Local residents wishing to attend City Council meetings in Peachtree City are on their own as far as what to do with their children during meeting times.

That was the message sent at the Feb. 3 meeting, as the council made it clear that the city government should not get involved in any way with attempts to organize child care for citizens that otherwise cannot attend meetings.

Councilman Dan Tennant initiated the discussion by reporting that several citizens had mentioned to him their desire to attend more council meetings, but they could not because there was no place for their children. He asked city staff to look at some of the possibilities for meeting this need.

Tennant said that, while he was opposed to government sponsorship of any program of this kind, he thought that a privately funded operation could increase citizen involvement in council meetings.

City manager Jim Basinger reported that a couple of local churches had been consulted about the feasibility of child care services, and a number of fees and restrictions were discussed.

Mayor Bob Lenox said that involving the city as far as tax dollars would set a bad precedent, and he added that he felt the service would be unnecessary most of the time because only a few meetings have an exceptionally large turnout.

Tennant said that if the program were implemented on a trial basis with outside funding, the city would not have to be involved except to forward the funding. But Lenox and Mayor Pro Tempore Annie McMenamin both pointed out that any work on the part of city staff coordinating the project would amount to city involvement.

“I have a philosophical problem with this,” said McMenamin, citing liability concerns as well as her feeling that the city should not be involved in any way. She commended the efforts of people wishing to become more involved in local government, and said any such program done totally outside the city's sphere of influence would be fine with her, but she could not support any level of official involvement by the city.

A motion by McMenamin to keep the city from participating in this program was seconded by Councilwoman Carol Fritz and passed 3-1, with Tennant voting no. Councilman Robert Brooks was absent from the meeting.

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