You said “Let me ask you, who’s come here in the last three years? No one. The Development authority has done nothing to attract “High income” level jobs into our community.”
First let me say that I have thought long and hard about your response to this issue. I don’t want to start off by slinging in mud here as that really isn’t my style. That being said, I think we are reaping the results of a bitter harvest here due to the seeds that were sewn by all of us over the last 6 years or so. We are all responsible for this situation and we all have to decide to work together to fix it. Our community’s reputation has been severely damaged by the back stabbing and mudslinging that has gone on and on and on. Burning our community leaders in effigy at the stake so to speak has had and incredible back lash on our reputation on the state and regional level. This is why if your statement is accurate, we haven’t had any new companies come here in three years as you said.

Major Corporations seeking to move or build in an area work with Economic Development Consultants who work with officials on state, regional, & city levels. When we started to develop the economic growth plan in our community we established contact with these individuals through the people we asked to represent us on the Development Authority & in the Chamber of Commerce. These individuals were all people who owned or managed highly successful companies and were well established and respected individuals within the business community. They had families who lived in our community and they were dedicated to building a successful and beautiful community in which to live and prosper. These people were repeatedly asked to volunteer their expertise and time in many ways to help to bring the different companies to our area. We were at the time the crown jewel of the southern arc.

We were represented and managed by competent business men who I believe had our best interests at heart despite allegations to the contrary. Mistakes may have been made with relaxed procedures about competent record keeping with regard to management of the tennis center and amphitheater but I truly do not think that any of this was done with the intent to defraud anyone. The individuals involved where all men with integrity and care for the community in which they lived and they also were successful people in the own right who didn’t need to line there pockets as so many of you have suggested through dishonest means. The people who vilified them did so with malice and lack of for thought as to what the consequences to our community would be. It hasn’t just been our former Mayor, Mr. Lennox, the former Peachtree City Development Authority, but City Council members, & Chamber of Commerce members, who ever had dared to have the heart to serve that were offered up as sacrificial lambs for the slaughter. Not to dwell on the past but only to acknowledge its painful existence that has created the climate for our current situation. These problems when they arose should have been handled with quiet respect and dignity and our reputation as a community who could govern themselves as respectful and dignified citizens should have been protected. Instead we allowed this drama to unfold to the horror of many of our citizens and to the delight of others who stood to gain positions of power or just resented the success of others. The end result in this very public blood bath was the demise of our reputation as a community with promise and spirit, and most of all competent leadership. Instead we quickly became the laughing stock of the state capital. We gained a reputation of being a bunch of yokels, pit vipers & incompetent back stabbers that would prefer to bite the hands that were feeding us rather than listen to reason.

Now I ask you, who would move a major company into an atmosphere like that? For that matter, who would even consider bringing a prospective client into that kind of climate knowing that the very people you were to rely on as contacts for the area were under “suspicion “of such acts? The sad thing is that there were so many things said and none of them proved. But perception, if things are printed in the paper, is everything and they were printed so many times that people ceased to ask for proof of any of it and just accepted it all as truth. The very people that created our community and worked so hard to bring it to fruition for all of us were shredded in such a public display it left a bad taste in the mouths of every person who worked with them outside of our community. Is it any wonder that they aren’t bringing anyone else to our door? Not a surprise to me at all.

All of that being said, I need to ask all of you this question, what can we do as a community to fix it? We all want lower taxes and we all want a better quality of life, so what are we willing to do to fix our community’s reputation and move forward from here? We need the economic growth and we need to lay down the foundation for the traffic that will come to our area just through population growth in Fayette county let alone what is happening around us. I feel that we might need to bite the bullet and put up with the inconvenience of higher taxes for awhile to get these road improvements done. I feel that whether you realize it or not we need to make our industrial area accessible to the surrounding areas just to remain competitive for any future development in that area. We need to look at long range solutions. Our reputation was tarnished over the course of a few years and it will probably take some time to see it restored. If we are to see a reduction in taxes for the average citizen in Peachtree City / Fayette County it will have to be through economic development. It takes too much money to maintain our amenities and schools to expect that we would get a tax break without finding an alternative means with which to raise those funds. I feel the only way to see this happen is to get off of the Mayor’s & Council’s back and let them do their jobs and help to support their efforts by bringing disagreements to the table in a reasonable respectful fashion so that we may regain our reputation as a reasonable community instead of a den of snakes.

I said that “If we don’t respond to it and don’t expand and widen our main arteries throughout the city we will be grid locked through out our city and that isn’t a good business decision at all.”

You said “Again, I agree with you 100%. The only problem being the roads that are being considered for ‘expansion” were never designed for it. I maintain that it’s not a good idea to attempt to retrofit this type of traffic into a community that it was never designed to accommodate it.”

What exactly is your alternative? To leave things as they are and ignore a building problem until it reaches full volume? It will you know. If the people here decide not to build TDK they will force traffic to continue to go south to Rockaway road or north to 34/54 then over to Hwy 74 to go north. As everyone has pointed out that traffic pattern is already overloaded with people trying to get to our industrial areas to work. People aren’t thinking about the impact that all of those new commuters is going to have on these corridors if we don’t find a way to spread the volume out. You also stated that the majority of the people who work in the industrial area work and live in Coweta & Meriwether counties and that they won’t spend their money in Fayette County. To assume that most of the employees live outside of the county is probably wrong but if the majority does, don’t you see that you have made a case for the need to address this issue before these companies decide that relocation would be better than living with these conditions? These companies contribute a whole lot more to our tax base than you are giving them credit for and I don’t think you have considered what it would cost us to lose that revenue as well as the revenue we get from the money the employees do spend in our community and the revenue we get from those that live here.

Maybe you think it would be in our best interest to try and address it in hindsight and deal with it when the traffic is peeked at full capacity? Perhaps your solution is to continue to ignore it and just hope it all goes away? Lack of efficient forethought and planning on the part of the people who came before us twenty years ago isn’t an excuse not to address the problem at hand. That is what TDK was supposed to help to correct. In communities where traffic flows efficiently, streets and major Artarie's are laid out in a grid system not how ever the cows wandered as in some areas in Atlanta. Without a sufficient east/ west component to the grid you are forcing traffic to zig zag on our side streets to get across town. With the traffic that is about to descend upon us do you really see leaving things as they are as being an alternative that is a viable option? People are still going to cut through Peachtree city to get to Atlanta. They are just going to do on streets that aren’t prepared for it and we are going to suffer for the lack of seeds that we have not sewn if we don’t plan ahead. We have no choice but to consider how to retro fit these expansions into our community. Peachtree City is going to have to deal with this constructively and efficiently. Getting uptight and emotional about the expense involved isn’t going to help to look at the situation with competency. Take your emotions out of the equation and try to look at it objectively and make sure to look at the picture as a whole.

You said “Who ever thought that it would be OK to but a four lane highway in front of a school?”

I submit to you it has been done right here in Peachtree City, in front of Booth Middle School. It is done often enough in other communities to know it works just fine if you don’t get all emotional and hysterical over it. You also indicated that there is nowhere for the traffic to go once it comes to the end of Crosstown road. It is easy to see when looking at a map that the traffic would then go straight down Ebenezer rd. if the driver was heading to Fayetteville and then onto hwy 54 past the congested areas or it would turn left and go up Robinson road toward Stevens entry or Walt banks road to Peachtree Pkwy to head up Hwy 74 to go toward Interstate 85. That is even providing that they would bother to enter further into Peachtree City than the industrial area or turning left at 74 to head north. The extension of TDK into Crosstown appears to me to be a way of increasing traffic flow for the people who are already here more than the people who will be passing through. It would serve to give us an efficient middle area through which we could move traffic if there were an accident on 74 or for those who simply need to get to the other side of town to
Oh My God! Frequent a Local Business or Shop! Not because they wanted to go to Atlanta at all, that is rapidly becoming unnecessary for a lot of us thank God!

You also said that if we did the improvements from Rockaway road to Holly grove that it dead ends into Redwine road and would do no good. Do you not realize that Redwine leads to the south end of Fayetteville not far from the county court house area? How about considering that it also intersects with Robinson Road which leads to Peachtree Parkway which is a four lane that is designed to move traffic north through Peachtree City to Highway 74. You may also consider that widening Robinson Road going north wouldn’t be a bad idea for the residents that live south and south east in and around Peachtree City. That would help to alleviate some of the strain felt on Hwy 74 through town.

Here is something else for all of you to chew on. Has anyone considered that Coweta County does have a road that leads to the Interstate? My mother lives in Sharpsburg off of Lower Fayetteville rd. (just takes 9 minutes to get to her house now!) When I pick her up to take her to the airport or Atlanta we always go straight through to Doc Fischer Rd and then up to the interstate from there. So I have to ask, why would anyone in the Sharpsburg area bother with the traffic through Peachtree City if they were heading to the interstate anyway? Just Curious and thought I’d throw that alternative route out there for general consumption.

I’m sure we’ll be kicking this around some more. Sorry I couldn’t give it more time than this today.
I think I’ll go have a glass of wine now and relax and watch the fire works! Hey Mainframe, it’s fun stirring the pot.

See post below

”Now I ask you, who would move a major company into an atmosphere like that? For that matter, who would even consider bringing a prospective client into that kind of climate knowing that the very people you were to rely on as contacts for the area were under “suspicion “of such acts?”

Part of a letter I received from the PTC Development Authority after trying to bring in a retailer that pays $17.50/hr on average into PTC.

“Sorry for my delay in responding back to your last message. It appears at this time that there is no appetite within the Peachtree City planning body or council to support a plan to bring “XXX” into the city. Over the last few weeks we have seen several plans for other types of development far less controversial than a “big box”, turned down with an adamant stance to retain current zoning and land use planning intact.”

That’s more than a lot of jobs pay here in PTC.

I would like to know who they talked with. I can only assume that competitors were already talking with the city because lo and behold, “Developers want PTC land for new shopping center”

We as a community just got screwed! Hell, you can almost afford to live here on that kind of salary alone.

I should rest my case here, but I haven’t addressed all of your concerns yet.

” what can we do as a community to fix it?”

Hire/appoint people with some vision.

You mentioned former Mayor Bob Lenox.

As far as I’m concerned he’s the best thing to happen to PTC since sliced bread!

I am a firm believer that Mr. Lenox had the right idea how to get something done around here.

Do you think Mr. Lenox would not have ringed every dime out of SPLOST? Had it not been for his and Mayor Brown’s distain for one another, I thing the City Council should have contracted with Mr. Lenox to represent us against the Fayette County Council.

The city council decided, without asking anyone with a brain, to ban large or “big box” stores after the Wal-Mart/Home Depot project was announced. What was never discussed, never mentioned is the fact that there or “other” types of so called “big box” operations that actually improve a city, provide good paying jobs with good insurance to their employees.

I’ve been affiliated, one way or another, with retail since I could walk. One of the things I look for in an applicants resume is any kind of retail experience. If you can do retail well, you can do customer service great!

I often find it frustrating that people talk of “big box” stores like they know what their talking about.

The real question I would like answered, not necessarily by you vallygirl, is why is it now that on 54 south there may be a Kohle’s and some type of membership store and know one is saying anything about it? I find that odd.

I find that I’m digressing.

”I feel that we might need to bite the bullet and put up with the inconvenience of higher taxes for awhile to get these road improvements done”

My question to you is why? Fayette County will never recoup the expense. There is no economical reason to divert that traffic through that part of town. Short of ¼ mile of rundown retail, you’re sending people past neighborhoods and schools. There is no economic incentive to do this. People aren’t running large retail shops out of their homes.

I submit to you it has been done right here in Peachtree City, in front of Booth Middle School.

I submit to you that Peachtree City parkway is not an “east/west” connector as is envisioned for Corsstown. What was the number again, oh yes, an estimated 43,953 automobile trips per day by 2016. I would be surprised if the parkway sees that much traffic in a month.

I really appreciate it when people make my argument for me. ” If the people here decide not to build TDK they will force traffic to continue to go south to Rockaway road or north to 34/54 then over to Hwy 74 to go north.”\

My argument was never about northbound traffic on Hwy. 74 that’s a whole other problem. But since you mentioned it have you heard any plans, rumors about 74 North being widened? I haven’t. So let’s just double the amount of traffic from 4 miles south of the heart of PTC, point it northbound and pray that Fairburn does the right thing.

No, my discussion was about widening Corsstown and Holly Grove for “new” east/west connectors.

How do you propose that PTC/Fayette County pay for the road improvements to accommodate these widening’s?

The setbacks along PTC parkway are at least twice that of Crosstown and maybe three times that of Holly Grove, because it was planned to be that way. It wasn’t shoved in there as these new projects will be.

” What exactly is your alternative? To leave things as they are and ignore a building problem until it reaches full volume?”

Move the east/west connectors north of PTC. Somewhere that there is a lot of undeveloped land, somewhere where there aren’t homes less than 30 feet from the existing road. Maybe somewhere that is currently old farm land with few houses and no schools in the way.

How about widening GA 85 from 16? How about building a road say from the 74/Senioa Rd to Fisher or I-85. The cows might not like it but it will have far less impact on the people.

”Oh My God! Frequent a Local Business or Shop!”

Shop where, to buy what. The reason these shops aren’t making it now is because of what they sell, not because they don’t have the traffic. It’s the only place on earth that I can think of that a McDonalds went out of business. People just drove by it because it is a convent way to get to 74 or the parkway. If we widen Crosstown why do you think people will all of the sudden want to stop and shop there?

As per your logic the West Park shopping should have a line of businesses trying to rent space there. Do you know of any vacancies there? Do you know if there is any available office space in that area? Does it have traffic so people will stop and shop there?

What’s going to happen when Coweta opens there “new” shops on the other side of TDK? Heck, I may drive over there myself to shop. What do I have to lose, a rundown Kroger and a K-Mart that should have closed three years ago?

I have and will continue to patronize Mucklow’s and Arnies, especially Arnies.

I can’t see justifying millions of dollars to enable Coweta County residents an easy way too bypass PTC at our expense. Those people aren’t going to shop there, they don’t shop at West park.

As for widening Holly Grove Road, what good will that do? That road goes directly through some four of five neighborhoods and then dead ends. It has no potential for any shopping or any type of business. What does anybody gain by doing that?

”So I have to ask, why would anyone in the Sharpsburg area bother with the traffic through Peachtree City if they were heading to the interstate anyway?”

Good question, why do they do it? Each and every day by the thousands. Why do you think GDOT says that TDK will add an additional 24,000+ vehicle trips/day to 74 north? Why do I go through Tyrone at 5:30 AM to get onto I-85 north? It’s eight miles longer than just going up 74, but it’s about 10 minuets faster. Same in the evening when I come from Atlanta, I go past the cluster $%^& at the 74 ramp and take the Collingsworth exit. It’s still eight miles longer but in the afternoon it’s about 15 minuets faster than waiting in I-85 to come down 74.

Even the Tyrone City Council is worried about people doing what I do. That’s why they put up the four way stop signs.

Again, always a pleasure.

I would rather not think of you as my enemy. That is exactly what I am talking about in the first paragraph of my last response. It’s that attitude that is ruining Peachtree City’s reputation over all. I wouldn’t use the phrase make love not war, I’m not liberal enough for that, but maybe the song why cant we be friends comes to mind. I f some one has a differing point of view, does that make them your enemy? I wasn’t directing the first paragraph of my response at you directly, only the situation as a whole. We should be able to discuss differing opinions and come up with viable solutions to the problems that our community is facing without burning each other at the stake or declaring war. I’m glad we seem to agree on some issues.

I don’t know who you are and you obviously have had a bad experience with the development authority because they did not share your vision of something you wanted to bring to the community. I am sorry to hear that because if what you say is true, maybe we missed an opportunity with it, but one cannot say for sure because we don’t have any idea what that xxxx store was. But you seem to be focused on the retail thing in general. I’m not talking about retail stores being the savior for our community, although it’s nice to have some choices as to where to shop with out having to go north to Atlanta. What I want is to see some companies like Husky, Sigvaris, Hella Corporation, Panasonic, Hoshizaki, & Fasson not to mention Cooper lighting come into our area and bring more employment opportunities and a broader tax base to our economy. For that to happen we need to clean up our collective act and stop bickering like spoiled children. By the way, all of those companies and many more I haven’t mentioned would benefit from the TDK extension if as you say most of their employees live in Coweta and Meriwether counties. So would we if they could access those businesses without coming up or down highway 74 to get to them! That would greatly reduce the traffic you are describing that travels those roads in the morning and the afternoons and leave 74 more accessible to the other cars that need to go through or into PTC.

Personally I think if we get too much retail influx we are going to end up with a bunch of empty stores like Fayetteville. I’m not much of a fan of the cookie cutter retail approach either, I prefer unique privately owned boutiques with interesting things rather than shopping in the same stores everyone else has. I hate chains they rob us of individuality. Maybe it’s because I’m a woman, but I don’t like walking down the street and seeing some one in the same outfit that I am wearing. But I digress from the matter at hand. You said that there are other types of big box stores that actually improve a community; I’m actually in agreement with you there. I would have loved it if a Parisians had opened down here at least their buyers are a little more daring than those at other stores. I don’t have much use for Kohls, BJ’s, or Sams club either, although I wouldn’t mind a Costco being close by. I think the big box restrictions were put in place to try to appease the hysteria of the natives who were so riled up over the target development. I live by that development and it hasn’t changed my neighborhood at all except it’s easier to get out at the light now to take my daughter to school in the morning. I like having Target close by and the other shops that are filling in a great too. I think I was the only one in my neighborhood that didn’t get all bent out of shape over that. But, as I’ve said before I’m from a planned community that has all of these things and more and I know it works.

You said “I can’t see justifying millions of dollars to enable Coweta County residents an easy way too bypass PTC at our expense. Those people aren’t going to shop there; they don’t shop at West park. “

So you took it that when I said frequenting a local business that I meant the shopping center on Crosstown or in Westpark. No I never go to Braelinn shopping center and until they change the anchor I’m not likely to bother. I agree with you absolutely there. The only thing that will save that center is a face lift and Kmart being replaced by something more appealing to the type of people who live here and perhaps a new management company? As for Westpark you clearly think that center is strictly for retail. Look again. The Herb Shop, Tuesday Morning, a Cell phone & the Bike shop yes, but the rest? A DUI / safety driving school, mortgage company, travel agency, print shop, new graphic arts company, restaurants and then the businesses in the surrounding area off of commerce drive, all might be frequented by people from Coweta as well as Fayette County.

You talk as if I said that widening the roads east / west was to increase the volume to go north to 74 through the area past the shopping center. I don’t honestly think that people coming from Coweta would bother to do that to go to Atlanta. I do however think they may want to go to see a doctor, lawyer, dentist or even a graphic designer located in our city or county. They may want to go to have tests run at Fayette Community Hospital. They may want to get their car repaired at a reputable mechanic not in Coweta County but here! They may have to travel east / west to get there! Many of us in Fayette County have businesses that aren’t retail related and provide services that people in Coweta County may need or want and if more people are coming here then we need to be prepared to handle the traffic congestion that they will bring. So you see I’m not talking about bypassing Peachtree City, I’m suggesting that we have businesses that will benefit from the influx of population growth if you make us accessible to the new growth areas. Look at the whole picture, as I said before, this isn’t just about the retail wars. Can you really be so naïve as to believe that retail is the only game in town?

As for your solutions to place the east/west grids south & north of Peachtree City, now that is bypassing it with no benefit to the citizens here. I’m not saying that it wouldn’t be a good idea for Tyrone or Fayette County as a whole, but it wouldn’t help us at all as far as our economic growth is concerned and that is what I have been focusing on.

Anyway I’m just stirring the pot and giving you all more food for thought!

Clike Here for my reply.

I'm working on a business plan right now and against a deadline. surprised? I Don't have enough irons in the fire, thought I'd add another one. Got your response. Some good comments, I'll get back to you as soon as I can. ?
Thanks!

It’s not that I’ve had a bad or any other experience with the Development Authority. It’s that they are at the mercy of the currently elected officials.

What I was showing you was just how the “game” is being played here in PTC. On the one hand one of the leaders in membership type stores is told that there is no interest at this time for them and yet another is trying to broker a deal for a land swap with the city, and the city seems very interested. Maybe I’m being unfair to the Development Authority as they may be pursuing the company that I provided them a contact for and they may just be trying to get me out of the picture. As I have nothing to gain personally from “XXX” coming to PTC it’s okay by me that I bow out of the processes. It appears to be a rather odd way of doing business.

Aside from having a particular membership store locate here I would like to see corporate headquarters with staff offices locate here I PTC. That type of employment would provide opportunities for people to both live and work within PTC and not commute to and from somewhere else.

Having industrial, retail and service type employment is not stable enough to sustain the tax base in a city like PTC. Small little things like NAFTA and labor costs are very unpredictable and when they go they go big. They leave a huge hole in the local economy and in the tax base. Look what has happened to your local water bill now that Photocircuits is gone. They were the largest single user of fresh water in the county. Who now has to pay for that lost, counted on, probably already spent, revenue? Homeowners and small businesses have to pay it. One of the things the city does with it’s larger employers is to grant them wavers form certain taxes and/or increases in utilities for a period of time. It’s one of the carrots they use.

Some of the other reasons industrial businesses locate here and elsewhere is because of low labor expenses and lower taxes in the way of tax breaks given to them by the county/city. That a company can draw upon a lower paid labor force is good for business. Depending on what is being “manufactured”, transportations costs also play a major role when determining where to locate a facility. Having both rail and truck access in the industrial area is a draw as well.

From reading your posts I gather that you would like to see smaller, locally owned and operated establishments have more opportunities to “make” it here in PTC. Because industrial type businesses don’t compete with local small businesses and often use their services I can see your point.

I have discussed, with past city council members, the possibility of attracting State and Federal Govt. agencies to locate here. Although neither pays “taxes” directly, the building owners and/or leasing/management company’s do, as will the work force itself.

Govt. tenants tend to be long term as well, thus guaranteeing stability in five year increments. FEMA is a great example of the type of Govt. agency we could use. By there nature, they need office space “outside” of a major city for security reasons. Look how many NSA employees live and work in Columbia Md. Same with Reston Va. and the CIA.

Having them located here would draw others, that do business with them, to locate here as well. Those types of jobs easily pay enough for the employees to live here as well as shop here and use the locally provided services.

They would have far less impact on “commuting” as the majority of the people could live here or be commuting in the opposite direction as the rest of the commuting workforce.

You’re looking at a workforce of a few thousand that make middle to high five/six figure salaries if not more.

The Army currently leases some space here for some of its personnel. We need more!

I’ve said it before; we all pay a lot of State and Fed. taxes, lets start to get more of it spent here.

The impression that I have of the Development Authority is that they wait to answer questions from perspective clients. I could be wrong as I don’t work with them. What I think they need to be doing is acting as the marketing branch of PTC and be out there pounding pavement attracting clients. If changes need to be made in the way the Development Authority is allowed to operate, city charter/rules, then let’s get that done and get them on the street.

Like most of the “Authorities” the city has I think the people are basically volunteers and it’s not their primary source of income, so picking on them may not be appropriate. But this city needs a marketing staff with the mandate of actively and aggressively attracting business’s here and that’s all they do. It would be money well spent in my opinion.

I’m grateful for whatever the Development Authority did to get Cooper Lighting here. That accomplishment was huge. So no resting on laurels, get out of your chairs and go do it again and keep on doing it.

Another idea would be to hire a marketing company to do the job of the Development Authority. Pay them 5% of anything they bring in that signs a minimum of a five year contract. Put a minimum on the number of local employees they would have to hire and a minimum on the pay scale they would have to offer. In return for utilizing existing office or retail space, they get a tax break of some kind for a period of time.

There’s no end to the carrots they can wave at a prospective employer.

I just can’t understand why PTC can’t attract cliental to locate here. Retail might not be everyone’s favorite but PTC is located just about exactly between Fayetteville and Newnan. I’ve read the financial demographics for all three cities and see no reason, given the proper incentives, that a large retail chain wouldn’t want to build one super store and attract a customer base that averages close to $65,000 annual income from three cities with one location.

Home Depot spent way to much when they built three stores that do what one could have accomplish. Adding insult to injury, the store we ended up with is only an 80% store. Meaning that it only carries 80% of the standard inventory of most Home Depots. Now in order to complete a project we have to go either to one of the other two stores or to a local hardware

As far as TDK is concerned, I say build it. But don’t attempt to shovel traffic through the city into areas where it was never intended to go. That will not improve the lifestyle or increase patronage of existing businesses. The County may need east/west corridors, but PTC doesn’t.

I’m also in favor of using the McDuff parkway as a bypass for the 74/54 intersection. Many people have objected to that idea because it will send traffic down a road that was “never intended to be used for a bypass”. The difference there is that the road was designed and built to accommodate large amounts of traffic and the homes are further away from the road. Some people think it’s better to route “all” the Coweta County bound traffic through the center of town, and an additional five traffic lights. Like they’re really going to stop at the Avenue to shop while their trying to get home to their families and dinner, NOT.

One of the downsides for building TDK will be Coweta building attractive shopping on their side of the line. Brailyn shopping center will die a quick death for sure, especially if it’s connected to the golf cart path system. My own example is from yesterday when I went to that HUGE Newnan shopping center where BJ’s is. I haven’t been there in a few years and was amazed at what was there. I will no longer shop at the Pavilion as I don’t like the idea that I have to carry my gun in public as often. Yes, I do have a permit.

As far as West Park and the surrounding area is concerned, there is a lot of space available for lease in that area, both retail and office. That has been the case for a few years now. Being in the highest traffic area in the city has not helped that area one bit. So using the argument that funneling traffic down Crosstown will help that area defies both logic and common sense.

To quote Fred Brown again:
“TDK Blvd has been in the county Transportation Plan for over a decade now. It was put in the plan and is still there because the planners envisioned that Fayette County and Peachtree City would need additional east/west transportation routes to handle the growth in our region.”

Call up Google Earth and paste “33 23 13.31 N, 84 32 03.52 W”, into the search box. That will put you roughly at the end of Crosstown Road where it runs into Ebenezer Road. You will notice that Ebenezer Road heads straight north. It doesn’t go east/west. Are there plans for building roads through some part of the county that we haven’t been told about yet?

How much of our tax dollars are going to be needed for that? I can see it now that in three to five years someone is going to tell us that we need a road from Crosstown to GA-85 for east/west access.

While you have the map up, zoom out and look at the roads in Coweta County. The roads there don’t run east/west either. Are they planning building east/west roads for us?

At the current time the argument that east/west roads are needed in Fayette County doesn’t hold water. There are no corresponding roads in Coweta County for them to connect to.

Is someone planning future development that we’re not aware of?

The BoE is going to love it.

Your turn.

I didn't mean to imply that you are my enemy. The "Development Authority" and some members of the current City Council qualify for that position.

I'll respond in-depth later.

Have fun

Brilliant as always but WAY too long. Are you taking classes from Muddle??

You are going to get "muddle-tunnel syndrome"

((or is that "Carpo-Muddle syndrome"?))

Sit in the lotus postition, and bore each other AND the natives to death. Only kidding - going for the joke. I enjoy the ramblings and intelligence of both of them.

Thanks ya'll

Or do I have to bring my own?

I could go for some Hose' gold and a couple of fresh limes after that reply! Just keeping you on your toes! I need some time to digest your response. I'll try not to be soooooo looooonnnnng winded when I wind up again. We don't want to compete with muddle too much! And I don't want to bore our local Red Socks fan into a trance although meditation is helpful sometimes! I do think they frown on Drinking Tequila or any alcohol in Nepal (Mostly Muslim country) though. I believe tea is their beverage of choice but what do they know? We'll bring our own!

Let me begin by saying that Jose gold and 1800 should be used for stripping paint from furniture, nothing else.

If you can find a bottle of "Dos Realis" gold, (check spelling), I'll pay for it. It's been out of production for about 8 years now. The last bottle I had came from Kansas City by way of Boston, don't ask.

If not, then may I suggest you try some "Cabo Wabo" "Gold". Yea, it's the Sammy Hagar brand and it's a "great" sipping tequila. Goes down like velvet. That may be good, or bad. It depends if you like tequila or if it likes you.

I'm told that the new "Cuervo Black" is not bad but I haven't tried it yet.

I have about 1/2 a bottle of Jose Cuervo Tradicional #209, had 1/2 a bottle anyway. I'm told you can't buy it in the states, friends in low places, but it's pretty good.

Oh yeah, almost forgot, looking forward to your reply.

Look I told you I own a business and I need to run that as well as be a wife and a mother so I don't have the "idle" time to put all this together. However, I have read your response and I'm working on mine, but you have taught me to make sure I have my "i"s dotted and my "t"s crossed and since today is my Birthday I won't be goaded into responding prematurely. You put up an interesting argument, but I don't agree with all of your points and we'll get to that as soon as I can. I need a few days though. I have a big project to get done this week at work and that comes before blogging!

Thanks for the tips on the sipping Tequila, I like it and it likes me, one of the few hard liquors that I occasionally will indulge in. However, I prefer to shoot it rather than sip it. Can't stand margarita's they are too sweet. I prefer a good red wine, I know typical Cali girl.

Throw the lemon and lime away and the salt over your shoulder. You won't need it.

Salt will just make you pucker up and not enhance the taste at all.

Any time you and hubby want to shoot, sing out.

I'll buy the first bottle.

Happy "B" day!

It must be good to be 24.

to take my time and explain things such that the average person has no idea what I'm saying.

What do you mean? I don't get it.

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