Friday, November 24, 2000
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Friday, November 24, 2000 |
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County has doubts about greenspace program By JOHN THOMPSON Coweta County will participate in the governor's new green space program, but the Coweta County Commission is not sure how successful the program will ultimately be. The commissioners signed two resolutions Tuesday night to be eligible for the program and gain $397,000 from the state to start it. Gov. Roy Barnes' program gives money to the 40 fastest growing counties in the state to purchase land to set aside as green space. The program's ambitious goal is to preserve 20 percent of the county's total acreage, which would be nearly 53,000 acres. While supporting the program, Commissioner Jim McGuffey doesn't believe it can survive on government's support alone. "It would take about $375 million to buy that much land," he said. Commission Chairman Vernon "Mutt" Hunter agreed with McGuffey and said this is another political plan that could meet an early demise. "We've got all these plans, such as reducing waste in the landfills, that are just sitting on the shelf. This will probably wind up there too," he said. McGuffey commented that everybody wants to preserve green space, but there were only five people at the meeting Tuesday who were concerned about the project. "I'm sure we'll eventually be criticized by people who didn't have the resolve to attend tonight's public hearing," he said. The resolutions are due at the state by Nov. 30 and so far only Bibb and Gwinnett counties have had their programs approved by the state. Representatives from the Chattahoochee-Flint Regional Development Center are completing the county's application and are hopeful that Coweta's program will be the next approved by the state. In addition to purchasing land with state funds, the program also allows private land owners to either donate money to the program or place their land in a conservation trust program. "That's the only way this program has a chance of working," said McGuffey.
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