Slowly but

surely, express buses from Coweta County to Atlanta are coming closer

to being a reality.

During Tuesday's

Coweta County Commission meeting, the commissioners agreed to send a letter

of intent to the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority to proceed

with negotiations on bringing express bus routes to the county.

If the county

agrees to pay $850,000 for operation of the bus routes for the first year,

the transportation superagency will shower the county with $9.5 million

in federal highway funds.

"If we

can get that return on an investment, it's not a bad deal," said

Chairman Jim McGuffey.

Commissioner

Vernon "Mutt" Hunter still has questions on how the county would

be reimbursed and said he would be more comfortable if GRTA officials

met with the commissioners before any deal is approved.

"We still

need everything on the table," he said.

GRTA had originally

wanted the metro counties to commit to the deal by today, but has extended

the deadline by a month to answer questions.