NATCHEZ &045; Supervisors on Tuesday set Nov. 7 as the deadline to submit their nominations for an Economic Development Authority board position left vacant by the death, earlier this year, of Dr. John Lee. The two nominees whose names were submitted by supervisors in August for the position, Fred Callon and Jimmy June, have since withdrawn their names, with Callon citing work responsibilities as the cause.

On Tuesday, Supervisor Sammy Cauthen nominated Al Metcalfe and Supervisor S.F. &8220;Spanky&8221; Felter nominated Jan Yates, although supervisors said they’ll have their full list of nominees by the November deadline.

&8220;We need to go ahead and get somebody in that position,&8221; said supervisors President Darryl Grennell.

In other economic development news, the board authorized Grennell to send a letter to national crafts store chain Hobby Lobby asking them to consider Adams County as a location site. Pam Frank, an Adams County resident and scrapbooking fan, has been cooresponding with the company in an effort to lure them to the Natchez area. Although Hobby Lobby has made no commitments, Frank said she does know the company is looking for five more store sites in the near future.

In addition, board attorney Bob Latham encouraged Frank to enlist the help of EDA personnel in her efforts.

Also Tuesday, Bryan Stringer of the Natural Resource Conservation Service said the federal agency has approved several more erosion control projects in Adams County, for a total of $1 million in federal help. NRCS made the approvals after representatives toured on Monday areas in Adams County hit hard by rains from Hurricane Katrina. Approved sites include three on Church Hill Road and one each on Steamplant Road, Baker Lane and St. Catherine’s Creek near Cedar Lane.

Because Hurricane Katrina was declared an emergency, the NRCS will pay for the entire cost of the project except the cost of getting property easements, which falls to the county.

That cost, however, is usually much less than 5 percent of the total project cost, Stringer told supervisors Tuesday.

In addition, the NRCS is extending the deadline for local governments to get easements for such emergency projects.

The original deadline was Nov. 22 &045; almost impossible to meet, according to county officials &045; but has been extended until 60 days after a project agreement is signed between the local government and NRCS.

If the county doesn’t get easements by that time, it can still do the project but would have to pay 25 percent of the cost.