next year, a Coweta commuter will be able to board a bus bound for Hartsfield

International Airport.

The county's

first foray into mass transit was all but confirmed last week when the

Coweta County Commission voted to enter into an agreement with the Georgia

Regional Transportation Authority to provide an express bus service for

the county.

Only one detail

remains before the deal is completed.

"The board

is going to have to vote on the actual contract at its Aug. 5 meeting,"

said County Administrator Theron Gay.

Coweta County

will have to pony up $850,000 in funds for the service, but in return

gets $10.4 million in funds to help fix dangerous intersections and roads,

such as Lower Fayetteville Road.

Last week,

Commissioners Vernon Hunter, Greg Tarbutton and Robert Wood voted to enter

into a contract with GRTA, but the contract was not available for signing.

The August

vote will end one of the most contentious issues the commission has debated

in sometime.

Commission

Chairman Leigh Schlumper has led the fight against buses and said the

county could use the $850,000 to start its own local bus service and have

it under local control.

But Hunter

has maintained the opportunity of leveraging $850,000 into $10.4 million

in highway funds to is to good to pass up.

Gay said if

the contract is finally approved, the county will pay its portion from

Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax funds.

"Some

of the projects funded with the GRTA money were already earmarked to be

funded with SPLOST," he said.