Stop-work orders for construction at the MarketPlace shopping development at Ga. Highway 54 and 74, and for septic line installation at the Meade Sports Fields on Hwy. 74 south, were issued by Peachtree City enforcement officials over the last two weeks.

The Peachtree City Planning Commission discussed the MarketPlace site at its meeting Monday, when chairman Julian Campbell asked City Planner David Rast for an update on the cleared 13-acre site.

Rast said a stop-work order had been issued Monday morning, after heavy rain over the weekend caused silt from the site to go into Westpark pond. Building official Tom Carty said later that the silting amounted to about five cubic yards, which he directed the contractor, Cannon/Estapa of Canton, to remove from the pond. The damaging material was removed "by hand, with buckets," Carty said, "which is the proper way to do that."

He added that the company had to redo the silt fence along Hwy. 74 to make sure the erosion control measures would hold. Rainfall on Jan. 24 in Peachtree City was measured at 1.75 inches, Carty added. Because the contractor responded quickly and complied with all requirements, Carty said, the company did not receive a citation. JDN Realty of Atlanta is developing the site into about 21,000 square feet of retail shops and a Chili's restaurant, he added.

Planning commissioners expressed concern over the site and whether some building or relandscaping might occur soon. Willis Granger said he had never received as many citizen complaints "as I have on that site ... nobody is happy" that the site was cleared. Campbell said he had seen "B-52 strikes that looked about the same."

MEADE SITE

Southeast Ditching Inc., hired by the city to install a septic line at Meade Field, did receive a citation Jan. 21 after a stop-work order was issued for erosion control Jan. 14, according to reports.

Code Enforcement Officer Tami Babb had halted work at the site after a routine inspection revealed inadequate erosion control measures around a manhole and pump. Development Inspector Harvey Stokes found on Jan. 21 that the contractor "had continued to perform work outside what was permitted to remediate the Stop Work order, and had begun to apply a sealant to the pump housing and pipe joints," reports say. About a gallon of sealant leaked into standing water around the pump, which is located near a small stream.

Stokes said the "immediate concern was for the stream," since forecasted rains could have washed the sealant into a feeder tributary of Line Creek. The Georgia Environmental Protection Division was contacted, but the spill was small enough to be handled locally by the Peachtree City Fire Dept. Hazardous Materials Team, Stokes noted.