The Peachtree City Development

Authority will be clear to continue oversight of the city's tennis center

and the Fred Brown Jr. Amphitheater if a proposed change in the statute

governing development authorities statewide gets approval.

That's an about-face to the

request made of the Fayette County legislative delegation by Peachtree

City City Council write a bill to establish an entertainment and sports

authority to manage those facilities.

But council members didn't

seem to mind the change of course too much, voting unanimously Saturday

morning to endorse the legislation as proposed with Steve Rapson abstaining

due to legal issues involving his wife and the amphitheater.

Even Mayor Steve Brown, who

has led the fight to break management of the two venues away from the

development authority, gave the plan his approval. But only because he

thinks the change in state law doesn't stand a chance of passage.

"Every attempt at the

state level to alter the role of local development authorities has been

shot down," Brown said, suggesting further that the wording of the

amendment would usurp the authority of local sports or recreation authorities

already in place.

If that happens, a secondary

piece of local legislation that does create a new board is attached to

the amendment and could, conceivably, make it through the process in three

days, if necessary.

Brown has raised concerns that

the Peachtree City authority is in violation of state law in its oversight

of the two venues in recent years. He has also raised questions about

an alleged deficit of about $200,000 he says has been maintained for several

years as part of the operating budget at the tennis center.

The change in the state law

would allow the Peachtree City panel and all such bodies across the state

to issue revenue bonds to eliminate that debt, said Rep. Lynn Westmoreland

(R-Sharpsburg), co-sponsor of the bill with Rep. John Lunsford (R-McDonough).

Westmoreland said the two came

up with the compromise to Brown's idea of an entertainment and sports

authority about two weeks ago after meeting with city attorney Ted Meeker

to consider options.

"The city asked me to

outline several options to fix the legal issues involved," said Meeker.

"I didn't consider an amendment to the development authority statute

until I met with (Westmoreland and Lunsford). To be honest, I don't know

where that came into play, but it certainly cleared up the legal issues."

Meeker said he doesn't interpret

the proposed language as overriding the powers of any other panel, as

Brown alleges. Westmoreland also denied that the language was threatening.

"This is a statute with

statewide implications," Westmoreland admitted. "While it will

have a direct impact on Peachtree City, I can't say there are not other

communities it won't affect. But it will certainly free up the development

authority to continuing doing the things it has been doing."

Westmoreland said the revised

language is very specific on what types of leisure venues can be defined

as "recruitment tools" for development. For example, it specifically

cites the combined management of "sports facilities" and "amphitheaters

seating more than 1,000" patrons as attractive assets to companies

considering relocating here or bringing employees here.

"The powers granted to

development authorities under the state statute is clear: To support commerce,

industry and trade," Westmoreland said. "It's still very broad,

laying out the kinds of projects like the tennis center and amphitheater

that can be included. But it doesn't say which ones cannot, either."

Westmoreland has plans to piggyback

the local proposal to another bill already in committee that has similar

issues, since time to push an original change to state code has long run

out.

And if it doesn't survive,

he said then lawmakers will look at the attachment and consider the entertainment

authority.

"I think the development

authority has done a great job," said Westmoreland, suggesting that

things were "running smoothly" until Brown took office as mayor

and began questioning the authority's actions.

"There are some things

that aren't exactly right that need to be straightened out, but I don't

think anybody has done anything intentionally wrong."

"We want these debts to

be honored," he said.

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