County, 21st Century squabble over contract

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County, 21st Century squabble over contract

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The devil

is in the details.

That's what

the Coweta County commissioners are learning as they

struggle to reach an agreement with 21st Century Coweta

on a contract for funding the economic development group.

Commissioners

balked at 21st Century's latest request on releasing

industrial prospect information to the county during

their meeting Tuesday morning.

The county

wants a list of all prospects, but 21st Century officials

said they would release prospects that share a

"common" interest between the two

organizations.

The

commissioners balked at the request and wanted to make it

clear who was in charge.

"This

county is being run from 22 East Broad St. by five

elected officials," said commission Chairman Vernon

"Mutt" Hunter. It looks like it will be at

least another week before the latest hostilities between

the Coweta County Board of Commissioners and 21st Century

Coweta is ironed out.

Coweta

County contributes nearly $115,000 to the group and

commissioners are adamant that 21st Century should

disclose all contacts made with industrial prospects to

Buddy Harrison, who manages the county's new industrial

park.

But 21st

Century's Rick Tamplin argued previously that if the

contacts are revealed to Harrison, then they should be

revealed to all the developers in the county.

At least

two of the commissioners disagreed with Tamplin's

statements.

"I

don't consider Coweta County as one of your developers.

We're all in this for the business of Coweta

County," said Commissioner Jim McGuffey.

Hunter

pointed out that 21st Century receives taxpayers' funds,

which makes it subject to certain laws.

"When

you become public, you lose some of that privacy,"

he said.

County

administrator Theron Gay said he would keep the

commissioners up to date on negotiations.

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