The city of Vicksburg gets $500,000 in state bond money for tourism, and authorization to cut the overgrown Tate Cemetery and give up to $10,000 to Pigs-in-Flight children’s museum under a series of bills for the city approved by the Mississippi Legislature.

The bills for Tate Cemetery and Pigs-in-Flight have been signed by Gov. Phil Bryant. The bond money is included in the House/Senate conference “bond bill,” which as of Monday had not been signed.

Mayor George Flaggs Jr. said the conference report establishes a $500,000 Vicksburg Tourism Fund to be used for any activity that attracts tourism to the city. He said the initial request was for $1.5 million.

“That fund is unique for Vicksburg and will stay in effect until 2020,” he said. “It’s for construction of any infrastructure involving tourism, and includes a sports complex and anything having to do with recreation.”

The bill was initially filed in the House but died in committee.

State Rep. Alex Monsour, R-Dist. 54, the bill’s author, said he filed it “because in order to be considered and get into the bond bill, you need to file a separate revenue bill so they can track it.

“We didn’t get what we wanted. It’s tough times. The House and the Senate had $11 million to split between them, and that’s how the projects came out.”

He said he’s confident Bryant will sign the bill “because it’s got everybody’s stuff, including all the major bond projects in the State of Mississippi. It sets up a fund that’s available for work, and to get the original amount we asked for over a period of time.”

The bill supporting Pigs-in-Flight is a local and private bill, which is a bill designated solely for Vicksburg. Under the bill, the city is authorized to give the museum up to $10,000 a year through 2019.

Located downtown at 722 Belmont St., Pig-in-Flight opened in 2014, and offers children exhibits and hands-on activities.

The Tate Cemetery bill is another local and private bill authorizing the city to go in and cut and clean the private cemetery at the corner of South Frontage Road and Cypress Centre Boulevard. The cemetery has been overgrown for years.

Although Flaggs asked for authorization to cut the cemetery once, the bill does not list the number of times the cemetery can be cut and cleared.

He said past administrations allowed the cemetery to become overgrown with weeds and trees.

City officials in the past have unsuccessfully tried to contact heir of relatives in the cemetery because information on the cemetery owners is unavailable, making it difficult to follow state law involving clearing derelict property.

“I think it’s grossly unfair to allow that area to grow up like that; it’s an eyesore to the community,” Flaggs said, adding he is aware of past efforts to find the owners. He said his plan is to cut the cemetery once and set up some type of organization to raise funds for the cemetery, which was once part of a black community called Jonestown.

“I’m so glad somebody’s decided to do something about it,” said Sherry Fisher, a retired teacher who has family buried at the cemetery. “I grew up in that community and I tried to clean it up, but it was too much. I did all I could.”