Peachtree City is such a great place to live, we all know it, and the rest of the country is learning it too.
We were recognized by Family Circle magazine as the second-best place to live in the country for families. Of course, anyone who lives here knows that PTC should have come in 1st place.
“Drop Dead Diva” and other film/TV productions continue to find their way to our area, and the SANY Corporation is still building its facility, which means more jobs for our beautiful city.
There are good things happening across the city that sometimes get overlooked.
The City Council and staff of Peachtree City have worked diligently to ensure a sound budget as we move into fiscal 2012. Despite declining revenues, we are on our way to not having a tax increase this year.
Under our new city manager, Jim Pennington, there has been a new emphasis upon the maintenance of our buildings and our recreational amenities. Citizens like me, who have lived here any length of time, have noticed a decline in many of our public facilities.
Now with our newly instituted Public Facilities Authority, the city will have the funds with which to do many of the major improvements that have been put on the back burner for so long.
The recent reorganization of the Recreation Division has resulted in increased communication between multiple city departments. Better communication will allow for an increase in the services provided to our citizens. The streamlining process is moving forward and I think that we will all see some positive results soon.
Here are some other good things that are happening:
• Named in the Top 6 Most Patriotic Cities, Rand McNally/USA Today 2011 “Best of the Road” Rally.
• Named in Top 100 Places to Live – www.RelocateAmerica.com (and are in the running for top 10).
• Once again in the running for Top 100 Best Places to Live in the U.S., CNN/Money Magazine.
• PTC Police earned third place in National Law Enforcement Challenge (International Association of Chiefs of Police recognition of the best overall traffic safety programs in the United States)
• We’ve had over 600 requests for relocation information on PTC (April – July) from folks looking at moving to the Atlanta area.
• Official Welcome reception for SANY this spring.
• First ever Great PTC Path Cleanup.
• Earned Camera Ready Status.
• Hosted Georgia Planners Association convention drawing planning professionals from across the state to PTC.
• Peachtree City named as a test community for AT&T/Panasonic “connected car” products and services.
• PTC named a host city for Fireball Run Adventurally and Race to Recover Mission Children.
• Hotel/motel tax revenues are up 11.5 percent. Hotels across the city have booked 3,000 more rooms this year as compared to last year.
In the past few years our country and city have been through very tough economic times, but it is important to know that Peachtree City is weathering the storm better than most cities.
We have been vigilant in finding creative and economic ways to promote future growth for our city and will continue to look for new and creative ways to help Peachtree City become the #1 “Best Place to Raise a Family” in the country.
Vanessa Fleisch
City Council Post 4
Peachtree City, Ga.
[Mrs. Fleisch was elected to the City Council in 2009. She is a Realtor with Keller Williams Atlanta Partners in Peachtree City.]
