Chuck

Watkins, a former Fayette County commissioner and

current member of the Water Committee, has been

named chairman of the recently activated Public

Facilities Authority.

In

its organizational meeting last week, the

three-person board also named Jack Smith its vice

chairman and county commissioners' assistant

Carol Chandler (an ex-officio member) its

secretary/treasurer. The authority's third voting

member is Mary Shaver.

Smith

is a CPA and has experience with development

authorities; Shaver is retired as an engineer

with the Pacific Gas and Electric company.

Created

in 1978 but never actually used, the authority

was activated by the County Commission earlier

this year for the sole purpose of raising funds

for a $60 million jail and courthouse

construction project.

Bonds

issued by the authority will carry a lower

interest rate - as much as 25 percent lower

- than if they were issued directly by the

County Commission, and the authority can issue

bonds without taking a public vote.

In

addition to naming its officers, the authority

last week voted to have regular meetings each

third Tuesday at 5 p.m. and to adopt Fayette

County's fiscal year - July 1 through June

30 - as its own, and formally named county

attorney Bill McNally its legal counsel.

McNally

gave authority members a brief primer on their

responsibilities and answered questions.

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