Wednesday, April 2, 2003
|
Wednesday, April 2, 2003 |
|
Legislators: Old way best for tennis center By J. FRANK LYNCH
The Peachtree City Development Authority will be clear to continue oversight of the city's tennis center and the Fred Brown Jr. Amphitheater if a proposed change in the statute governing development authorities statewide gets approval. That's an about-face to the request made of the Fayette County legislative delegation by Peachtree City City Council write a bill to establish an entertainment and sports authority to manage those facilities. But council members didn't seem to mind the change of course too much, voting unanimously Saturday morning to endorse the legislation as proposed with Steve Rapson abstaining due to legal issues involving his wife and the amphitheater. Even Mayor Steve Brown, who has led the fight to break management of the two venues away from the development authority, gave the plan his approval. But only because he thinks the change in state law doesn't stand a chance of passage. "Every attempt at the state level to alter the role of local development authorities has been shot down," Brown said, suggesting further that the wording of the amendment would usurp the authority of local sports or recreation authorities already in place. If that happens, a secondary piece of local legislation that does create a new board is attached to the amendment and could, conceivably, make it through the process in three days, if necessary. Brown has raised concerns that the Peachtree City authority is in violation of state law in its oversight of the two venues in recent years. He has also raised questions about an alleged deficit of about $200,000 he says has been maintained for several years as part of the operating budget at the tennis center. The change in the state law would allow the Peachtree City panel and all such bodies across the state to issue revenue bonds to eliminate that debt, said Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-Sharpsburg), co-sponsor of the bill with Rep. John Lunsford (R-McDonough). Westmoreland said the two came up with the compromise to Brown's idea of an entertainment and sports authority about two weeks ago after meeting with city attorney Ted Meeker to consider options. "The city asked me to outline several options to fix the legal issues involved," said Meeker. "I didn't consider an amendment to the development authority statute until I met with (Westmoreland and Lunsford). To be honest, I don't know where that came into play, but it certainly cleared up the legal issues." Meeker said he doesn't interpret the proposed language as overriding the powers of any other panel, as Brown alleges. Westmoreland also denied that the language was threatening. "This is a statute with statewide implications," Westmoreland admitted. "While it will have a direct impact on Peachtree City, I can't say there are not other communities it won't affect. But it will certainly free up the development authority to continuing doing the things it has been doing." Westmoreland said the revised language is very specific on what types of leisure venues can be defined as "recruitment tools" for development. For example, it specifically cites the combined management of "sports facilities" and "amphitheaters seating more than 1,000" patrons as attractive assets to companies considering relocating here or bringing employees here. "The powers granted to development authorities under the state statute is clear: To support commerce, industry and trade," Westmoreland said. "It's still very broad, laying out the kinds of projects like the tennis center and amphitheater that can be included. But it doesn't say which ones cannot, either." Westmoreland has plans to piggyback the local proposal to another bill already in committee that has similar issues, since time to push an original change to state code has long run out. And if it doesn't survive, he said then lawmakers will look at the attachment and consider the entertainment authority. "I think the development authority has done a great job," said Westmoreland, suggesting that things were "running smoothly" until Brown took office as mayor and began questioning the authority's actions. "There are some things that aren't exactly right that need to be straightened out, but I don't think anybody has done anything intentionally wrong." "We want these debts to be honored," he said.
|
||