Local

residents wishing to attend City Council meetings in

Peachtree City are on their own as far as what to do with

their children during meeting times.

That was

the message sent at the Feb. 3 meeting, as the council

made it clear that the city government should not get

involved in any way with attempts to organize child care

for citizens that otherwise cannot attend meetings.

Councilman

Dan Tennant initiated the discussion by reporting that

several citizens had mentioned to him their desire to

attend more council meetings, but they could not because

there was no place for their children. He asked city

staff to look at some of the possibilities for meeting

this need.

Tennant

said that, while he was opposed to government sponsorship

of any program of this kind, he thought that a privately

funded operation could increase citizen involvement in

council meetings.

City

manager Jim Basinger reported that a couple of local

churches had been consulted about the feasibility of

child care services, and a number of fees and

restrictions were discussed.

Mayor Bob

Lenox said that involving the city as far as tax dollars

would set a bad precedent, and he added that he felt the

service would be unnecessary most of the time because

only a few meetings have an exceptionally large turnout.

Tennant

said that if the program were implemented on a trial

basis with outside funding, the city would not have to be

involved except to forward the funding. But Lenox and

Mayor Pro Tempore Annie McMenamin both pointed out that

any work on the part of city staff coordinating the

project would amount to city involvement.

"I

have a philosophical problem with this," said

McMenamin, citing liability concerns as well as her

feeling that the city should not be involved in any way.

She commended the efforts of people wishing to become

more involved in local government, and said any such

program done totally outside the city's sphere of

influence would be fine with her, but she could not

support any level of official involvement by the city.

A motion by

McMenamin to keep the city from participating in this

program was seconded by Councilwoman Carol Fritz and

passed 3-1, with Tennant voting no. Councilman Robert

Brooks was absent from the meeting.