Wednesday, May 8, 2002
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Wednesday, May 8, 2002 |
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PTC mayor wants Development Authority to consider funding projects on Hwy. 54 By JOHN
MUNFORD
Peachtree City Mayor Steve Brown, who earlier this year was at odds with the Development Authority of Peachtree City, seems to have mended the fences of disagreement. The authority is considering a request from Brown to use bond financing to pay for infrastructure improvements to the commercial area on Ga. Highway 54 West that will be anchored by the massive Wal-Mart and Home Depot stores. Earlier this year, Brown was zealous in defending his idea to create a "sports and entertainment" authority to operate the city's tennis center and amphitheater jobs that were already being performed by the Development Authority. The idea rang as a sour note for many users of the tennis center, who appeared before council several months ago to question the necessity of such a move. Brown defended the concept, saying the authority needed to concentrate more on economic development. And that's just what the authority was doing at its economic development workshop Saturday morning at the Wyndham Peachtree Conference Center. At the meeting, Brown discussed with the authority his desire for it to help fund infrastructure projects identified through the city's Liveable Centers Initiative study. Brown said he would have preferred to fund the LCI projects through other means, but time was of the essence. The projects include a bridge across the railroad tracks to link the western quadrant of the city up with the rest of the cart path system. Other projects include landscaping the median of Hwy. 54 after it's widened to four lanes and burying power lines in the corridor, the most expensive line item, costing an estimated $1.2 million. Authority Chairman Tate Godfrey said the authority's attorney will look into the matter. It could be feasible since the authority performed a similar service for the city by purchasing Drake Field last year as greenspace for the city, with an agreement by city officials to repay those funds over several years. Godfrey told Brown that the city could "dedicate" a portion of its millage collections to pay the authority's annual debt service for the projects, but that would take convincing the public of the projects' worth, he added. Authority member Scott Bradshaw suggested that revenues from the temporary 1 percent increase in the city's hotel motel tax "would go a long way towards the debt service on a low interest bond issue." The catch is that when the city council approved that 1 percent increase, it was with the stipulation that the hotel-motel tax revert back to 5 percent once the revenue collections got back on track. Bradshaw said he hasn't spoken with any citizen who would oppose keeping the 1 percent hotel-motel tax increase. Brown noted the city is getting a $600,000 grant to pay for one of the projects identified in the LCI plan. The funds will be used to build a bridge for the cart path system that will span Hwy. 54 near the Wynnmeade subdivision and serve as a "gateway entrance feature" for motorists entering Peachtree City from Coweta County.
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