A unifying call to "put

the past behind us" and "move forward" came from all corners

at the first meeting of the Peachtree City Tourism Association on Wednesday.

The board of directors for

the new non-profit - less than a week old - met for the first

time this week to begin sorting through the mountain of details necessary

to begin managing the Peachtree City Tennis Center and Fred Brown Jr.

Amphitheater by Dec. 1.

The five-member panel met briefly

early Monday morning to OK the terms of the association's incorporation,

but otherwise the midweek meeting at the Gathering Place was the first

opportunity to get down to business.

Donna Romeo, director of the

amphitheater, and Sean Ferreria, senior pro and acting director at the

Tennis Center, each gave emotional reports on the year past and offered

budgets for 2004.

Of main concern to both: That

the facilities continue to prosper.

City Manager Bernard McMullen,

who proposed the tourism board as a means of taking on the duties resigned

last month by the Development Authority, reassured employees and patrons

of both venues that the new management group is committed to the future.

"The most important thing

we're looking to do for both of these venues to make them just as

good or better than they were before," said McMullen. "We're

not looking to cut any programs, to diminish any services that are already

being provided.

"In fact, we don't

see that there's going to be any drastic changes in those two venues,"

he said. "As they are now, they are both very successful. Any changes

we make, it is our desire to make the venues better."

In addition to McMullen, the

tourism board includes councilmen Murray Weed and Steve Rapson, as well

as Paul Salvatore, city finance director, and David Ring, chairman of

the volunteer Recreation Commission.

Mayor Steve Brown made a brief

appearance but didn't stay for much of the meeting, and some have

indicated he isn't welcome. Both Weed and Rapson expressed sentiment

that Brown not be allowed to sit on the panel, and be kept at a distance

in Tourism Association affairs as well, considering his role in bringing

down the management contract once held by the Development Authority.

As for funding, McMullen said

the two venues would be considered two different accounts, each self-supporting.

Both Romeo and Ferreira presented balanced budget proposals Wednesday

night, McMullen said.

"The reason people go

to the amphitheater is not because of the turmoil, it's because of

the quality of entertainment," McMullen pointed out. "And the

budget for this year's shows should be the same as last year. The

quality of entertainment will be the same."

"The way we're budgeting

the facilities is different than the way the Development Authority did,"

he explained. "The arrangement they had was to accept funds from

the City Council intended to supplement the amphitheater and tennis center,

but they didn't include those funds in their budgets for each facility."

As a result, the tennis center

finished the year in the red, McMullen said, but it could have easily

been avoided.

The tourism association will

also have a small general fund budget for operations of the board, to

include legal expenses, personnel items for a recording secretary, legal

counsel and the like. For now, city staffers are filling those roles.

Eventually, said McMullen, independent hires will be made.

Over time, McMullen envisions

the board of directors being filled with citizen appointees, as the association

gets off the ground and its finances settle into a routine. He wouldn't

give a time frame, suggesting instead it would be a natural transition.

The board meets again next

Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at The Gathering Place, to consider amended budgets

from Romeo and Ferreria in anticipation of adopting an overall budget

within the week.