While not totally

slamming the door on an express bus route in Coweta County, the County

Commission left the door open only a crack.

The Georgia

Regional Transportation Authority has proposed a program that would allow

metro counties to get on board a bus program for a small cost. In return,

GRTA pledged a large amount of transportation funds would be released

to the county.

In Coweta's

case, GRTA is asking the county to pay $850,000 up front, in return for

nearly $9 million in transportation funds.

But Commissioner

Vernon "Mutt" Hunter met with state Department of Transportation

officials Monday, who professed to know nothing about releasing these

funds to the county, he said.

With DOT officials

in the dark about the proposal, Hunter urged the commission to use the

$850,000 in special sales tax funds to improve dangerous intersections

on some of the state routes that DOT has not committed to repairing yet.

Hunter mentioned

roads such as Ga. Highway 16 and Orr Road and said the commission pledged

to voters last year that they would work on fixing some of the dangerous

intersections in the county.

He asked the

other commissioners to approve his motion of letting some of the dangerous

intersections out to bid, and also making a priority list for DOT.

Commissioner

Robert Wood had no problem with supporting Hunter's motion, but preferred

that any mention of GRTA be omitted until he had more information on the

bus proposal.

"I think

somebody needs to put people together from GRTA and DOT and get this worked

out," he said.

County Administrator

Theron Gay said GRTA officials told him they would be sending the county

a contract soon to execute a bus agreement and the commission might have

more information when the contract comes up for discussion.

The commission

passed Hunter's motion, and also agreed to contract with former DOT employee

Nancy Jones to help secure the right-of-way for some of the projects.