Wednesday, April 21, 2004

PTC path upkeep may add $10 fee per cart Peachtree City’s famous cart path system — well-traveled though sections of it were not always well-built — is suffering from the effects of age, erosion, root growth and other enemies. Cart owners may face a $10 annual license fee per cart to help pay for path upkeep, based on discussions last week among City Council members and city staff. To preserve the 80-plus-mile network for generations to come, every stretch needs to be inspected and maintained on a routine schedule, council members were told last week. But Public Works can barely keep pace with the most urgent repairs called in, much less do preventative or replacement work, Assistant City Manager Colin Halterman reported at the council’s retreat Friday. Unless the city turns up the pace on path maintenance soon, sections could crumble away permanently. At the current rate of funding for regular path maintenance and repair, it will take Peachtree City 37 years to overhaul every mile of pathways, council members were told. The problem: The paths aren’t cheap. Halterman presented a five-year schedule Friday to resurface and rebuild parts of the network. This year’s budget designates $127,575 for paths, to repair 10,385 feet and build another 4,000 feet from scratch. That’s roughly three miles of repairs this year, a pace that’s not scheduled to increase between now and 2009. It includes about 4,000 feet of new construction each year as well, adding to the overall inventory. Meantime, the cost of addressing just three miles a year will steadily rise, by more than $30,000 over current costs by 2009, said Halterman. What’s more, a Multi-use Path System Master Plan adopted last year that eventually may tie into a countywide network urges the city to look for ways to upgrade, improve and expand on what it already has, said City Planner David Rast. But City Clerk and Administrative Director Jane Miller suggested that more than $100,000 in untapped revenue could be generated annually by the city if each of the estimated 10,000 registered golf cart owners in town were required to pay a $10 annual fee. The funds would specifically be used to supplement the path repair program. Council members, who didn’t take any formal action in the two-day retreat, were overwhelmingly favorable to the idea, which City Manager Bernard McMullen said would likely resurface for formal consideration at City Council business meeting later this year.