After a nine-month absence, meetings of the Warren County Board of Supervisors will return to local cable TV – perhaps – and perhaps as soon as Saturday.

Circumstances of the return, however, show the continuing fractiousness between county officials and the City of Vicksburg, which operates RCTV23 through Vicksburg Video.

Supervisors pulled the plug on the city’s cameras in February after rejecting a first-ever request to help pay the costs. Mayor Laurence Leyens requested $20,000 per year.

Two months ago, however, cameras returned to the county board room after supervisors hired an operator at a rate of $75 per hour to record their sessions. The contractor is Paradise Productions, run by former RCTV23 employee Cedric Tillman.

At the time, it wasn’t clear where or how the recordings would be available to the public.

Now, while programming schedules remain tentative and subject to change, cameraman and technical assistant Lorenzo January said the most recent county meeting, held Monday, will likely be shown Saturday at 10 a.m.

District 4 Supervisor Carl Flanders, ending his year as board president, said showing twice-monthly official meetings on cable allows the board to better practice &#8220openness in government.” Other supervisors favored allowing their meetings back on cable, provided the recordings were not subject to editing.

After the county hired Tillman’s company, city officials, for their part, were a bit less accepting of the notion and delayed OK’ing showing the recordings for weeks.

Leyens, who has consistently favored showing the county meetings, said the programs will be yanked if any supervisor uses the board room for &#8220their own political purposes.”

All county offices will be on the ballot in 2007.

North Ward Alderman Michael Mayfield, a former supervisor, supported showing the recordings, but cautioned the board should &#8220try not to get into editing.”

South Ward Alderman Sid Beauman was against it, calling TV23 &#8220the city’s channel, with city expenses.”

The City of Vicksburg gained free access to Channel 23 in 2003 as an outlet for government-sponsored events or meetings without commercial advertisement for subscribers to Vicksburg Video. It is not a public-access channel and city officials schedule programming under a credo they have adopted.

Over time, RCTV23 expanded from one employee to four and upgraded its cameras and production equipment to commercial grade or better. The staff has won numerous awards for the professionalism and quality of its programming.

In the past six months, however, the staff has dwindled to January behind the camera and in the control room, Barry Graham managing the station, and two contract employees to handle editing.

The city put more money toward funding the station in this year’s budget than last year’s, allocating more than $195,000. In fiscal year 2006, the figure was $191,700.

The Vicksburg Warren School District was also offered a cable channel in 2003 and accepted it in April of this year. Some school meetings, functions and sports have aired on the district’s cable access Channel 17 as the district acquires equipment and staff.