kuehnle said the two attorneys were not able to present a specific definition of the location in question, so he could not bring it forth for board approval Tuesday.

Kuehnle said he did not get a sense of when that information would be provided, but Superintendent Fred Butcher said the board is looking to have a specially called meeting sometime before the next regular meeting in February.

Butcher said an action item on the land around the pool could be added to the specially called meeting for the board to consider.

Following the meeting, the school board members present expressed interest in having the pool project move forward. Board secretary Thelma Newsome was absent.

Board president Amos James Jr. said he planned to work with the city and county.

“I think we need to do whatever needs to be done to move this recreation program forward,” James said.

Board members Cynthia Smith and Brenda Marie Robinson agreed with James.

“I am pretty much for anything that is going to expedite the matter,” Smith said. “If we can, as a school board, we need to do our best to make sure progress is made on that situation.”