Coweta commissioners to hear UWG campus requests
By SARAH FAY CAMPBELLsarah@newnan.com
Requests related to the University of West Georgia’s plan to relocate its Newnan Center satellite campus at the original Newnan Hospital building on Jackson Street are on the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting of the Coweta County Board of Commissioners.
The meeting begins at 6 p.m. and will be held in the county commission chambers.
However, according to earlier reports, the county is being asked to release West Georgia from the conditions placed on the university when the facility in Shenandoah Industrial Park was transferred to the Georgia Board of Regents in 2009. The property was given to the Board of Regents under the stipulation that the facility only be used for educational purposes.
The county is also likely being asked to participate in the proposed $15 million renovation of the old Newnan Hospital property.
The city of Newnan and the county would be responsible for approximately $5.8 million of the renovation, according to the most recently-released plan.
Representatives from UWG appeared before the commissioners in April to seek support for the proposed move.
The commissioners didn’t make any financial commitment at the time, and expressed concerns about binding future commissioners with long-term debt.
Commission Chairman Rodney Brooks said at the time that he would like to see the university “hit up” the Coweta County Board of Education for a share of the needed funding.
The commissioners also expressed concerns about the need to be fair to both the university and West Georgia Technical College.
WGTC had made several requests for supplemental funding from the commissioners. A $50,000 allocation intended for WGTC was included in the county’s fiscal year 2013 budget.
