It won’t start until the Monday after Thanksgiving, but plenty of Peachtree City residents will be thankful it is finally underway.

Peachtree City Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) board members Wednesday at a special called meeting voted unanimously to approve a contract with Tennessee-based Environmental Power Strategies, LLC (EPS) to dry and haul sludge from the wastewater treatment plant. The move will be a cost-saving of $3 per ton over the current rate.

David Ring, who wears many volunteer hats working with recreation programs in Peachtree City, was recently named Volunteer of the Year for the population category of 30,000 to 80,000 by the Georgia Park and Recreation Association at their annual conference in Jekyll Island.

Each candidate in Peachtree City's runoff election will appear tonight at a candidate forum at City Hall beginning at 7 p.m.

Former Arkansas governor, likely 2012 presidential candidate and Fox News host Mike Huckabee rolled into Peachtree City Saturday night for a book-signing of his most recent release, “A Simple Christmas: Twelve Stories That Celebrate the True Holiday Spirit.”

Peachtree City staff is proposing additional language to clarify how proposed exemptions to the city’s new business impact fee will be handled.

Early voting for the three runoff races for mayor and two Peachtree City council posts began in earnest Monday.

To vote this week, residents will have to travel to downtown Fayetteville to cast a ballot at the Fayette County Elections Office. The office is located in the county’s Stonewall government complex at the southwest intersection of Ga. highways 54 and 85.

The widening of Ga. Highway 74 south from Cooper Circle to Ga. Highway 85 is expected to begin this Tuesday, the Georgia Department of Transportation announced Monday.

Peachtree City staff is proposing additional language to clarify how proposed exemptions to the city’s new business impact fee will be handled.

Property tax hike, budget cuts likely to avoid $2.7M shortage

Since Fayette residents voted down a new 1 percent sales tax, Peachtree City faces some difficult budget decisions.

Request comes from resident bitten by 2 dogs last year

A Peachtree City resident has asked the City Council to look into creating special requirements for owners of pit bull dogs.

Peachtree City residents ready to vote in the runoff election for the mayor and two city council seats can get their fix on in Fayetteville starting Monday.

Residents worried about cell towers allowed in new OS-P category

Peachtree City is about to undertake a massive rezoning effort aimed at protecting the city’s natural areas, greenbelts and passive parks by zoning them from the current open space designation to “open space-conservation.”

With its ongoing expansion, Peachtree City’s NCR campus is looking to expand its parking options as well.

A proposal to add more than 600 parking spaces was presented to the Peachtree City Planning Commission Monday night. Most of the parking will be pervious, which allows water to seep into the ground instead of into a water detention system.

When Peachtree City native Emily Breault needed a project idea for her college ecology class, she didn’t have to go very far for an idea.

Lt. Dan Berschinski recovers from blast that claimed his legs

[EDITOR’S NOTE: This remarkable story about Lt. Dan Berschinski, a native of Peachtree City, was published Nov. 9 in The News Tribune, Tacoma, Washington. It is reprinted here by permission.]

By SCOTT FONTAINE
((The News Tribune), Tacoma, Washington)

WASHINGTON – No one knows how long the bomb lay under the packed earth of southern Afghanistan. How many times had the soldiers stepped over it? Each member of Lt. Dan Berschinski’s platoon had, at least twice. The Fort Lewis [Wash.] officer figures he walked by the area two times with no problems.

But the bomb lay there, inches below the dirt path. It was likely made of plastic and triggered by a pressure switch.

Bombs like this one kill and maim indiscriminately. It didn’t target Berschinski on Aug. 19 because he was an officer or because he was leading a Stryker platoon on foot into a Taliban-controlled area. Nor did other enemy explosives pick out his comrades from the 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. Of the 26 men from the brigade reported killed to date, all but one died in bomb blasts, and many others have been wounded by bombs.

Developers want sewer service for shopping center the size of PTC’s The Avenue; a 50-acre sewage spray field eyed

In mayor’s race, Plunkett raises $13,710 vs. $2,543 for Haddix

Peachtree City mayoral candidate Cyndi Plunkett may have come in a thousand votes short of challenger Don Haddix in the Nov. 3 balloting, but she is beating Haddix by more than 5 to 1 in campaign fund-raising, according to campaign disclosure forms filed with the city.

It was a perfect morning and a perfect setting to remember those in uniform who serve and have served their nation. It was the Veterans Day observance held Nov. 7 at the new Veterans Memorial Park at Falcon Field in Peachtree City.

A large tree that fell near Peachtree City's baseball and soccer complex this morning knocked out power for less than five minutes for more than 5,100 Georgia Power customers this morning.

Planning Commission to discuss Hwy. 74S proposal tonight

A proposal to annex 18 acres into Peachtree City’s southside to enable a sewer connection for a shopping center will be discussed tonight by the Peachtree City Planning Commission.

Peachtree City will continue to deflect any rezoning applications for multifamily housing per an annual moratorium adopted Thursday night.

Residents upset, wanted ‘no’ vote from City Council

Much to the dismay of several vocal audience members, the Peachtree City Council decided Thursday to further explore the possibility of allowing cell towers to be built at city-owned parks and recreation sites.

A resident’s request to change the minimum front yard fence height in Peachtree City from four feet to six feet will go unconsidered for now.

Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine and former Fair Tax State Director, Gene Key, will be in Peachtree City from 1-2:15 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 9 to conduct a Fair Tax Town Hall. They are traveling the state raising awareness about this important issue that impacts every aspect of life, including healthcare. The Town Hall will take place in the Peachtree City Library Committee Room.

Council wants to wait for Court of Appeals to rule in West Village annexation lawsuit

The Peachtree City Council punted a developer’s request to deannex just over an acre of land to help nullify a lawsuit filed challenging a 648-home annexation along the Tyrone border that was approved in May 2007.

Peachtree City police are investigating several reports of thieves stealing purses from automobiles throughout the city today.

If all goes well, Sany Corporation’s assembly facility in Peachtree City will be up and running by November 2010.

The Chinese heavy equipment manufacturer already has its U.S. corporate offices in Peachtree City with 72 employees. Once the assembly plant is online, there will be an additional 150-200 employees added to the mix, according to Sany America’s Jack Tang.