NATCHEZ &045;&045; Adams County Supervisors Henry Watts said he is in favor of contracting with an economic developer to help close negotiations on several long-standing projects.

Watts said he wants the full board of supervisors to meet with the Economic Development Authority soon to ask where the EDA stands in its current negotiations with industrial prospects.

Those include negotiations to buy the former International Paper mill site for use as industrial park land and talks with a prospect &045;&045; which Watts wouldn’t identify &045;&045; that could bring about 20 jobs to the county.

The EDA has been negotiating with those prospects for months now, &uot;and the longer you negotiate, the more the terms change and the less likely it is&uot; that such projects will come to fruition, Watts said.

Watts said he is in favor of contracting with an economic developer &045;&045; possibly former EDA director Michael Ferdinand &045;&045; for six months or less.

Watts confirmed Michael Ferdinand, who resigned as EDA executive director, was discussed as a possible person with whom to contract.

&uot;I figured he would be good because he’s the immediate past director, so he already has relationships&uot; with those prospects, Watts said.

&uot;But I’m open to talking with anyone who can help economic development. … We weren’t talking about a long-term commitment, just to close some of these (prospects) out.&uot;

He said contracting with someone like Ferdinand is an idea he brought up two or three months ago, when City of Natchez officials were mulling how they would fund the EDA for the fiscal year that starts Saturday &045;&045; but he still likes the idea.

He added that the board hasn’t met with anyone, including Ferdinand, about the possibility of contracting with the county.

Other supervisors who could be reached for comment Monday afternoon mixed feelings about those ideas.

Supervisor Thomas &uot;Boo&uot; Campbell said he’s always been in favor of hiring someone on a consulting basis, as long as that person is paid a percentage on the deals he helps close &045;&045; not a set salary.

Whether you’re talking about a consultant for the county or a director for the EDA, &uot;there needs to be accountability for results,&uot; Campbell said.

Supervisor Sammy Cauthen said he doesn’t think the cash-strapped county needs to spend money on a consultant, especially with the EDA board working to hire a new director. And he said EDA Chairman Woody Allen keeps him up to date on that agency’s activities without a joint supervisors-EDA meeting being held.