NATCHEZ — The Natchez Board of Aldermen voted 4-1 Tuesday to approve an agreement with Adams County to consolidate city and county 911 dispatching services.

The city and county have been working toward the consolidation, and the agreement solidified that the city will move its 10 dispatchers and contribute approximately $229,00 this year toward the consolidated service.

The $229,000 is what remains in the $280,000 the city budgeted for dispatch services for the current fiscal year.

City Attorney Bob Latham presented the agreement to the board Tuesday. Adams County Emergency Management Director Robert Bradford appeared before the board at its last meeting requesting approval of the agreement, which the board decided to take under advisement.

Ward 6 Alderman Dan Dillard voted against the agreement after pointing out glaring typos in the document that he said could change the meaning of the document.

The board approved the agreement on the condition the typos would be corrected.

Under the agreement, the Natchez Police Department’s 10 dispatchers and the Adams County Sheriff’s Office’s five dispatchers would work for one service under the same roof. The dispatch service will be housed in the emergency management office, Bradford said.

The service will be governed by the E911 board, which will submit a budget request to the city and county each year.

Once the city and county dispatching is combined, the salaries of the city’s former dispatchers will be brought up to the level of the county dispatchers based on years of experience, Bradford said.

Dillard asked Sheriff Travis Patten who was seated in the audience for clarification on the contributions of the city and county based on dispatchers. Dillard specifically asked what the salaries were for the dispatchers.

Patten said while the city was contributing 10 dispatchers and the county five, the higher pay of the county dispatchers essentially equaled what the city was paying its dispatchers.

Dillard said he wondered if some dispatcher positions could be cut to save money.

Bradford said five dispatchers is what it takes to run the city’s operation, and the intent in the first year of operations is to ensure no dispatchers lose their jobs during the consolidation.

Following the board’s approval, Bradford said the agreement was a “big step” toward providing better emergency dispatch services to residents.

The final step of the consolidation agreement is approval from the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office.

In other news from the meeting:

4Mayor Darryl Grennell said he met recently with leaders of Alcorn State University, including President Alfred Rankins Jr., regarding the closure of the Natchez Farmers Market. The market was operated by Alcorn’s extension program.

Grennell said he is working on finding a location for the market, emphasizing that Alcorn does want to continue the market’s operations in Natchez.

“They’re committed to having a farmers’ market here,” Grennell said. “I’ve got to work on a location. … Basically, they’re waiting to hear back from us.”