NATCHEZ — The possible refinancing of the Natchez Convention Center’s debt and the city’s next waste contract are two issues that highlight today’s specially called Natchez Board of Aldermen Meeting.

The 8:30 a.m. meeting will discuss granting Government Consultants Inc. the authority to both engage an underwriter to refinance the 1999 issue on the convention center — a $12 million bond in large part to finance construction of the building — as well as to terminate the swap transaction the city used to refinance a portion of the same bond in 2006.

In this instance, the bond swap involved a complicated transaction in which the city contractually exchanged — or swapped — their fixed interest rate on the payment with a variable interest rate of a bank, which the city hoped would save approximately $1.5 million over the subsequent 18 years.

With still more than $7 million owed on the bond, which is currently set to mature in 2024, the board is again considering refinancing.

Ward 1 Alderwoman Joyce Arceneaux-Mathis requested to terminate the swap transaction at the board’s last meeting, but upon a split vote Natchez Mayor Darryl Grennell decided to defer the action until the board could seek both financial and legal counsel.

Two meetings prior to today’s, Government Consultants’ Nnamdi Thompson, who now serves as the city’s municipal advisor, said the city could save approximately $30,000 per year on the bond by refinancing.

Aside from the bond, the city also will discuss a request for proposals for the city’s next waste and recycling contract, according to the meeting’s agenda as of Thursday evening.

The city has spent the last few months tweaking the RFP, which lays out a variety of items on which companies are requested to bid, including frequency of pickup and costs associated with those services.

The agenda also lists an item about extending the city’s emergency contract with Waste Pro, enacted in November 2017 until the board could issue an RFP.

The board has not yet signed a new contract with any waste and recycling providers, and City Attorney Bob Latham said the board needed more time to carry out the process.

The emergency contract had a term of four to six months, but Latham said an additional two-month extension required notifying Waste Pro within 20 days before the end of this month. By doing so, Latham said, the city will give themselves until the end of May to select a hauler.

According to the agenda, the board will consider approving the RFP for publication today.