Friday, February 20, 2004
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Friday, February 20, 2004 |
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Sports council sparks heated debate By JOHN THOMPSON Coweta County may soon have a sports council to help lure lucrative tournaments and their tourism dollars to the area. But the issue engendered a spirited debate at the County Commission Tuesday meeting when the issue came up for a vote. “I thought this was just on the agenda for discussion. I didn’t know we were going to vote on it,” said Chairman Vernon “Mutt” Hunter. Commissioner Larry DeMoss, who spearheaded the effort for the council, said the issue had been talked about for months and he was ready to vote for it. “We need to take the bull by the horns,” he said. While the other commissioners supported the council, they agreed with Hunter that some issues needed to be further clarified. DeMoss proposes increasing the county’s hotel-motel tax by one percent to pay for the council, but the city of Newnan would also have to agree to increase the rate on their hotels. “I’m a little touchy about raising taxes, but this would bring in more revenues to the county,” Wood said. While stopping short of actually voting for the council, the commission agreed to let DeMoss take the matter before the Newnan City Council for discussion. “We need to see if Newnan’s going to approve it, since if they don’t, there’s no reason to have county attorney Mitch Powell draw up a resolution,” said Commissioner Leigh Schlumper.
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