NATCHEZ — Weather delays have again pushed back the completion date for the $3.4 million storm shelter under construction in Adams County.

Adams County Emergency Management Director Robert Bradford asked the Adams County Board of Supervisors Monday to extend the contract for the FEMA 361 shelter until Sept. 4.

The original construction contract for the shelter, which is meant for short-term use for up to 1,000 people and is designed to withstand the force of an EF5 tornado, would have run out this month if it hadn’t already been extended into the summer.

Bradford said even with the extension, an additional 90 rain days needed to be added for the project to be finished under contract. If the contract ran out, it could affect the funding for the project that came from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, he said.

“You can’t work on a FEMA-funded project that is not contracted,” Bradford said.

The shelter is located next to Natchez High School, a requirement of the grant.

In other news:

-The board adopted a resolution of appreciation for the service of Election Commissioner Catherine Meng, who died last week. She had served as election commissioner since 1982.

The board also voted to appoint her daughter, Tracy Meng Gaudé, to fill Meng’s spot on the commission until an election could be scheduled to permanently fill it.

Supervisor Mike Lazarus said he’d received numerous calls from residents asking to be appointed to fill the slot, but he felt Gaudé was the most fitting appointee.

-The board authorized President Darryl Grennell to execute a refund of money gained at a tax sale after Tax Assessor Reynolds Atkins told the board the property owners had been improperly assessed.

The property owners qualified as disabled veterans and were exempt from the tax, Atkins said, but it had been erroneously assessed from 2012-2014 and then sold at tax sale. Atkins recommended refunding the purchaser’s money.

The authorization the board gave was granted pending board attorney Scott Slover’s legal review of the matter.

-The board authorized a $4,500 donation to Pointman International Ministries to bring an 80-percent scale replica of the Vietnam war memorial to Adams County from May 30 to June 12.

Doug McCallister solicited the donation on behalf of the organization, and said the City of Vidalia and the City of Natchez had committed the same amount to the effort.

McCallister said the organization is working to ultimately bring a permanent 80-percent scale replica of the memorial to the area, and the May event will serve as a fundraiser for it.

The authorization was given pending Slover’s review.

-The board voted to add a portion of Beane Drive to the county road inventory that had previously been omitted due to a scrivener’s error.

-The board presented a resolution of appreciation to the Natchez High School Lady Bulldogs for their recent basketball state championship win.

-The board presented a resolution of appreciation to 40-year Department of Human Services veteran Patty Barlow, who recently retired as its director.