With less than $2 million left in proceeds from Peachtree City’s public facilities improvement bond, big decisions remain.
Specifically the City Council will decide what projects will make the cut for the remaining funding and which ones will have to wait. Those discussions will take place at Thursday night’s regular council meeting at 7 p.m. at City Hall.
Recreation tennis advocates have made noise recently about making sure the city’s various public tennis courts are repaired and resurfaced. The city has closed several courts because the damage creates a hazardous playing condition.
Those repairs will cost an estimated $260,000 for courts at the Braelinn, Bluesmoke, Smokerise and Glenloch facilities.
Meanwhile, there are a number of other recreation improvements needed in the city, including the addressing of roof issues at several sites and pavement cracking issues at the Baseball and Soccer Complex.
Then there’s the matter of the need for more parking spaces at BSC, particularly as the city hosts more tournaments, officials have said.
The city has already postponed one project initially proposed for funding: replacement of the dock on Lake Peachtree at Battery Way. An assessment determined that the dock was structurally sound but it should not host a large number of people.
So instead of paying an estimated $150,000 to replace the dock, council decided to go with a staff recommendation to make sure the dock is closed at the busiest time of the year: the July 4 holiday celebration.
The canceling or postponement of other bond projects might not be as painless, however.
The first significant spending from the bond account went to replace the “bubble” enclosure used to make the Kedron pools an indoor facility in the offseason. That project went past the $573,000 mark and is expected to cost somewhat more by the time the project is officially closed out.
The city also has spent $60,000 to upgrade The Gathering Place senior citizens center and another $215,000 has been set aside for matching grant funds for a new roof on the city library to replace the leaky roof.
Council also recently authorized using facility bond funds for $203,000 in repairs at the tennis center to address roof leaks and various problems with the heating ventilation and cooling system.
In other business Thursday night, council is expected to vote on a staff suggestion to remove a requirement for a property plat submission with each tree removal permit. According to a staff memo, the same goal is being accomplished by having a review of aerial photographs to determine if there is a stream, wetland, greenbelt or other buffer on the site or adjoining property.
In such cases, the request is forwarded to the city engineering department for review, according to the memo from city Planning and Zoning Administrator David Rast.
Council is also expected to hear a presentation about recent activity at Falcon Field and also a request from the Rotary Club to serve alcohol at a special event at Drake Field May 15 for an “after-hours gathering.”
Council also plans to recognize two local Boy Scouts for their contributions to the police department. One of the scouts, Ben Casado, rebuilt the police department’s obstacle course. The other scout, Chris Robichaux, built a K-9 Kennel and sit table for the K-9 unit.
The council meeting is open to the public and also may be followed as it is streamed online at www.peachtree-city.org.
