Peachtree City will try to negotiate a citywide natural gas rate for its citizens with one of the 19 certified marketers in Georgia, City Manager Jim Basinger announced at last Thursday's council meeting.

The city would not become a provider, Basinger said, but would ask for "requests for proposal" from those companies interested in contracting for city-owned facilities and for residents who want to participate. Since the deregulation of natural gas service Nov. 1, household consumers may be finding it confusing to choose a provider, he added.

Participation by citizens would be voluntary, he said, and the city's sole purpose would be to obtain a better rate because of a volume of about 10,000 natural gas users. If no company is interested in negotiating a good rate, the Peachtree City residents would still be able to contract with the natural gas supplier of their choosing.

Basinger commented, "This negotiation process was suggested by a citizen, and we appreciate his bringing this possibility to our attention. Hopefully, our negotiations will make the natural gas decision simpler while it provides a cost savings to our residents. We are suggesting that residents who have not yet selected a natural gas provider wait until January, by which time we hope to have contracted for a more favorable price for our citizens."

WARNING SYSTEM

Although anticipated federal grant awards are not what Fayette County emergency personnel expected, the council approved a $3,040 expense for the first steps needed to install tornado warning sirens in the city.

Fire Chief Gerald Reed told the city council that Peachtree City, Fayetteville, Tyrone and the Fayette County Department of Fire and Emergency Services applied together for a grant of $1,015,055 for the siren system. The federal funds were to have been available through the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA), but the amount actually granted for the local system was $74,995, the chief said.

He asked that city council approve the "local share" expense to purchase the necessary hardware and software to be able to activate a siren system through the 911 Center. Peachtree City already has committed $89,000 to the system in this year's budget, City Manager Jim Basinger said.

Reed explained later that the $1 million grant would have covered both the 911-system installation and 23 total sirens for the three cities and unincorporated Fayette, with matching funds from each entity. He said that number would not "scratch the surface" in providing adequate county-wide coverage that would take 65-70 sirens, he said. But they cost about $39,500 each, Reed said, and each governing body would have to decide the extent to which the system would be funded.

Council member Annie McMenamin said she had heard some "negative comments" about whether such systems were really effective for the money, and asked Reed's opinion. He said the "joint committee" working on the system had visited locations including Cobb County and towns in Alabama which have the systems, and they worked effectively.

At that point, several citizens asked to speak. James Morgan said he was visiting his father-in-law in Alabama when the siren system alerted the family to take shelter : "we were safe because of the sirens," he said. Two other residents spoke in favor of the sirens.