A discussion about possibly dissolving the Development Authority of Peachtree City won’t be taking place at Thursday night’s City Council meeting after all.
The matter, which was initially placed on the agenda at the request of Councilman Eric Imker, has since been removed from the meeting agenda. The Citizen received notice of the change after the Wednesday print edition was sent to press.
The reason for the cancellation was not mentioned in the notice submitted by the city.
Last year, Imker helped strike a nearly fatal blow to the volunteer authority, withdrawing its funding from the city budget in favor of adding a new economic development coordinator position on city staff.
But that coordinator’s position remains vacant as of now, while at the same time DAPC has drastically cut back its meeting schedule in light of the dwindling funds in its account.
DAPC in recent years has focused on retention of existing industry as well as revitalization of the city’s older retail areas, helping set up merchants associations in several shopping centers.
DAPC also played a role in the effort to convince Atlanta Christian College to move here, and also hosted a series of meetings with students from Georgia Tech who helped create a potential future vision for what the city will look like.
Current DAPC chairman Todd Strickland has said there is a need to recruit smaller “incubator” and office type businesses that are not on the radar of the Fayette County Development Authority. FCDA is tasked with working with state economic development officials on larger prospects such as the recently opened Sany heavy equipment campus in the Peachtree City industrial park.
