NATCHEZ — County leaders agreed Monday to sign a document they hope will move forward a grant obtained to improve to the area’s lone rail line.

In July 2016, the City of Natchez received word it had been awarded an approximately $10.7 million U.S. Department of Transportation’s   TIGER Discretionary Grant program. However, city leaders became hesitant in September and asked supervisors to take over the sponsorship.

The grant was obtained and lobbied for by previous mayor Butch Brown’s administration.

The crux of the issue for city leaders in September was the realization that a clause in the grant application required the city to agree to potentially assume maintenance of the rail line if the rail’s owner went out of business or went bankrupt.The railroad company is responsible for maintenance, but theoretically could have a problem that would leave some liability with the city as grant sponsor.

Rather than potentially slowing the process down further, the county leaders suggested in September they would sign a document that held the county, along with the city, responsible for any maintenance.

Natchez Railway leadership was not happy with the city’s decision to seek changing the sponsorship because it would mean further delays in upgrading the line. The company is losing money on the line, it says, as the bridges on the line are not able to support fully loaded railcars. The grant would fund repairs necessary to bring the bridge’s capacity up enough to support fully loaded train cars.

Supervisors almost caused another delay because several supervisors said they had not received the documents in time to read them.

However, that issue cleared up after executive session ended as Board President Mike Lazarus said the county had to take action on the TIGER grant.

The county unanimously approved moving forward, with District 4 Supervisor Ricky Gray absent.

Lazarus said the county needed to do what it could to keep the project moving forward.

“We need to do everything we can to help the railroad make a profit,” Lazarus said. “When we are recruiting industry, one of the biggest things is the accessibility of the railroad.”

Natchez Mayor Darryl Grennell said the next step would be starting the process of obtaining the funds from the department of transportation. Natchez Railway has also agreed to put up a $3.6 million match, bringing total funds for the project up to $14.3 million.

“That is great news for Natchez-Adams County in terms of keeping the door open for future industrial development for the community,” Grennell said. “We have got to keep that railroad alive. We really appreciate the county coming on board to help.”