Friday, March 12, 2004
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Friday, March 12, 2004 |
| PTC Council responds to Regions Bank demand By J. FRANK LYNCH Peachtree City officials were to respond this week to a letter sent Feb. 19 from Regions Bank threatening to sue the city because the Development Authority has defaulted on a $200,000 loan. In executive session March 4, the City Council authorized the city’s attorney, Ted Meeker, to meet with representatives of the bank and deliver this message: The city is not liable. City Manager Bernard McMullen said the council agreed unanimously to dispute the claims by Regions Bank. “We are claiming no libability whatsoever,” said McMullen. “We’ve informed them that we’ll have no party to it.” A notification letter from attorney Philip H. Weener on behalf of the bank, required by law whenever litigation is pending against a city, names the City of Peachree City, the Development Authority of Peachtree City and the relatively new Peachtree City Tourism Association accountable for the unpaid loan. Weener claims a loan in the amount of $200,000 was made to the DAPC June 14, 2002. The bank declared the loan in default Dec. 15, 2003. In the letter, the attorney said the loan is secured by collateral located at the Peachtree City Tennis Center, describing it as a “blanket security interest in all assets and general intangibles including but not limited to all furniture, fixtures, equipment, inventory, accounts, rents, leases, and contract rights ... ” The city owns the tennis center itself, but some equipment and the like is believed to be the rightful property of the DAPC, bought with revenue generated by the venue. The Peachtree City Tourism Association is the new nonprofit, independent board that took over operation of the tennis center and Frederick Brown Jr. Amphitheater Jan. 19. All of the former Development Authority employees were kept on by the Tourism Association, except for Amphitheater Director Donna Romeo. A replacement for that position is still being sought. Mayor Steve Brown said Regions Bank was just “feeling the city out” and repeated his long-held claim that the city bears no responsiblity for an estimated $1.5 million in debt amassed by the DAPC in recent years, believed mostly from expansion of the Tennis Center and battling a employment discrimination lawsuit against former amphitheater director Kristi Rapson. How the authority is going to get out from under that stranglehold will be among the very first items of business when a nearly all-new DAPC board meets for the first time on Monday. Five new members will join the only two remaining ones from the old board in a 6:30 p.m. meeting at the Peachtree City Library. In addition to setting an agenda, discussing economic development activities, establishing a budget and considering the election of officers, the DAPC will hear a presentation from Brian Cardoza, president and CEO of the Fayette County Development Authority.
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