The June 19^th, 2025 Peachtree City Council meeting opened with a recognition of the awards recently received by the local public communications department.  Peachtree City submitted four entries to the Hermes Awards, which evaluates publications on various criteria like brand collateral and integrated marketing, this year.  Two publications- a multi-use path brochure and the video “Asking For Help Is A Sign of Strength”(linked here) – received honorable mentions, while the Recreation and Special Events sponsorship packet and the Navigate PTC app, which provides aid in navigating the multi-use paths, received gold awards.

David Irwin, of Mauldin & Jenkins, LLC, presented a Fiscal Year 2024 report.  He reports a strong fund balance for the city, which is good news, especially as economies everywhere continue to recover from the COVID pandemic.  This is also Peachtree City’s 36^th year of receiving a GFOA (Government Finance Officers Association) certificate, which is a notable achievement.  

One specific section of the room was largely dominated by a throng of citizens in pickleball tee-shirts, and three of them addressed the council during public comment, eliciting much applause from their fellow players, who showed quite an impressive turnout in support of their cause.  They continued to cite the health benefits, especially for retired citizens, of pickleball, which one speaker stated to be the “fastest-growing sport in America.”  Citizens were also concerned that the fact that cities like Newnan, Griffin, and Carrolton are ahead of Peachtree City in court numbers.  This, they claimed, might lead to local citizens spending their money in those cities- while placing more courts here would lead to citizens of neighboring cities spending their money in Peachtree City, thereby boosting the economy and creating a return on the city’s investment.  Apparently, a recreational advisory group met with council members and recommended 24 courts in Peachtree City.  “Please listen to the people you ask to volunteer.”  One of the speakers asked.  Another chimed in that refusing to add more pickleball courts makes council members “not visionaries, but maintainers.” 

Only one public comment did not involve pickleball… although it is highly likely that, should he succeed in his endeavors, the commenter will be asked to make pickleball-related decisions in some form or fashion.  Tim Eden announced his intent to run for city council in the 2025 Election.  Eden is a certified professional accountant with a Masters Degree in Business Administration from the University of Georgia.  He is passionate about Peachtree City and wants to “leverage his gifts” for the good of the community.  

After the consent agenda was passed and announcements were made regarding improved engineering along Huddleston Road, Suzanne Brown gave a response some of the statements made in public comment regarding the beloved pastime of pickleball.  The lack of more courts, it seems, stems from financial and logistical reasons and not from a latent anti-pickleball sentiment on the part of council members.  She stated that the council is looking for places to add new pickleball courts, but that they are highly expensive to build, even with SPLOST funds.  It is also important to ensure that recreational facilities do not interfere with housing as the city continues to grow- or disturb residents who already live near the fields. Clint Holland echoed these statements, and added that the controversy was due to a simple misunderstanding.  He also called for a return to courtesy on the golf cart paths, particularly with regards to the right of way of pedestrians.  Holland also suggested the idea of a memorial to Flat Creek Floyd, an alligator who lived in Peachtree City for almost a decade before dying in a tragic car accident.  The proposed memorial would not be to scale, as the late Flat Creek Floyd was an impressive twelve feet long, but a more modest length of about five feet.  He discussed the idea of creating a “Public Art Advisory Group” to promote public art in Peachtree City.