The Peachtree City Planning Commission next week joins dozens of others already discussing a wetlands mitigation project at Flat Creek Golf Course.

The commission has the situation slated for discussion as a new agenda item at its meeting Monday Sept. 14 at 7 p.m. at City Hall.

Adjacent property owners, including Steve and Marjorie Bachman of Stratford Court, have complained to the city, the golf course owners and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers about the project. The golf course owners have chosen an area along the Flat Creek course's irrigation canal to replace wetlands damaged in adding on to the company's Cannongate course in Palmetto.

Marjorie Bachman says their concern began in early June, when heavy equipment appeared across the irrigation canal from their property and began stripping the area of grass and shrubs. She and her husband began at that time to try to find out what "the final plan" would be for the area, she says, but so far no one has told them the ultimate outcome nor reassured them that the view from their back door will get better.

Lee Burton, manager of Flat Creek and two other golf courses for the Patten Seed Co., says she has repeatedly tried to tell the Bachmans and others that the area will be attractive and of benefit to the neighborhood.

"We do want to be good neighbors," Burton says. "We will follow the recommendations of the Corps of Engineers, planting grass, trees and wildflowers, the kind of plantings that are expected in wetlands. We also believe that this will help with drainage problems in the area."

The Bachmans readily agree that the area is "a flood plain" associated with Flat Creek, which runs through the golf course. Water comes up near their patio in heavy rains, Steve says. But he points out that the irrigation canal is so slow-moving that often the water smells bad and appears to be slime-coated. He fears that the "bare dirt" area created in the wetlands mitigation will silt heavily into the canal during rainstorms.

It was that fear of erosion, Marjorie adds, that caused them to call in city officials. Tom Carty, buildings director, has looked at the property and passed on the Corps of Engineers' report to City Engineer Troy Besseche. Carty says if erosion control methods at the site don't conform to city standards, they will work with the Corps and the owners to put in whatever controls are needed.

That point is echoed by Jim Parker, spokesman for the Savannah District, Corps of Engineers. He says that "we work with cities and property owners on whatever is needed, and we would work it out if erosion proves to be a problem."

Park explained that "wetlands mitigation" is required for any development where existing wetlands are disturbed or damaged. Property owners submit a plan for replacing the areas, generally adding a little more land to the restoration. In this case, about three acres of wetlands were disturbed, but about five acres will be included in the restoration area.

Mitigation plans, Parker said, are reviewed not only by the Corps but by state and federal agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Georgia Fish and Wildlife Commission. If the mitigation plan meets all requirements of the "resource agencies," Parker said, it is put in place and monitored.

"Wetlands provide more than wildlife habitat," Parker said. "They slow runoff, and in this case the area will also help filter out some chemicals used to fertilize the golf course, before they reach the water supply. The mitigation program has been developed so that we protect natural wetlands while allowing reasonable development."

Both Parker and Burton said the property owner, subject to existing regulations, is in charge of what happens to the property. The strip of land in question, between Flat Creek and the irrigation canal, which draws from the creek, is not actually a part of the golf course itself, Burton says, "it's just an area that we kept mowed."

The Bachmans say they have suggested a pond-type arrangement as preferable to what they see now, but Burton says that "only in the wettest seasons will this area hold water ... a pond will not work."