A controversial new connector

highway between Peachtree City and eastern Coweta County is expected to

be a hot topic at next week's meeting of the Association of Fayette County

Governments.

Coweta County Commissioner

Vernon Hunter is attending the meeting as a special guest and is a familiar

face in the county.

For years, Hunter served as

Fayette County's public works director before getting into the political

realm in Coweta County.

Hunter also serves as one of

Coweta's point men on the much-discussed expansion of TDK Boulevard, which

caused a flare-up between Peachtree City and Coweta earlier this year.

The project would extend TDK

Boulevard into Coweta County via a bridge over Line Creek. Originally

envisioned as a way to free up traffic on Ga. Highway 54 West by rerouting

employees to the city's industrial park, the new road would offer an east-west

highway that cuts across the beltline of the city of 34,000.

Peachtree City Mayor Steve

Brown worried earlier this year that Coweta officials may allow rampant

development along the new highway on the Coweta side and create more of

a traffic problem than a traffic solution.

At a retreat, Brown said he

is uncomfortable with the response from Hunter, who told him the county

would worry about planning its development for that area once the extension

came closer to fruition.

"At our meeting, he was

very noncommittal," Brown said, adding that he wanted to encourage

the development of a master plan for the area.

Across the creek in Coweta,

Hunter said the county's position has not changed on the extension of

the road. His biggest issue is funding, which has become tight at DOT.

Hunter also disputes concerns

about development in the area.

"That's not a concern

of theirs. It's far easier to build something in Peachtree City than Coweta

County," Hunter added.

Hunter dismissed Brown's take

on the project as "hogwash."

Commission Chairman Jim McGuffey,

who also attended a meeting with Brown, does not recall the meeting anything

like Brown recalls.

Currently, the project is in

the design phase but a problem has cropped up relating to the location

of the bridge and the location of a spillway for the proposed Lake McIntosh

reservoir that Fayette County officials plan to build. The reservoir is

expected to boost water production by 8 million gallons a day.

Design for the road extension

project, which is between 85 and 90 percent complete, awaits a final decision

on the bridge location, according to Peachtree City Engineer Troy Besseche.

The city has $460,000 built

into its 2004 budget for preliminary work on the project.

Besseche will present an update

on the project at next week's meeting.

In other business, the association

will:

Hear a presentation from the

Newnan-Coweta County Chamber of Commerce and one from the Fayette County

Chamber.

Listen a presentation from

state Sen. Mitch Seabaugh on cooperation and coordination of local governments'

communication with state agencies.

The meeting starts at 7 p.m.

at Tyrone Town Hall.

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