The southside of Peachtree City could soon look very different, after two actions taken by the Peachtree City Council.
Earlier this year, the city’s staff was approached by Somerby residents to create a passive park behind their facility. In 2007, the developer of Somerby donated nearly 40 acres of greenbelt space and paid the city $25,000 for improvements to the greenbelt area.
Somerby wants the city to donate the cash to Southern Conservation Trust to create amenities at the area. The plan would create an ADA compliant passive trail system, along with an observation deck at Line Creek.
The city signed off on an agreement with Southern Conservation Trust that retains ownership of the property by the city, but allows the trust to use the funds to upgrade the area.
The second action taken by the city to re-make the southern border concerns Meade Field, located just across the entrance to Somerby on Rockaway Road.
City Manager Jon Rorie led off the discussion by telling the City Council that staff was looking at a better way to manage its recreation areas.
The city has 32 facilities and more than 416 acres of recreational opportunities for residents.
Rorie said Meade Field is 65 acres and features two multi-purpose fields and seven softball fields.
As part of his relocation of facilities to help defray maintenance costs, Rorie wants to build two multipurpose fields at at the Braelinn facility and add additional multipurpose fields at the Peachtree City Athletic Complex. The softball fields would remain at Meade, but the rest of the acreage would probably be residential, similar to the adjacent Gates Subdivision.
The price tag for the re-allocation would be a cool million dollars, but Rorie and Finance Director Paul Salvatore offered a funding stream.
Salvatore said the city has been approached by American Towers, who currently holds a ground lease on a cell tower on Rockaway Road. The city currently receives about $70,000 a year in revenue from the company for the lease.
American Towers has offered to buy out about 16 years of the lease for $1.045 million. Salvatore recommended the city accept the terms of the buyout and fund the park enhancement and re-allocation efforts.
Both issues passed the City Council unanimously, and the southside will soon have a new look.
