New PTC flag will

be designed by firm, not contest, though public input sought

MUNFORD

[email protected]

Instead of

having a citywide contest to design a new city flag, the Peachtree City

Recreation Commission wants to hire a professional design firm to do the

job.

Randy Gaddo,

the city's director of leisure services, said it was determined that a

flag design contest among citizens wouldn't get the desired results. Instead,

the commission will hold a public hearing on the proposed flag design

before it recommends to the city council that it be adopted.

The cost of

designing the flag, and a new city logo to go along with it, is estimated

at around $5,000, Gaddo said. The flags would cost between $200-$250 each

for embroidered models, he added.

The city previously

had a banner that was designed using a contest among citizens, but a copy

of the banner has not been found, Gaddo said.

The current

city logo, incorporating a rendering of a peach tree, "is a 70s vintage

and doesn't reflect the current state of being in Peachtree City,"

Gaddo said.

The proposal

was adopted unanimously by the commission.

In other business,

Gaddo presented several changes to the five-year public improvement program

for the Recreation Department. The construction of two new softball fields

was removed from the 2002 and 2003 fiscal years due to lower participation

levels, freeing up $375,000.

In place of

those fields, the recreation staff wishes to fund construction of a maintenance

storage facility at the Kedron recreational center and expansion of the

maintenance building at the Ga. Highway 74 South complex in 2002, Gaddo

said. The following year, some of the funds from the softball fields would

be used to build restrooms at the multipurpose rink.

The commission

will also need to decide in the near future whether two new soccer fields

are needed with a cost of over $490,000 in 2003 and 2004, Gaddo said.

The department already has the land to build five more soccer fields if

needed, Gaddo said.

Gaddo said

the commission will be asked to officially act on the public improvement

program recommendations at its first meeting in January.