Friday, June 14, 2002
|
Friday, June 14, 2002 |
|
City Council, Airport Authority discuss funding By JOHN
MUNFORD
With all but one City Council member in attendance at Wednesday night's meeting of the Peachtree City Airport Authority, both sides exchanged ideas about possibly changing the way the city funds the airport's operations. Under an agreement signed last year by then-mayor Bob Lenox, the Airport Authority receives $120,000 in hotel-motel tax funds as a "supplement" to operate the airport. That agreement includes an attachment spelling out that the supplement will stay at that rate ending after the year 2011. But current Mayor Steve Brown says he wants to cut short that date from 10 years to no longer than three so the current council is not encumbering future city councils. The current contract is technically in affect for 50 years, he explained. There is actually no ending date listed in the contract, a copy of which has been reviewed by The Citizen. Authority member Jerry Cobb said they would rather the figure remain at 10 years because they need a reliable income so they can qualify for loans to fund projects to improve the airport. But Brown countered that the current agreement actually allows the authority, "an autonomous body," to spend tax dollars when that responsibility should lie with the council since they are elected by the people. The authority members are appointed by the City Council. Cathy Nelmes, the authority's chairwoman, said she hoped the authority and council could mutually agree to a new contract, but she was unsure if that could be done right away since council has hired an independent attorney to determine the validity of the contract. Several authority members said they would agree to a new contract that stipulated the $120,000 in supplemental support from the city's hotel-motel tax ended after 10 years. The authority also pointed out that if the length of the contract were shortened to three years, that would not guarantee financial support of the projects the airport needs to complete so it can become self-sustaining. City Councilman Steve Rapson said it is common in such contracts to have a clause where either party can give, for example, 30 days notice to terminate or change the agreement. Currently, the contract is worded so that any changes have to be mutually agreed upon by the authority and the city. That is one of the reasons Brown, Rapson and councilman Dan Tennant claim they feel the contract is invalid because the original wording of the contract allowed the city to change the funding through the contract "at its sole discretion." Although there are limits to what projects hotel-motel taxes may be used for, they can be used for things other than the tennis center and airport, Brown said. Nelmes previously pointed out that authority attorney Doug Warner, who also sits on the city's Development Authority, has agreed to have the airport authority use a special counsel to confer with about the contract to make sure there is no appearance of a conflict of interest. Airport Authority member Doug Fisher said he was "uncomfortable to have the funding hanging out there" to possibly be changed in three years. Councilwoman Annie McMenamin, who also attended the meeting, said that the airport authority was originally designed to take the politics out of operating the airport. She added that nothing in the current contract prevents council from hammering out a different contract with the authority. Rapson and Brown indicated they would rather the airport authority approach the council for funding its future projects instead of the authority itself going into debt to expand. To address possible concerns about the current council's support of the airport authority, Brown remarked: "When the amphitheater needed restrooms, we made sure they got them. When the tennis center needed new courts, we made sure we got those." Brown also said that he had planned for the city to purchase the approximately 20 acres adjacent to the airport which authority officials want to insure Falcon Field can expand in the future. But before council took action, the authority received a federal grant for the land purchase.
|
||