If you want

to "tune in" to Peachtree City's council meetings, you're going

to have to leave your remote control at home.

Council has

turned down the idea of airing its meetings on a local cable channel,

on a 4-1 vote at its meeting Thursday. The only vote against deep-sixing

the plan was councilman Dan Tennant, who brought the issue up several

months ago.

Tennant argued

that airing the meetings would help expose other citizens to meetings,

particularly citizens with younger children who can't come to council

meetings or elderly citizens whose physical disabilities keep them from

coming.

"I think

we owe it to the citizens of the community," Tennant said.

But councilwoman

Annie McMenamin said even if the city spent the money to broadcast the

meetings, she wasn't sure many people would tune in.

"Quite

honestly, I don't think they'll watch council meetings," McMenamin

said, adding that the city uses its Web site and the monthly Update newsletter

to provide information to citizens about council actions.

Councilwoman

Carol Fritz agreed.

"They're

changing the kids diapers or doing homework, not sitting down to watch

a council meeting," she said.

Although the

broadcast could be performed for approximately $3,300 a year in addition

to a start-up cost of $3,500 for equipment, city staff recommended a more

expensive option. Staff wanted council to hire a professional video company

to tape the meetings at a projected annual cost of $16,800.

Tennant had

suggested at an earlier meeting that the cost could be defrayed by seeking

sponsors for each broadcast. But it was decided that could put the city

in a position of having a apparent conflict of interest in case a sponsor

ever has to petition council for action on a particular issue.

AT&T Broadband

Cable had offered to equip council chambers at no charge to the city to

facilitate the broadcast.

Some had worried

that broadcasting the meetings would lead to grandstanding by those speaking

to council and possibly council members themselves. It was also suggested

that residents would be less willing to speak to council if they knew

they would be on TV while doing so.