Over the protests of Snellville's political leadership, City Council members have approved the $103,000 purchase of a mobile stage they believe will save money and bring more shows to the south Gwinnett town.
The council's support of the acquisition -- by a 4-2 vote last week -- ended a months-long fight over the city's use of sales tax funds for improvements to Town Green Park. Snellville placed an order Tuesday for a 14-by-28-foot "Showmaster" stage with Indiana-based Century Industries.
Supporters argue Snellville needs a stage for local events and that initial expenditure could be recouped through rentals. Opponents say the funds should have gone toward something that would benefit more residents, like a small park.
"I don’t see that that [stage] will keep its value year after year," said Mayor Pro Tem Mike Sabbagh, who voted against the stage along with Mayor Kelly Kautz, "but I could take that $103,000 and build a park that will remain with the city for 100 years."
Money for the stage will come from a special purpose local option sales tax (SPLOST). Snellville initially allocated the $108,000 fund for a more permanent stage structure in Town Green Park, which is adjacent to City Hall on Oak Road.
But a group of council members, led by Tom Witts, pushed to change the plan to a mobile stage. Witts claimed that Snellville spends about $13,000 to $14,000 a year in rental stages for special events, and that buying one of its own could cut costs significantly.
Witts predicts the stage will pay for itself in five years and then turn a profit through rentals to nonprofits and nearby municipalities.
"It's just a good deal," Witts said. "And this is going to give us the opportunity to do more things" at the park.
City Manager Russell Treadway pegs the annual cost of stage rentals significantly lower, roughly a total of $2,000 for about five events.
Opponents of the plan, which include former two-term Mayor Jerry Oberholtzer, called the stage a waste of taxpayers' money because Snellville hosts only a handful of outdoor events a year and rental fees wouldn't be enough to make up for the cost.
Oberholtzer and Kautz -- who are rarely on the same side of an issue -- also have vigorously argued the money should’ve gone toward the purchase of land that could be used as a city park.
"There's no economic justification for it," Oberholtzer said.
The debate has agitated old divisions on a new council, with Kautz and Sabbagh siding against familiar foil Witts and first-time council members Dave Emanuel, Bobby Howard and Diane Krause.
A proposal for the stage first came before the council in September, but a vote was delayed until new members could take their seat following November elections. The vote was delayed again at the council's first meeting Nov. 14 when Kautz rushed through the agenda over the objections of Witts.
"As things in Snellville tend to do," Treadway said, "issues tend to become more political and politicized than they need to."
Witts raised the issue again at the Dec. 12 meeting and successfully pushed for a vote, even as Kautz voiced her objection.
"We're not going to make our money back," Kautz said. "I don't think it's a wise investment."
Michelle McRae, sales manager at Century Industries, said the stage could last at least 15 years and as many as 25 years, depending on the maintenance and amount of use. But McRae, who said the company has sold stages to about 60 municipalities, including Canton, said she hadn't heard of many cities renting out their stages to other cities.
"Lots of cities have their own events around the same time, so [the stage] is already booked," she said. "They don't have time to rent their stage to anybody else."
The Snellville Tourism and Trade Association (STAT), a nonprofit group that receives much of its funding through the city's motel and hotel tax, figures to benefit the most from a new stage. STAT puts on several city events annually, and Executive Director Joe Burnett said the group rented mobile stages about four times for a cost of at least $2,000 in 2011.
"If something is made available at a more favorable rate, then maybe that would open up some other possibilities," Burnett said. It wasn't immediately clear if STAT would have to pay to rent the stage from the city.
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