NATCHEZ — If the county is considering building a pool for a future consolidated city-county recreation program, why not consider buying one that’s already built?

That was the question posed by Supervisor David Carter to his fellow members of the board of supervisors Tuesday.

The proposal for a community pool was originally put forward by a committee representing the Magnolia Bluffs Casino community development fund committee, which is tasked with recommending how the City of Natchez spend the $250,000 the casino gives to the city for community development.

The proposal asks for — among other things — $500,000 from the city and $700,000 from the county to build the facility, which would have a temporary cover allowing for year-round use.

Carter said Tuesday he does not think the community needs a pool, but he believes if the idea is going to be pursued the parties involved should consider purchasing the Elks Lodge.

Carter said he recently met a state-level official with the Elks Lodge who told him the Natchez chapter had lost its charter and the lodge would be selling the property, which includes a pool.

“It is hard to see building a new pool when we will already have two abandoned public pools in the city,” Carter said. “I don’t support the idea of a pool, but if we are going to spend that money, we should at least consider that (buying) option.”

Carter said the other pool he was referencing was the former Natchez municipal pool at Duncan Park, which is drained and locked up.

The supervisor said he doesn’t think the county should be discussing any pool, however, until the Natchez-Adams County Recreation Commission has hired a director to run a consolidated city-county program.

In other news:

– Former Youth Court Judge John Hudson presented the board with his final report about housing at the Adams County Juvenile Justice Center.

During the current fiscal year, the center has brought in $97,570 from the housing of juveniles from other counties, Hudson said.

During the last fiscal year, the center was projected to bring in $302,000 in collections, Hudson said, but if the current trends continue across the full year the 2014-2015 fiscal year will see collections jump to $412,000.

If Adams County had chosen to send its juveniles elsewhere rather than house them here or use detention alternatives, it would have cost the county $280,000 annually more than it does now, Hudson said.

Federal detention law does not allow for juveniles to be housed within sight or sound of adult prisoners.

“(Juvenile housing) prices are going up (statewide) because beds are becoming scarce and counties are having a hard time finding places for kids to be placed,” Hudson said.

“It is crystal clear that having our facility is critical, not only for fiscal part but for the law enforcement part of taking care of our own children and maintaining our children in their own county.”

– The board agreed to seek a grant to place heart defibulators in the county courthouse.

“We have a lot of people in and out of that courthouse, and it may be one of those things we never need, but it’s better to be safe,” Supervisor Mike Lazarus said.

“They say for every minute your heart is stopped, it’s a 10 percent reduction in the chance it will start back, so if you wait 10 minutes, you aren’t coming back.”

– The board presented Oscar Seyfarth with a resolution of appreciation for his long-time work with Wreaths Across America, a non-profit that seeks to place a wreath on the graves of U.S. military veterans every December.

– The board presented the Cathedral Green Wave football team with a resolution of appreciation for its winning of the 2014 state championship.