Wednesday, June 12, 2002
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Wednesday, June 12, 2002 |
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PTC park won't go to dogs yet By CAL BEVERLY
You could say the dog park went to the people people who opposed spending $14,150 to create a fenced dog exercise area on city land near Peachtree City's Kedron recreation facility. The price represents five-ten-thousandths of 1 percent of Peachtree City's $29.47 million budget, but after strenuous opposition from several residents, the City Council last Thursday night voted against spending a dime for a pooch park. Instead, Councilman Murray Weed's pet project won a reprieve with a 3-to-1 vote to simply set aside land already owned by the city in the northern village for use as a future dog park. Councilwoman Annie McMenamin led the pack opposing the park, contending that private organizations should step forward to provide funding and cleanup of any such specialized park area. Councilman Steve Rapson also voted against using city money, but voted for the set-aside land. Rapson called it "a quasi-dog park." Discussion took more than an hour, with several citizens weighing in on the need for the city to mind its fiscal business, even on small expenditures. It's a bad time for spending, during a budget crunch," said Gwen Rower, wife of defeated mayoral candidate Gary Rower. Jill Truitt also cautioned against taking money from the city's dwindling contingency fund with several months remaining in the current budget year. Weed, backed by Mayor Steve Brown, called the 1-acre dog park "a jewel in Peachtree City's crown." Weed said such a park matched the city's "forward-looking, progressive image." Weed argued that the city Rotary Club planned to provide volunteers to keep the park clean. Rotarian Marcia Cole jumped up in opposition, saying that was the first she had heard of that plan. Weed said he had gotten the Rotary pledge from a Rotary committee head. McMenamin said she was "stunned" by the $14,150 cost of the project, most of it for the chain-link fencing. She pointed to the need of a new fence at Glenloch Recreation Center's pool as a higher priority. That was echoed by former Councilwoman Carol Fritz, Weed's losing opponent in last fall's city elections. "There are no bathrooms at Shakerag (recreation area). Why should the city pay for it? [The] $15,000 is a big deal" when other high priority projects have to be cut during the budget crunch, Fritz said. Weed said he disagreed with Fritz's philosophy. Giving the city-funded All-Children's Playground for kids with disabilities as an example, Weed said, "We shouldn't expect the private sector to take care of every public need." "We don't want to give the impression the city's in dire financial straits," Rapson said. "We're not." "You're the one with gloom and doom" financial projections, McMenamin said. "This is a frivolous project." Brown joined the fray: "I'm surprised that the person [McMenamin] wanting to spend $20,000 [in city funds] on the air show doesn't want to spend $14,000 on a fixed asset, which is what the dog park would be." Brown referred to McMenamin's support of using city funds to provide security for the private airshow to be held at Falcon Field in September. General bickering followed, resulting in a McMenamin motion to deny funding for the park which died for lack of a second followed by a 2-to-2 tie vote to fund the park with its two-section fence separating larger from smaller dogs. The cost included $10,500 for the fence and $2,000 for a combined people-pooch drinking water fountain humans using the upper level and dogs slurping the lower bowl. Weed then proposed a compromise setting aside the land for dog owners to exercise their pets but not spending any city money to fence it or landscape it at this time. That carried, with McMenamin still opposed.
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