Dennis Drewyer, speaking on behalf of Sany, the Chinese heavy equipment manufacturer coming to Peachtree City, addressed the Development Authority of Peachtree City (DAPC) Monday night. He was hoping they would give a ringing endorsement to the Peachtree City Council to exempt them from 75 percent of the impact fees for Phase I of their construction, which they are hoping to start June 1.
The DAPC didn’t show their hand and will crunch some numbers before a special called meeting on May 17 where they will announce their decision.
Drewyer’s pitch was that they were following the rules for seeking impact fee exemptions put in place by the city. Due to the extraordinary economic development and employment growth that Sany is expected to bring to the city and because the building will be entirely located in the Peachtree City Industrial Park, Sany can seek a 75 percent reduction in impact fees, which translates to $198,000 of $264,000.
A local impact analysis was run in 2007 by the Fayette County Development Authority on what the Sany project would bring to the city. It was estimated to have a $4.6 million impact, but with Phase I now being estimated at $62 million, Drewyer stated that the new numbers show an impact of over $5 million.
Sany is expected to create jobs as well, with between 150-300 new employees being hired, not including landscapers, contractors or other hires during future phases.
While it may seem like a slam dunk to give a company providing such an impact to the city a break, DAPC chairman Mark Hollums reminded his fellow board members that whatever break the city did give to Sany, if any, by state law they would have to make it up from the general funds. Board member David Conner said the city will have to boil it down to dollars and cents and Hollums agreed.
“They’ll have to decide if they are paying for the privilege of having Sany come to Peachtree City or if it will be profitable for the city to do this,” Hollums stated.
Michael Colapinto, also representing Sany, stated that other fees are ready to be paid and that Sany, which has already graded the land they expect to build on and started laying down roads, hopes to kick off construction June 1.
Drewyer added that it is their hope to get a lot of the heavy work out of the way during the dry summer months. The project is estimated to be completed in 11-12 months.
