The City of Natchez has owned the property and building currently occupied by Titan Tire for 62 years. It now has 60 days to turn it over to the company for the sum of $100.

Mayor F.L. &uot;Hank&uot; Smith said he received a letter Monday from Titan informing the city that the company is choosing to exercise an option in its lease to purchase the plant and property for $100. Titan CEO Morry Taylor could not be reached for comment Monday.

Smith said the option has been part of the lease since the building was built in 1939 using bonds issued to the city and leased to Armstrong Tire.

Since then, the lease has remained relatively unchanged through the occupation of Condere Corporation, Fidelity Tire and most recently Titan.

&uot;The lease is very clear. They have the unconditional right to execute that option,&uot; Smith said.

Smith said he is surprised at the timing of the purchase, but he sees it as a sign of commitment to the Natchez plant.

&uot;Hopefully as owners of it now, they would want to come back in here and bring the plant back up to full production,&uot; he said.

On April 11 Taylor announced that Titan’s Natchez plant would scale back to 12 to 20 maintenance workers until the economy improves. The plant employed about 230 workers as late as mid-February. But Taylor said the plant will not close.

According to the lease, the city has 60 days to close on the property with Titan, after which the property will be placed on the city and county tax rolls, Smith said.

Depending on what an assessment shows the plant and property to be worth, Smith said he expects Titan to apply for a tax exemption.

As of Monday afternoon, Smith said he had not spoken with Taylor.

Andrew Ketchings, acting director of the Natchez-Adams County Economic Development Authority, said he was not familiar enough with the plant lease to comment on what the buyout would mean.

But, if Titan chooses to shut down the plant, it could make the job of attracting a new buyer much more difficult.

&uot;It would be much easier if (the city) owned it to negotiate than with an absentee owner, which is basically what (Titan) would be,&uot; Ketchings said.