Friday, October 3, 2003
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Friday, October 3, 2003 |
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DAPC: 'We take it back' Private investors line up alternatives to city management By J. FRANK
LYNCH
The Development Authority of Peachtree City reversed course Wednesday, voting to rescind last week's decision to return management of the Fred Brown Jr. Amphitheater and Peachtree City Tennis Center to the city by the end of the month and buying time for alternatives to be considered. In a hastily arranged meeting called at the urging of Councilman Dan Tennant, the DAPC voted 4-0 to delay the offer made Sept. 25 to the city council. The resignation of DAPC Executive Director Virgil Christian will stand, however. DAPC Chairman Tate Godfrey said there wasn't enough time for authority members to meet with city staff on the transition before a Wednesday deadline for submitting a formal letter of resignation. The postponement also allows time to hear from a number of private groups that have expressed interest this week in taking over the facilities as well. Among the proposals is one being put together by Tommy Turner, president of AIS Computers in Fayetteville and a founding member of the Tennis Center. "I'm not on one side or the other," said Turner, a Fayetteville resident, of the political turmoil that has surrounded the Tennis Center's management structure, stirred up largely by Mayor Steve Brown. "The challenge is the Tennis Center has become a political football that keeps bouncing back and forth from one side to the other," said Turner. "No government official, no member of the tennis center approached me to do this. And I'll be the first to say if somebody steps up with a better idea, I'll be happy to hand it off to them." Turner's goal is to pull together 15 investors, each contributing $10,000 to shore up the Tennis Center's finances. The partnership would not, however, accept responsibility for the DAPC's debt, incurred mostly during last year's expansion of the facility. "I really don't want any part of the debt," Turner said. "My preference is that the debt stay with the Development Authority or the city. I don't want any of that baggage." Such legal questions remain to be worked out, all sides agree, and the role of the DAPC in the relationship could play into the feasibility of Turner's proposal. Turner declined to name any of the potential partners, but did indicate the majority, unlike himself, are Peachtree City residents with Tennis Center interests who want to see the venue back on firm financial footing. Charges of cost overruns and other mismanagement allegations against Christian, the former DAPC executive director, led to his resignation last week. "This is not a profit-making venture," said Turner. "If these investors are looking for a profit, this is not the place. It's an effort to maintain the world class facilities that exist there now. I don't want to see them go by the wayside." Brown, who just learned of the investment group Thursday morning, said he's opposed to Turner's offer as long as the DAPC maintains a role. "What do they need the development authority for?" asked Brown. "I don't support it at all through the development authority." Brown said among the rumored investors in Turner's idea is former Peachtree City Mayor Bob Lenox. "He's the reason we're in this mess to start with," he said. The original agreement for the DAPC to manage the amphitheater and develop the Tennis Center was made during Lenox's administration. The DAPC's termination offer was to have been made official this week with a letter from the authority to the city outlining details, but a required meeting with the city's top managers didn't take place until Wednesday. "The only way for us to take action in regard to possibly rescinding our vote last Thursday was to meet today in special session," said DAPC Chairman Tate Godfrey, reading from a prepared statement prior to Wednesday's vote. The lack of 24-hour notice of the meeting was within the law, due to the urgency of the matter, officials indicated. Tennant, the Post 2 councilman who is running for reelection in November, dismissed charges by Brown that his hands-on effort to delay the DAPC's final decision is merely an attempt to win favor with voters, especially the 650 members of the Tennis Center. "What I don't want to see is a knee-jerk reaction that is going to create more problems than we have now," said Tennant. "There simply is not enough time for the staff to come up with an orderly transition to take place." As evidence, he referred to an e-mail sent to him from former DAPC Vice Chairman Scott Bradshaw, whose Sept. 23 resignation and details of alleged improprieties on the part of Christian set off the series of events last week. In the correspondence, Bradshaw outlined his belief that it would take 90 to 120 days to make an orderly transition of management duties, Tennant said. Further, said Tennant, the delay offers more proposals to be made, including the one from Turner. "In no way am I insistent on the Development Authority being the only alternative to managing these venues," said Tennant. "It was an emotional time, a great amount of turmoil created, courtesy of Steve Brown's unquenching thirst to tear this authority apart," said Tennant of last week's sudden decision to cancel the management contract. "They simply grew sick and tired of it." Just four of the five sitting members of the authority were at the Wednesday meeting, barely a quorum. Those voting for the delay were Chairman Godfrey, Belinda Sward, Bill Bexley and Bob Brooks. Scott Formel was out of the country on business. Bradshaw's resignation left two vacant seats on the seven-member board, with the other made vacant with the July death of Brian Palmitessa.
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