You could say the dog park

went to the people people who opposed spending $14,150 to create a fenced

dog exercise area on city land near Peachtree City's Kedron recreation

facility.

The price represents five-ten-thousandths

of 1 percent of Peachtree City's $29.47 million budget, but after strenuous

opposition from several residents, the City Council last Thursday night

voted against spending a dime for a pooch park.

Instead, Councilman Murray

Weed's pet project won a reprieve with a 3-to-1 vote to simply set aside

land already owned by the city in the northern village for use as a future

dog park.

Councilwoman Annie McMenamin

led the pack opposing the park, contending that private organizations

should step forward to provide funding and cleanup of any such specialized

park area. Councilman Steve Rapson also voted against using city money,

but voted for the set-aside land. Rapson called it "a quasi-dog park."

Discussion took more than an

hour, with several citizens weighing in on the need for the city to mind

its fiscal business, even on small expenditures.

It's a bad time for spending,

during a budget crunch," said Gwen Rower, wife of defeated mayoral

candidate Gary Rower.

Jill Truitt also cautioned

against taking money from the city's dwindling contingency fund with several

months remaining in the current budget year.

Weed, backed by Mayor Steve

Brown, called the 1-acre dog park "a jewel in Peachtree City's crown."

Weed said such a park matched the city's "forward-looking, progressive

image." Weed argued that the city Rotary Club planned to provide

volunteers to keep the park clean.

Rotarian Marcia Cole jumped

up in opposition, saying that was the first she had heard of that plan.

Weed said he had gotten the Rotary pledge from a Rotary committee head.

McMenamin said she was "stunned"

She pointed to the need of a new fence at Glenloch Recreation Center's

pool as a higher priority.

That was echoed by former Councilwoman

Carol Fritz, Weed's losing opponent in last fall's city elections. "There

are no bathrooms at Shakerag (recreation area). Why should the city pay

for it? [The] $15,000 is a big deal" when other high priority projects

have to be cut during the budget crunch, Fritz said.

Weed said he disagreed with

Fritz's philosophy. Giving the city-funded All-Children's Playground for

kids with disabilities as an example, Weed said, "We shouldn't expect

the private sector to take care of every public need."

"We don't want to give

the impression the city's in dire financial straits," Rapson said.

"We're not."

"You're the one with gloom

and doom" financial projections, McMenamin said. "This is a

frivolous project."

Brown joined the fray: "I'm

surprised that the person [McMenamin] wanting to spend $20,000 [in city

funds] on the air show doesn't want to spend $14,000 on a fixed asset,

which is what the dog park would be." Brown referred to McMenamin's

support of using city funds to provide security for the private airshow

to be held at Falcon Field in September.

General bickering followed,

resulting in a McMenamin motion to deny funding for the park which died

for lack of a second followed by a 2-to-2 tie vote to fund the park with

its two-section fence separating larger from smaller dogs. The cost included

$10,500 for the fence and $2,000 for a combined people-pooch drinking

water fountain humans using the upper level and dogs slurping the lower

bowl.

Weed then proposed a compromise

setting aside the land for dog owners to exercise their pets but not spending

any city money to fence it or landscape it at this time.

That carried, with McMenamin

still opposed.

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