Wednesday, February 12, 2003
|
Wednesday, February 12, 2003 |
PTC council to consider funds for police, fire presence at air showBy JOHN MUNFORD
A sudden storm forced the Great Georgia Air Show to evacuate spectators from Falcon Field last year. And although the storm rains hurt attendance and caused the show to lose money, Peachtree City's police and emergency personnel helped make the evacuation easier, air show chairman Jerry Cobb told the City Council Thursday night. After much debate last May, the council agreed to fund $21,000 for the extra police and fire personnel presence at the show. But the expenditure will be scrutinized again at the March 7-8 council retreat to determine if the funds are technically a donation to a nonprofit organization, which would restrict the amount to $5,000 every five years, due to a city regulation. The show, which is put on by the Dixie Wing of the Commemorative Air Force (formerly the Confederate Air Force) and the Peachtree City Kiwanis Club, lost approximately $7,800 last year, Cobb said. The nonprofit groups who ran concession booths only profited by $8,000 total, with some groups going into the red due to the bad weather, Cobb added. The Kiwanis Club and the Dixie Wing chipped in $20,000 seed money for the air show and they have already committed the same funds for this year, said Councilwoman Annie McMenamin, who is also a Kiwanis member. Advance ticket sales for last year's show were way down "because the public knew the (rain) storm was coming," Cobb said. As for this year's show, "We've already decided we're not going to have rain," Cobb said. Mayor Steve Brown said although the air exhibitions were cut back, it was still interesting to view the variety of aircraft that were on display.
|
||