Friday, Sept. 23, 2005 | ||
Bad Links? | Senoia balks at joining ARCBy JOHN THOMPSON Senoia's elected officials are none too keen about the prospect of the city having the Atlanta Regional Commission as its official planning agency. City administrator Richard Ferry told the City Council Monday night that Coweta County is studying the prospects of switching its alliance from the Chattahoochee-Flint Regional Development Center to the ARC. While the ARC's staff dwarfs Chatt-Flint, Ferry is not optimistic the city would get the same response level from the ARC. "We have a very good relationship with the staff at Chatt-Flint. I'm very satisfied with their response to our questions," he said. But the decision whether to swap planning agencies is really not up to the city. City Councilman Larry Owens, who attended a meeting about the subject, said that if the county and Newnan decided to head to ARC, the city would also have to join. At the meeting he attended, Owens said the mayor of Moreland was also not keen on joining the far-larger ARC. "I urge anybody that has questions about this to call (Commissioner) Paul Poole or (County Administrator) Theron Gay," Owens said. Mayor Robert Hannah also weighed in on the issue. "What you're telling me is we would be a small fish in a much larger pond," he said. The city administrator said that was true, and that Senoia would be one of the smallest fishes in the pond. Ferry recommended the council table the issue until the county made a final decision. In other news, the City Council: Agreed to purchase 47 acres on Pylant Street for a new park. The city is paying $665,000 for the property, with $400,000 of the funds coming from SPLOST funds. The city also received a $100,000 grant from the Land and Water Conservation Fund that will be used for the purchase. The remaining $165,000 will come from a combination of impact fees and unreserved funds in the general budget. Gave kudos to the city's Downtown Development Authority for last weekend's antique car show in downtown Senoia. Development Authority member Gail Downs said between 800 and 1,200 people came to town and exhibitors came from as far away as Alpharetta. She said the authority plans on staging the show again next year. |
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