Peachtree City's

legal bills relating to the contract dispute between the city council

and its development and airport authorities is just short of $40,000 so

far.

That amount

doesn't reflect the final tally as attorneys have not finished billing

the city in full for their services, said Peachtree City Public Information

Officer Betsy Tyler.

The city has

been billed a total of $39,969 from the attorneys for their work on the

issue, the lion's share of which is attributed to the ethics board hearing

on the complaint against councilman Steve Rapson filed by former mayor

Bob Lenox.

Attorney Winston

Denmark, who was appointed by council to investigate the validity of the

contracts, has billed the city $12,840 through the end of July, so the

figure doesn't include his appearance before council earlier this month.

The tally for

the ethics board hearing is $27,129, most of which was for Harvey Gray,

the attorney who defended Rapson during the hearing. Gray's bill, which

included the court reporter and courtroom visuals, was $22,095. That bill,

however, is an interim statement of costs through the July 11 hearing.

During the

hearing, the ethics board found that Rapson violated the city's ethics

code by voting on matters pertaining to the city's development authority,

an entity his wife is suing in federal court over a pay dispute.

The ethics

board voted 3-2 to admonish Rapson for the violation and take no further

action on the matter. Rapson has not decided whether or not he will appeal

the decision to the city council.

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