City spokesperson Betsy Tyler

said that the City Council has been briefed on the letter and City

Attorney Ted Meeker has responded to the bank

denying the bank's claim.

Mark Oldenburg, the development

authority's attorney, said the

group has no way to make the payments.

"They can't even say they'll try to make a payment schedule," Oldenburg

said.

The authority understands

that its assets are at risk, "but their

hands are pretty much tied," Oldenburg added.

The debt, as cited by a letter from the bank to the city and the development

authority, is just over $995,000 as of May 4.

Glover told authority members

Monday evening that he hopes to clear up the matter without heading

to court. "We'd like to see if

there are ways to resolve this dispute without a legal hassle," he

said.

Glover told the authority that he had recently sent a letter to DAPC

Chairman Scott Formel about the money that the authority still owes the

bank.

"It was your standard letter letting you know that money was owed," Glover

said. "No payments have been made in several months, which is why

the letter was sent out."

Glover said his presentation

was to make sure that both parties had the same facts and to answer

any questions that the new authority members

had about the situation. He gave the history of the bank's lending

to DAPC that led to the authority owing the big unpaid debt.

The story as Glover sees it, which was undisputed by any current authority

member, goes like this:

In 1993, the city had the

Frederick Brown Jr. Amphitheater and dreams of a tennis complex. The

DAPC was asked to be the city's agent to

run the amphitheater and to create and run the tennis center. They accepted

the challenge and did the job they were requested to do, Glover related.

The amphitheater was very

successful and the Peachtree City Tennis Center was recognized as one

of the �nest in the country, Glover said.

Construction items were submitted and approved and the DAPC borrowed

money to pay for the construction items. That money is now in default,

Glover said.

The DAPC entered these contracts,

but in the city's name, Glover

said. In 2001, there was an agreement between the city and the authority

that the authority would manage these venues and the city would supplement

them with revenues from the hotel/motel tax or a bond issue, Glover said.

Though there were various discussions in 2002 and 2003, nothing was

implemented and late last year the city created the Peachtree City Tourism

Authority to manage the venues, Glover said.

Since the DAPC no longer operates either the amphitheater or the tennis

center, they have no money to pay the debt and the debt of $1 million

went into default.

Glover said the bank can prove that all money went into authority accounts

and they also have documentation of debt instruments. He also stated

that the current authority members are bound by the acts of the previous

authority members.

Glover also stated that it

was his client's position that the city

is also bound in this dispute, though he was told that Oldenburg doesn't

necessarily believe that.

Glover said he was not looking

for a solution to the dispute Monday night, but he and his client would

like to know the authority's

position on the debt and a plan to deal with it soon.

Formel told Glover that board

members "don't have the answer

yet, but we'll get back to you."