City vehicles will get a new maintenance facility thanks to a vote from

the Peachtree City City Council Monday night.

On a 4-1 vote, council approved awarding a $468,000 contract to Fincher

Construction to build a satellite auto shop behind the existing police

station.

The building will be financed over a 15-year period with annual payments

estimated at $45,146 a year. That assumes the city can get an interest

rate of 5 percent, which should be doable, said City Finance Director

Paul Salvatore.

The project was originally budgeted for $350,000 but came in higher

due to increases in steel prices and other fluctuations since the original

estimate was prepared, said City Engineer Troy Besseche.

At council's request, staff investigated the possibility of leasing

an existing facility to serve as the auto shop, but the one building

that met the city's criteria needed an estimated $348,000 in repairs

and upgrades, Besseche noted.

There is also no way to scale down the project by $118,000 to get it