Efforts to

beautify Ga. Highway 34 came to a screeching halt last week after the

Coweta County Commission decided not to contract out the mowing of the

medians.

The commission

had decided in March to contract with the state's Department of Transportation

to mow the area, but DOT said it did not want to do the mowing.

County Adminstrator

Theron Gay said the county sent the proposal out for bids and discovered

it would cost nearly $2,300 a month to maintain the medians on Hwy. 34.

The commission rejected the proposal and also learned it would cost nearly

$20,000 a month to maintain many of the state medians and highways leading

into communities in the county.

In the March

meeting, Commissioner Vernon "Mutt" Hunter asked the board to

send out a proposal to determine the cost of beautifying and maintaining

three miles on several other roads in the county including Ga. Highway

16 near Senoia, and the intersection of Ga. highways 54 and 154.

The defeat

of mowing the medians was a defeat for Commission Chairman Leigh Schlumper,

who brought the proposal before the board in the spring.

Schlumper said

the beautification of the road was something that needed to be done, so

the county could compete with neighboring Fayette County for industry.

She maintains

that businesses would not want to locate in Coweta when the medians look

so trashy.