Wednesday, March 12, 2003
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Wednesday, March 12, 2003 |
Management of tennis center criticized by citizens at PTC council meeting By JOHN
MUNFORD
Three people with backgrounds in managing public tennis centers argued at Thursday night's Peachtree City Council meeting that further changes should be made to the way the city's tennis center is operated. While David Gardner, Bill MacDonald and Ron Small criticized the center's operation to varying degrees, they admitted they hadn't met with the city's Development Authority, which operates the facility, to air their concerns. Robert Brooks, a member of the authority, said some of their points were valid and he offered to meet with them to discuss those issues and explain apparent misconceptions the trio had about the way the tennis center is operated. The concerns may be moot if the council can get the Fayette state representatives and senators to sign off on legislation to create a new recreation authority to operate the tennis center and amphitheater, which the Development Authority also currently operates. In December, the authority adopted a budget for the tennis center that was $88,000 lower than last year's expenditures. This was done to meet the council's wishes to lower the facility's dependence on the hotel-motel tax so the money can be used for other projects. Gardner, who was one of the founding members of the tennis center, said it was supposed to be a place for citizens to play "at reasonable fees." MacDonald was particularly critical of the management style of Virgil Christian, the former tennis center director who now oversees the development authority as its executive director. He said the center has been turned into "a teaching facility" and that clay courts which should be reserved for older members are often kept busy by tennis center pros conducting lessons. A portion of the lesson fees goes back into the tennis center's budget as another revenue source in addition to the memberships and court fees. MacDonald also said he felt the pro shop proceeds should go to the city; currently, the shop is operated by Christian as a separate private business in space at the center's new building. The authority does not receive any rent in return for Christian's use of the space; that was considered an incentive by the authority when Christian was hired in 1994 to run the center. MacDonald also criticized the authority for allowing Clayton College and State University to have free rent for classroom space in the new building. Councilwoman Annie McMenamin said having a college presence in Peachtree City had been seen as a need for many years. "We couldn't find another place" to host the college classes, McMenamin said. Some of MacDonald's other comments were so cutting, however, that councilman Dan Tennant accused him of "skewering" Christian in public. Tennant even moved that council shut off public comments against the current tennis center management after MacDonald's diatribe. That caused a commotion among council members, particularly Murray Weed and Mayor Steve Brown, who chastised Tennant for even considering the idea. "People should not have the right to vilify and spit venom," Tennant said. "Dan, you can't pick and choose who you want to hear from," Weed said. Small was critical of the authority's decision to locate a restaurant at the tennis center. Currently the space is unoccupied but the authority is negotiating with a restaurant management company to run the facility after the first group to do so pulled out of its contract due to a disagreement over several issues with the authority. Small said if he made some of the mistakes the authority made in his job with the military, he would be reprimanded. Small, who is a member of the tennis center, said he had one criticized the operations there and afterwards he was "ostracized" by fellow members. "I couldn't go there and buy a match except with friends," Small said.
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