"Get involved in the political process" You bet. Will do. Did. Been there. And most importantly - will vote next Tuesday. Very important.

And if I may add, my significant other and Direct PAC were also a very important part of the political process as well. Mission Accomplished!
meow

Steve,
Your letter actually started out quite civily. And you actually have some good points. But then you JUST HAD TO GO AFTER ME AGAIN! You still don't get it. I am not arguing with you anymore in public. If you read my letters you will get the point I was trying to make that in Oct. 2005 YOU SUPPORTED TDK! Will you at least explain why you worked to fund it instead of killlng it? Never did address that. But just so you will remember, here is your entire letter copied verbatum:

Consider what record shows about council’s TDK extension decisions

It is time to correct all of the misinformation related to the TDK extension road project. I am citing all references and I urge to you check them. The political opposition is having a difficult time bringing substantive complaints against our current City Council. Their strategy has been to throw as many negative and misleading statements in the press as possible in the hopes that someone will believe them. Please look at officially statements of record.

The TDK project had been talked about for decades prior but the City Councils failed to act. In 2001, “[Councilwoman Annie] McMenamin felt the City needed to move ahead on the project, which had been going on since she came on Council 11 years ago,” (Council Minutes, Oct. 18, 2001).

In March of 2000, the Lenox administration finally acted but had no funds appropriated for the road. “[Councilman] Brooks made a motion to transfer $295,725 from the Council Contingency fund to award the contract to Dames and Moore for $272,725 and to provide $23,000 for geotechnical testing services through Untied Consulting,” (Council Minutes, Mar. 16, 2000).

Dames and Moore (later changed their name to URS) was the same firm that told the city council in a public meeting that the big box stores would not cause additional traffic on Ga. Highway 54 West and it became the top accident corridor in Fayette County.

The design changed several times and more non-budgeted funds were used. The road was planned for the spillway at Lake McIntosh. “She [McMenamin] moved to approve the $30,000 from the PIP contingency fund for the advanced design services for Lake McIntosh,” (Council Minutes, Oct. 18, 2001).

What the then-City Council did not tell the general public is that they used our taxpayer dollars ($165,000) to engineer the Coweta County side of the road as well.

It would not be until almost 2004 that I learned of that funding arrangement. I have spoken with Coweta County officials and the Coweta developer and they seem amenable to paying us back.

Most of my current City Council took office in January 2002. My two concerns were the priority of widening Ga. Highway 74 and the significant budget problems that we had inherited. “Mayor Brown introduced the next related item, saying he initially had concerns about TDK Boulevard because he did not want to supersede the emphasis on widening Hwy. 74 South, which was still important. Brown said that there had been significant progress on Hwy. 74 South, with cooperation from state representatives to local representatives, leading to some major breakthroughs. Barring anything happening to delay Hwy. 74, Brown said he had no problem with the TDK Boulevard project. Brown also expressed appreciation for Coweta County’s support of the project. He said funding for the project was the number one concern, and Peachtree City’s budget was very lean. A balancing act would be needed to prioritize the projects,” (Council Minutes, Sept. 5, 2002).

Our current council was the only one that actually programmed funds in the city’s budget for TDK. “Rapson said he had always been in favor of TDK, but highways 54 and 74 took precedence. No funds were committed to TDK extension until this Council approved the 2003 budget, which included capital funding for FY 2004 (October 2003), bringing the total to $825,000 on the table. Brown said there was not a person on Council against TDK,” (Council Minutes, Jan. 2, 2003).

However, signs of trouble were foretold in the newspaper headline that read, “Fayette-Coweta Connector: FORE! Errant golf balls, low-flying aircraft to greet motorists driving on future TDK Boulevard across Line Creek,” (Citizen, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2003).

Councilwoman McMenamin made a motion to which I seconded to sign a resolution in support of the TDK project asking for Fayette County to help with the effort because of the dire budget situation we were battling. “Motion carried unanimously,” (Council Minutes, Jan. 23, 2003).

Later a deal was made with Fayette County and the council unanimously approved to make a final payment of $200,000 toward the construction of the TDK extension (Council Minutes, Feb. 6, 2003; “County, PTC strike deal to move forward on TDK road extension,” Citizen, Feb. 5, 2003).

It later came to our attention that additional funding would be needed and “Brown moved to approve the additional expense of $18,650 to use toward the engineering for the changes requested for the Fayette-Coweta extension. Weed seconded,” (Council Minutes, June 5, 2003). We had met our commitments to build the road.

A 2004 headline read, “FAA opposes location of TDK Boulevard extension project,” (Citizen, Mar. 14, 2004). As it turned out, the engineering firm (URS) hired by the previous administration failed to consult with the Federal Aviation Administration regarding the location of the proposed road even though the end of the Falcon Field runway appeared on most drawings, maps and photos.

Even worse, URS has an aviation division and had no excuses about not knowing the official FAA concern (FAA 5200.8). A letter from FAA program manager Philip R. Cannon stated that the road “will degrade the runway 13 safety area.”

A runway safety area violation could negatively affect our airport’s chances of getting a precision landing system in the future. Falcon Field Airport is a multi-million-dollar asset that cannot be jeopardized and the City Council shared the concern of the Airport Authority.

“City staff met with Airport Authority members, airport staff, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to look at alternatives to resolve the conflict. They had looked at a couple of ideas, and the proposal to realign the road prior to construction around the runway safety area looked like the best solution; however, that route was in conflict with holes five and six at Planterra Ridge Golf Course. The holes would have to be relocated,” (Council Minutes June 3, 2004).

We also do not want to destroy the golf course. Had previous City Councils acted on the road prior to the approval and construction of the Planterra Ridge Golf Course, we would be driving on the road now.

Currently, the Airport Authority is working with the FAA on purchasing a piece of property owned by Pathway Communities to relocate the two golf holes to satisfy the FAA objections. It will take a least one year to properly establish the two new holes once the land is purchased.

At the end of every council meeting Councilman Rapson publicly asks our city staff if there is anything that the city of Peachtree City is doing to hold up the progress of the TDK extension project. The staff always replies, “No.”

The claims of the Direct PAC do not hold up to the scrutiny of the official records and the unanimous votes.

Steve Brown, mayor
MayorSteveBrown@hotmail.com
Peachtree City, Ga.

Go ahead Steve, explain it anyway you want.