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PTC referendum silent on plans for spending $9.9 million bondTue, 09/30/2008 - 3:46pm
By: John Munford
When Peachtree City voters head to the polls this election season, they will be asked to consider whether the city should issue $9.95 million in bonds for “recreational facilities.” There is no mention of the specific project the funding is targeted for: an ice rink and fitness center that would be built at the city’s existing baseball and soccer complex on Ga. Highway 74 South. Projections for the facilities show the city would receive $436,000 in annual rent but would still have to pay an additional $505,000 a year toward the annual debt service. Both the ice center and fitness center would be signing long-term leases in that regard, representatives have said. Both the fitness center and the ice rink would be for-profit operations utilizing city-owned facilities. The city would have no part in running the businesses. The bond money would only pay for construction of the building and not any of the proposed operating costs. The bonds would be financed over 20 years with estimated annual payments of $941,000. Proposed by local businessman and past City Council candidate Dar Thompson, the facility would have two separate rinks in a 76,000-square-foot building with a separate 10,000-square-foot fitness center which his company could lease from the city. The buildings would be on city-owned land. Thompson said the rink would host several large tournaments a year, increasing the city’s tax revenue. He also has said it would attract people to Peachtree City who might otherwise move elsewhere to be near ice rinks for their children. Supporters of the plan say it will cost approximately $25 a year on the property tax bill of a home valued at $250,000. In July the City Council voted unanimously to allow a referendum on the project to go forward. That was after Thompson presented his pared-down plan, which was cut back from the initial proposal for a $19.5 million facility that included a multi-use field, basketball courts and meeting rooms in addition to the ice rink and fitness center. That facility was 180,000 square feet. Instead, the latest incarnation of the plan includes later phases that are currently unfunded. The second phase would include a possible 20,000-square-foot addition to the fitness center and two large meeting rooms that could be used by civic clubs and the like. There’s also room for a 425-seat auditorium in a third phase. There will also be an indoor multi-purpose field for indoor soccer or similar events, and it might perhaps be converted into a third ice rink if the facility proves popular, organizers said. Thompson has offered to pay up to $1,500 for the city’s costs of advertising the proposal before the election. Council members made it clear to Thompson that it would be up to him to rally support for the project and not council or city staff. Mayor Harold Logsdon previously noted that the city does not have an ice rink in its master recreation plan. login to post comments
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