Long-term maintenance of a project to clean out three narrow drainage bayous in Vicksburg should be a municipal responsibility, Warren County supervisors said Thursday.

The project is one of two approved for Katrina-related disaster recovery funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development totaling $5.2 million, the other being a new fire station and remodeling the terminal at Vicksburg Municipal Airport. Meetings continue next week between Mississippi Development Authority and local grant administrators over which local government should anchor the $3.9 million portion intended for the bayou effort.

“It’s so logical, since all the activity is in the city’s territory,” Board President Richard George said, adding Vicksburg’s zoning and permitting regulations make for a better arrangement. “That determines whether you can get into a place to maintain it.”

Glass, Hatcher and Stouts bayous would be cleaned of flow-blocking debris and rubbish as part of the project. As many private property lines run to the centers of the bayous, rights of entry issues have arisen. Other issues to be worked out by county engineers trying to design a scope for potential bidders include oversight and proper disposal of cleared debris.

Mayor Laurence Leyens has said the city wants no part of it, instead focusing on upgrades at the airport that have included the capital improvements and absorbing its day-to-day operations into city government from its now-dissolved advisory board.

If the county opts to keep control of the grant, a drainage control district would have to be established to oversee the 50 or so miles of winding streams. Its funding would come from property tax add-ons, similar to taxes imposed by the Board of Mississippi Levee Commissioners on land protected by mainline Mississippi River levees. County engineers have said specifications of work could entail extensive manual labor, as opposed to machinery, possibly pushing the overall cost of the project past the grant total.

As the board mulled its options, some supervisors acknowledged the maintenance challenges and other ironies that have grown over the project since the grant was awarded in April.

“I wish we had done this before we started this thing,” said District 2 Supervisor William Banks, who along with District 3 Supervisor Charles Selmon championed the loudest when supervisors were pressed for application ideas earlier this year by urban planning consultants.

District 1 Supervisor David McDonald referred to connections between Katrina and any effects on the effluence of the bayous loose, at best.

“That’s the fallacy in all this,” McDonald said. “We got most of our flooding from (Hurricane) Rita, not Katrina. That didn’t seem to matter on the grant.”

Thirty-nine counties and municipalities in the state were eligible for the disaster recovery funds, part of a larger $5.48 billion Katrina recovery package awarded to Mississippi from HUD. 

On the agenda

On Thursday, the Board of Supervisors:

* Support for Warren County Drug Court will be renewed when a building lease expires in March, supervisors said.

Upon its establishment in 2005, the court that handles drug cases moved into the alternative court building at 1220 Clay St.

A letter from Circuit Judge Frank Vollor urged action by the county to address leaks in the roof that the judge said could threaten its recertification following a state inspection next week. Those who plead guilty to certain crimes may be deemed eligible for drug court probation and convictions expunged from their records if they complete the program.

Supervisors said River City Land Company, the building’s owners, have been notified of the problem and plans to repair the roof have involved Buildings and Grounds crews. The county pays $2,300 a month to lease the structure.

* A court date has been set for renewal of arguments concerning taxes owed by owners of the now-defunct Inn of Vicksburg at 3330 Clay St.

Opening statements will be heard beginning Oct. 20 in Warren County Circuit Court, Board Attorney Paul Winfield said. The holding group has sued the county over values assessed to its property for 2007. Owners are arguing for a reduction of nearly $5 million from those totals. Suits over its 2005 and 2006 taxes resulted in settlements that reduced its taxes.

The Hampton Inn and Suites was completed in 2006 on the site formerly occupied by the Inn and, previously, the Hotel Vicksburg.