NATCHEZ — They swear it’s not a bid to drive up ratings, but the Adams County Board of Supervisors agreed Monday to make the broadcasts of their bi-weekly meetings a little more interactive.

The board decided to add an “Ask Your Supervisor” section to the end of the broadcasts of its meetings at the prompting of Supervisor Mike Lazarus. He suggested the idea of having board members answer questions from members of the public on television Monday, saying a similar segment he saw on a Jackson television station called “Ask Your Mayor” inspired him.

“I would rather give somebody an answer than have them assume something wrong,” Lazarus said. “There are simple questions we get all the time like, ‘Why can’t I get a load of gravel at my house?’”

Lazarus said the idea was a “good way to talk to the public.”

County Administrator Joe Murray said members of the public can submit their questions through the “contact us” link on the county website at adamscountyms.net/contact-us. Lazarus said residents can also leave a question by phone.

“When you are supplying that question to the public, people may say, “I had that same question,’” Supervisors President Darryl Grennell said.

In other news:

4The board voted to reject bids it had previously received for the lease of the former Belwood Country Club. The county has been marketing the property for industrial purposes, but had considered leasing it to private parties in the interim.

Grennell said the bids had to be rejected because the board did not formally act to advertise the property before doing so.

The board instead voted to authorize attorney Christina Ferrell Daugherty to draw up a lease for the Natchez-Adams County Port Commission to handle the Belwood property on its behalf with a reverter clause so that the county could take over the property immediately if an industrial prospect comes into play.

Daugherty was handling the legal aspect of the project because one of board attorney Scott Slover’s clients had previously expressed interest in the property.

4The board had a discussion about what residents should have to do before working on a county right-of-way on their property.

Lazarus said a citizen who cleared trees and plants from a right-of-way and wanted to know if in the future he should petition the board or county road manager for permission had approached him. Slover said it was within the board’s discretion to require it should members so choose.

But Supervisor David Carter said such a requirement was impractical when one considers the hundreds of miles of county roads.

“I can’t see us overseeing someone who lives in rural Kingston, saying anyone who work within 30 feet of the road has to get permission,” he said, to which Grennell added residents cut grass and remove leaves from ditches all the time.

Lazarus said the landowner in question didn’t harm the right-of-way in any way or push trees into the road.

“If it was up to me, all of the rights-of-way would be clear so we didn’t have to deal with that when storms come through,” he said.

Slover said under current law, residents can work within the county’s right of way as long as they don’t change the route of the road or damage the road in any way.

4The board voted to appoint Cappy Stahlman, Robert Pernell and Dan Williams to the Southwest Mississippi Regional Rail Authority.

The appointees will fill the slots vacated by George Oliver, Dan Bland and Zach Jex.