WOODVILLE &045;&045; Effective Jan. 1, AJFC Community Action Agency of Natchez will assume ownership of the former Neighborhood Facility building from the Town of Woodville.

AJFC curently leases the building from the town. But with grant money in hand to build a new multi-purpose community center, the town voted in October not to continue leasing the Neighborhood Facility.

AJFC has operated Head Start programs for area pre-schoolers in the Neighborhood Facility since 1976. In October, 65 children were enrolled in the program, and 15 others were on a waiting list.

Woodville aldermen voted 3-0 to donate the building to AJFC at a special meeting on Monday. Alderman Sharon Dawson was absent from the meeting.

The deed contains the stipulation that AJFC may hold the title to the building only as long as the agency conducts business that &uot;promotes the civic, social and moral betterment of the community.&uot;

Otherwise, ownership of the property would revert to the town.

Board members also announced the town has been awarded a $100,000 Community Heritage grant from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History for the refurbishing of the Town Hall building. The funds will be used to restore masonry, flooring and wiring in the century-old, two-story structure on Woodville’s Main Street.

Alderman David Smith said the town had already started renovating the building.

&uot;Next we need to sit down and re-think our budget and schedule for the remodeling work,&uot; Smith said.

The Starkville architectural firm of Thomas, Shelton, Jones and Associates will oversee the work, which must be completed within a year.

In other grant business, the town received a two-year extension from Delta Regional Authority on the completion date for its new multi-purpose center. Work on that project must now be finished by October 2006.