After an extensive debate Thursday

night, the Peachtree City Council voted unanimously to spend $21,000 for

extra police and fire protection at the Great Georgia Airshow at Falcon

Field Sept. 14-15.

The council has supported a

similar amount for the air show the past two years, but Mayor Steve Brown

argued that the funds represented a donation to a nonprofit agency and

would be against city policy. Nonprofit groups are limited to $5,000 from

council every five years according to the policy.

Council members Annie McMenamin

and Dan Tennant said the $21,000 was a legitimate expense for public safety

and not a donation. It was explained that giving the funds to the air

show board allowed the city to avoid paying overtime for the public safety

employees at time and a half, which would be more expensive.

"We don't want to do anything

that would make the air show say, 'The heck with Peachtree City and let's

go somewhere else,'" Tennant said, noting that local residents enjoy

the show and it attracts people from metro Atlanta.

Brown suggested that the air

show could raise ticket prices to cover the cost of additional public

safety personnel. The mayor's motion to "compromise" and approve

$10,000 for the air show failed, and council continued to hash out the

issue.

Brown and Councilman Steve

Rapson said they worried that funding the full $21,000 would set a precedent

allowing other nonprofit groups to seek more funds from council than policy

allows.

But Councilman Murray Weed

noted that the air show brings a lot of economic benefit to Peachtree

City and that alone justifies the city entering into a contract with the

air show board to provide the additional public safety personnel needed.

Assistant Fire Chief Ed Eiswerth

told council the extra personnel were necessary because with the city's

normal staffing level the fire department couldn't handle the air show's

needs.

"Very quickly, a small

incident would overwhelm us," Eiswerth said. "And that would

leave a lot of other people in Peachtree City uncovered."

Brown also suggested the air

show board could contract with other agencies to meet its needs. But Police

Chief James Murray reminded council that city policy requires him to approve

the use of any other agencies for such events in the city.

Murray said he wouldn't approve

any such plan as long as there are Peachtree City officers available to

do the job because of their knowledge and experience. If the city forced

the officers to work the overtime, many would make more per hour than

the $25 paid by the air show, Murray added.

Rapson said council's $21,000

contribution last year amounted to a "pass-through" donation

since the air show made a $36,000 profit.

But since the money from the

city is going towards meeting requirements from the city's fire and police

chiefs, it's really not a donation, argued citizens Wayne Roberts and

Carol Fritz.

Catherine Nelmes, chairwoman

of the city's Airport Authority, said she didn't want the air show board

to have to raise ticket prices since it might cause families to reconsider

attending the event.

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