Friday, June 13, 2003
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Friday, June 13, 2003 |
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PTC agrees to pay the tab to get TDK back on track By J. FRANK LYNCH
The Peachtree City Council voted Thursday to dip into contingency funds to come up with the extra $18,650 it needs to get the engineering portion of the TDK Boulevard Extension going again. Combined with the $17,450 remaining from earlier work on the project, the $36,100 should fully pay to redraw the plans for the connector road between Fayette and Coweta counties. Work on the engineering phase has been halted for about two months while city officials tried to figure out the best way to pay for a change order requested by the Fayette County government. The county stands to save $180,000 in construction costs later this year because the road won't require as much rock removal. County Commission Chairman Gregg Dunn ad earlier this week sent a letter to members of the Peachtree City Council encouraging them to pass some kind of funding fix. "I want to do all we can to put this thing to bed," said councilman Dan Tennant before the vote, which was unanimous at 4-0 with councilman Steve Rapson absent. "Chairman Dunn's letter made it clear (the county) won't put any more money into this." Mayor Steve Brown, a critic of the road because he says it will further clog traffic on two-lane Georgia Hwy. 74 South, said he didn't want to "put another dime" into the project, and asked City Engineer Troy Besseche if there was any chance the engineering work would still exceed the $36,100 figure. "We don't anticipate any more costs," he said, adding that negotiations were ongoing with right-of-way acquisition involving the county, Pathway Communities and the owners of the Planterra Ridge golf course. Brown asked when Besseche thought the plans would be "on his desk" and he replied "Aug. 1, though I'd probably like a day to look over them one last time." After that, the contractor can begin initial work on the road, which will take about a year to complete. Peachtree City is paying for the engineering and design work on the project, while the county governments of both Fayette and Coweta are sharing the construction costs. City Manager Bernard McMullen reminded the council that a final $50,000 payment is due from the city to the Fayette County Commission for its share, but that will be part of the FY04 budget and won't be due until Dec. 31.
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