NATCHEZ — Less than a week before the Natchez Community swimming pool is scheduled to open, the Metropolitan YMCAs of Mississippi terminated the organization’s contract to manage the pool.

The cancelation notice came Thursday night after Adams County Board of Supervisors and the Natchez-Adams County Recreation Commission failed to meet a renewal deadline.

The recreation commission held a special meeting Friday afternoon and voted to appoint Faye Minor as interim director of the pool as commission members work to renegotiate a management agreement with the YMCA.

Commission Chairman Jimmy Ware said even if the commission agreed Friday night to renew the contract with the YMCA, it would take six weeks before the contract could be in effect and then commission member John Ward Junkin moved to hire Minor on an interim basis as the commission works to renegotiate the YMCA contact. Junkin’s motion passed unanimously.

Minor had been the YMCA of Natchez program/sports director until the contract was terminated Thursday and is a former head of the Boys and Girls Club of Natchez. Her salary is approximately $30,000 per year, Ware said.

The move, commission members said, is an effort to meet Thursday’s pool opening date that will be an adult evening swim.

The commission agreed to have Minor work to rehire pool employees, such as lifeguards, as county employees after their employment with the YMCA was terminated. Minor also will work to acquire liability insurance in the county’s name and to arrange for pool maintenance.

During discussion of the YMCA contract at Friday’s meeting, Ware said the recreation commission was behind on payments.

“We had some bills that were due way back from September,” Ware said, adding that some of the invoices still had former YMCA director Alice Agner’s name on them and Agner left the position in October. “The invoices are not being put out.”

Ware said recreation commission treasurer Moses Ard handles invoicing in which the YMCA paid salaries and bills and sent invoices to the commission.

Ard, who was not at the Friday’s meeting said Saturday that he then sends the invoices on to the city of Natchez and the Adams County Board of Supervisors who cut checks and then he pays the bills.

Ard, who was at home with a cold Friday and Saturday, said he is not as far behind on invoicing as Ware said in Friday’s meeting.

“We just sent some invoices out earlier this month,” Ard said. “We are maybe a couple of months behind. I am the treasurer. It is my responsibility to get that handled, but we might be a couple of months behind.”

On Friday the commission voted unanimously to direct Junkin to seek quotes from local vendors to do billing and invoicing for the recreation commission and in the meantime to have Adams County Administrator Joe Murray meet with Ard on Monday to get the invoicing caught up.

Also in discussion at Friday’s meeting, Ware said he learned a couple of weeks ago from Jara Miller, president and CEO of the Metropolitan YMCAs of Mississippi, that the YMCA’s aquatics director Monica Bihm had been on leave for an illness in the family. So, Ware said he went to check on the pool and found it had not been maintained properly.

Since then, Ware said he, Minor and commission member Ralph Daniels have been working every day to vacuum, clean the pool and maintain chemicals.

The commission agreed to meet again at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday for a progress check to ensure everything is in order for Thursday’s opening. If not, commission members said they will delay the opening.

Slover said the YMCA terminated the contract after the commission failed to make quorums for meetings in April and May to discuss renewing the YMCA contract of approximately $100,000 per year that expired in March.

Slover said he met earlier Friday with Miller.

“They still have a very big interest in being in Natchez and having programs with Natchez,” Slover said. “I think both parties agree that the contract that was in place probably lacked specificity as to what each person’s obligations were, particularly what we wanted out of the Y and what they were supposed to do and what they are capable of doing.”

Slover said the YMCA terminated the pool management portion of the contract because “they don’t have a written binding contract with the rec commission as of right now so out of an abundance of caution they have pulled out…”

The YMCA will continue to run youth and adult sports programs in the Natchez-Adams County area, Slover said.

“Just because the Y may or may not be involved in the pool,” Miller said Friday afternoon, “we are still a part of the Natchez community. We are doing a summer feeding program and partnering with the sheriff’s department for that, and we want to look at expanding our programs, so we are moving forward and we are hopeful.”

Miller said the YMCA would still be interested in managing the pool if the county makes an acceptable proposal.

“We are hopeful,” Miller said. “Scott said they are having a rec commission meeting (Friday night) and the board of supervisors are meeting Monday, and I think the city meeting is Tuesday, so we are hoping they can get everything resolved.”

Miller also said the YMCA was proud to be a part of helping Natchez get the community swimming pool open in the past year.

“We have been honored to be a part of bringing the pool to the Natchez community and bringing our programs to develop youths and to serve the community,” Miller said. “We are looking forward to building on what we’ve got going on now and expanding in the future.”