PTC finds $400K savings by cutting 5

Peachtree City officials are proposing to eliminate four staffers from the building department in a continuing effort to cut costs in advance of what was an estimated $3.5 million shortfall in next year’s budget.

The four positions up for elimination April 17 are: engineering assistant/project inspector; plans examiner; staff assistant to the building department; and building inspector, according to a memo from City Manager Bernie McMullen.

Those employees were given notice their jobs could be eliminated on Friday, the memo said.

The city is also realizing a savings with the retirement of Assistant City Manager/Developmental Services Director Colin Halterman. City Planner David Rast will be appointed to the position on an interim basis for the rest of this fiscal year, leaving the city planner position vacant.

The elimination of personnel and the position vacancy will save an estimated $404,000 a year.

A vote on the matter is expected at Thursday night’s City Council meeting, which starts at 7 p.m. at City Hall.

The reasoning behind the cuts in the building department is the decrease in residential and commercial building permits being issued. From 2004 to 2008 the number of residential building permits dropped from 194 to 36. In the same time frame, commercial building permits dropped from 42 to 20.

As proposed by McMullen, each fired employee would get six weeks severance pay and medical insurance coverage in addition to informational assistance from the city on matters such as unemployment, potential temporary jobs through an agency and any current or future job openings in the city.

Earlier this year, council approved cutting 23 maintenance and landscaping employees, and last week announced that change would save more than $1 million, with work outsourced to a private firm.

In this case, no such outsourcing is proposed. Potential job cuts in the developmental services division, which includes the building department, have been under consideration for several months now.

Council also will consider Thursday night a request to begin charging fees for other jurisdictions who use the county’s fire training and pump testing facility. The fees would be $25 per student participating in live fire training, with a maximum of $500 day; and $50 per apparatus for the pump testing facility.

The fees are recommended to offset maintenance costs, although the facility is currently used by “a limited number of outside agencies.”

The fees are projected to generate less than $3,000 a year, according to staff estimates.

Council also is expected to vote on awarding concession management services for the Frederick Brown Jr. Amphitheater concert season to Maguire’s Family and Friends from Senoia.

Maguire’s was selected over the only other proposal submitted, which came from Mike and C’s restaurant. Maguire’s scored higher in the city’s evaluation process in part because its plan included marketing plans to maximize sales potential of the picnic and gold table patrons.

Maguire’s also offered a better deal to the city, returning 15 percent of its gross sales to the city from food and non-alcoholic drinks and 15 percent of gross sales of alcoholic drinks after the first $1,000 in sales. Mike and C’s proposed those rates to be 10 percent.

Also, Maguire’s sought a full alcohol serving license while Mike and C’s preferred to only serve beer and wine.