Wednesday, October 29, 2003
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Wednesday, October 29, 2003 |
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City may keep 'The Fred' operations - while Turner gets tennis, DAPC agrees By J. FRANK LYNCH The Peachtree City Development Authority has again quit the venue management business, suppposedly for good. In a meeting late Friday afternoon, with Chairman Tate Godfrey absent, four remaining members on the seven-seat appointed board voted to again terminate a contract with the city to operate both the Peachtree City Tennis Center and Fred Brown Jr. Amphitheater, effective Nov. 30. By bowing out of its near 10-year-old agreement for the second time in just under a month, the DAPC also gave an endorsement to Tommy Turner of Fayetteville’s AIS Computers and other local business leaders to take over the Tennis Center operations exclusively. Member Scott Formel thanked Turner by name for his efforts as the motion was for the four DAPC members to resign. There was no firm date given for when Turner’s partnership, which he is calling Tennis Management Group or TMG, would be ready to assume full responsibility for running the tennis center. City Hall will assume temporary operations of the facility on Ga. Highway 54 West across from Wal-Mart and Home Depot on Nov. 30, but the city’s hand in day-to-day operations will last only as long as it takes the private partnership to come in and assume control, likely in early 2004, sources said. The amphitheater, or “The Fred” as it is more affectionately known, would remain under some kind of city oversight, though details have yet to be worked out. The DAPC deferred to the city administration to work out the rest of the details related to Turner’s investment group, which includes names like Terry Maple, former director of Zoo Atlanta, and auto dealer Mike Fitzpatrick. “The Development Authority is not a policy-setting board when it comes to these things,” said DAPC member Bob Brooks on Friday. “It’s up to the city council to decide how this will be managed.” Sorting through all the confusion was cited among the reasons the date of the transfer was moved to Nov. 30 from an earlier proposed Nov. 10. “We met with the mayor about all this, but we’ve learned since that he can’t speak for the whole council,” said Brooks. Turner seemed willing to wait it out, if it meant going through all the proper channels. “We knew it had to be a unilateral agreement, and that a final acceptance of the terms would require some City Council action,” said Turner. The second council meeting is scheduled for Nov. 6.
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