The Development

Authority of Peachtree City is just one formality away from having Georgia

law clarify its role as manager of two of the city's most popular attractions.

The State Senate

gave unanimous approval this week to an amendment already OK'd in the

House that better outlines the duties of development authorities statewide.

All it awaits is the signature of Gov. Sonny Perdue.

The change

in state code was prompted starting last year when Peachtree City Mayor

Steve Brown suggested the DAPC had been in violation of the law for operating

with a negative debt service, meaning revenues did not meet expenses.

agencies must operate in the black.

The DAPC oversees

operation of the Frederick Brown Jr. Amphitheater and the Peachtree City

Tennis Center. While the amphitheater is self-supporting, the Tennis Center

has had trouble with revenues meeting expenses, and last year completed

a multimillion dollar expansion that further added to the burden.

Brown had proposed

an entertainment and sports authority to manage the two venues, thus stripping

the DAPC of any responsibilities other working to recruit new business

and industry to town.

But members

of the DAPC argued that it made sense for them to manage the amphitheater

and tennis center, since those venues are seen as recruitment tools and

incentives for companies to relocate here.

Rep. Lynn Westmoreland

(R-Sharpsburg) surprised the City Council in late March by offering an

amendment to another bill already introduce in the House that gave development

authorities jurisdiction across state lines. Language was added to the

bill to specifically address the ability of the DAPC to oversee the amphitheater

and tennis center.

The bill also

passed the House with no opposition, said Tate Godfrey, development authority

chairman.

"There

was not one dissenting vote in the Legislature," said Godfrey of

the resolution, which came after several weeks of tense showdowns between

the mayor and members of the board.

"Clearly,

the amphitheater and tennis center bring so much to this community, they

truly are economic development tools," he said.

Westmoreland

said he was thinking only about what would be easiest overall for the

city when he decided to put aside an original request from City Council

to draft legislation authorizing the entertainment and sports authority.

"I saw

this other bill dealing with development authorities and realized that

just by cleaning up the language a bit we could take care of the Peachtree

City issues all at the same time," he said.

"These

guys on the authority do a good job, and now that we've cleaned up the

wording we want to see them get rid of that debt," Westmoreland said.

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