Wednesday, June 4, 2003
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Wednesday, June 4, 2003 |
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PTC Council eyes higher costs on TDK Extension
By J. FRANK LYNCH
Amidst charges of "political grandstanding" and "embarrassing behavior" the Peachtree City Council will go fishing Thursday for money to get the TDK Boulevard Extension project back on track. According to a memo from City Engineer Troy Besseche, the cost to raise the roadbed and bridge spanning Line Creek to avoid rock removal will be an extra $36,000, not $63,000 as previously reported. That will save the county the $180,000 it would cost to remove the rock. As part of a multi-jurisdictional agreement reached earlier this year, Peachtree City was to pay for all of the engineering and design work on the road, while the governments of Fayette and Coweta counties would pay appropriate shares of the construction cost. In the memo, Besseche said the balance of funds remaining in city accounts for the engineering work is $17,450. With revenues tight because of the economy, the city has no funds to spare, said Mayor Steve Brown on Tuesday. "We'll explore a number of funding options Thursday night," Brown said. "It's completely open, but we may ask (Fayette) County to pitch in." That's likely, because Coweta County commissioners have already indicated their willingness to help pay up the design work changes and get the project rolling. "It's our city engineer's opinion that the costs are substantial," said Brown, adding, "But it's a win-win situation, because we worked with the engineer to bring the cost down." Brown denied using the road as a political or personal pawn, as has been suggested by some in the business community and through letters to the media. [See Letters on Page 7A.] "I'm not dragging my feet on this, I'm just trying to find where we get the additional funding." But he did admit Tuesday that he's still no fan of the extension. "TDK is a developer's road, no doubt about it," he said. "Once the road goes through, houses and stores and restaurants are going to go in on the Coweta County side and eventually the traffic coming off TDK will bottleneck (Ga. Highway) 74 South. I don't see that as the savior the Chamber of Commerce says it will be." The road might be a reliever for "about two years," said Brown. If the council comes up with a funding plan this week and authorizes work to resume on the engineering phase, actual construction could start sometime this summer. In other business Thursday, the council is expected to: ·Consider a change to city code affecting the appeals process when a building permit is denied. ·Hear progress on continuing efforts to curb excessive traffic in the Golfview Drive neighborhood. The installation of traffic "humps" and increased patrols have slowed the number of cars using Golfview Drive as a shortcut from the Pinegate neighborhood to Flat Creek Road, but residents still aren't happy. ·Hear a presentation on the annual financial audit of the city, conducted last fall. The council meets at 7 p.m. Thursday at City Hall, Willowbend Road at Ga. Highway 54.
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