With time running out for municipalities to give status reports to the state on House Bill 489 plans, Peachtree City is planning to do as many other cities and counties are doing — ask for more time.

HB 489 is a state law requiring all governments in a county to evaluate all services and find ways to cooperate so that services are not duplicated and all are delivered timely and efficiently. This law also requires a status report containing the results of the evaluation to be delivered to the Department of Community Affairs by July 1 of this year.

The county's FUTURE Committee has been in charge of developing Fayette's plans for HB 489 compliance.

“There have been many, many hours expended by various subcommittees in an effort to evaluate all the services provided by the entities in Fayette County,” said Peachtree City manager Jim Basinger at Thursday's City Council meeting. “The cooperation of staff members at all levels has been excellent, and I feel the accomplishments to date attest to this productive working relationship.”

A summary of services was submitted to the council, with no changes expected in most areas. However, the staffs have not been able to reach a consensus in four departments — fire, police, public works and recreation.

Fayette County, Peachtree City and Fayetteville fire departments have been working on a joint service delivery service plan for a year, according to the summary. While Fayette County and Fayetteville have implemented an automatic aid agreement for certain aspects of the plan — meaning an emergency is automatically handled by the closest unit able to provide service — Peachtree City is unable to commit personnel and equipment to implement the plan at the present time, the summary stated, adding that discussions between Fayette County and Peachtree City concerning automatic aid will continue.

Research has begun on the feasibility of establishing a Fayette County library system to enhance service and add cost effectiveness. Fayette County, Peachtree City and Tyrone provide library service through the Flint River Regional Library System, while Brooks has a separate system of its own. Formal agreements between the group could address such issues as an interlibrary book program, interlibrary delivery, adult literacy and computer training, according to the summary.

The Fayette County Sheriff's Department provides jail service for all agencies in the county as well as police service for the Brooks, Woolsey and the unincorporated county. Peachtree City, Tyrone and Fayetteville provide police service for their respective jurisdictions.

Those four agencies have been unable to reach a consensus on how Sheriff's Department resources and funding should be allocated throughout the county, the summary said, and discussions are continuing.

Also still under discussion is how to reach an agreement by which Fayette County would assist the cities of Fayetteville, Peachtree City and Tyrone in road resurfacing and maintenance, including how county road maintenance funding should be allocated throughout the county. County recreation funding allocations are under similar study.

Among the services studied and needing no major changes, according to the summary, were the airport, animal control, building permits and inspections, cable television, code enforcement, courts, 911 communications, elections, engineering, extension service, planning and zoning, purchasing, sewer, solid waste, and water.

Evaluations of services resulted in minor changes to four agreements previously approved by the council — fleet maintenance agreement, collaborative purchasing program agreement, public works project contracting program agreement, and annexation dispute resolution agreement.

Basinger recommended that the council rescind the initial approval of those agreements and readopt them, adding that the other municipalities would do the same.

Basinger also reported that there are no land use plan conflicts with any adjoining entities, as is required by HB 489. He recommended that the council authorize Mayor Bob Lenox to officially attest to that fact.

A 120-day extension request for obtaining state DCA approval is allowed by HB 489. Basinger said that Fayette County and the city of Fayetteville have already made such a request, and he recommend that Peachtree City do so.

The council voted unanimously to approve all of the above recommendations.veurls

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