25 SEP 07: TAJ MAHAL II?

The Muscogee County School Board voted late Monday to pay for a new "Educational Services Center." It will cost about $20 million, and be built next to the $49 million central library. The only thing they'll lack is an enclosed skyway with a moving sidewalk, to connect them.

A draft drawing of the Educational Services Center was shown to the Muscogee County School Board back in June. At the time, the school district had $13 million reserved in the budget for the building. Let's all be thankful that money wasn't invested in residential mortgage bonds.

The school board needs somewhere between four and seven million dollars to fully fund the new central office building. That money will come from something in Atlanta called Merchant Capital. I've never heard of this -- but Atlanta has plenty of merchants with capital, at Lenox Square and Phipps Plaza.

(It's not clear to me how Merchant Capital will make up the funding gap for this project. I can't imagine they'll get far by selling autographed lithographs of the schematic drawing.)

When it came time to vote on the new central office building, the Muscogee County School Board split 5-4 in favor. Board President James Walker said the district's staff deserves to work in a high-quality building. That's a nice change - considering a former Columbus High School basketball coach claimed her office was in a closet.

School Board member Cathy Vaughan Williams opposed the Educational Services Center, telling WXTX "News at Ten" it "circumvents the will of the people." So? I don't recall large numbers of people demanding a natatorium in that neighborhood, but one's being planned there.

Cathy Vaughan Williams says the school board should seek public comments about the planned central office building. After all, most people may decide they want Sears to reopen its store on that site....

School Board member Joseph Roberson also voted against the Educational Services Center. He wishes the board would look for ways to save money on the project. Someone's been e-mailing suggestions our way about that in recent months - such as putting the administrative staff in portable buildings.

If that's not enough, the Muscogee County School Board also decided Monday to begin planning for another sales tax vote. The board apparently has decided Nathan Suber is out of the public eye for good....

The school district plans to hold a series of public forums, to get ideas on what projects to include in a special purpose local option sales tax question. If some printing company wants to make fast money, it will start making "greenspace" bumper stickers today.

So what else happened on a rather muggy Monday? Let's take a look around....

+ Gasoline prices jumped 20 cents a gallon in parts of Columbus, hitting $2.84 around the Civic Center. Has someone bothered telling the oil companies that thanks to global warming, they might not need to adjust the refineries for heating oil anymore?

+ WRBL reported Phenix City will look for a new business park location, because the Phenix Industrial Park sits on poor-quality dirt. Huh?! I thought city officials only used that kind of language to describe some of the nearby residents.

(Phenix City Council member John Storey said the Phenix Industrial Park has never realized its potential, anyway. It's gained 12 businesses in 16 years - and that new poultry plant may have the city smelling trouble, even before it opens.)

+ Porter Paints employee Mark Chappell wore women's clothing for a day, because he lost a bet on the Georgia-Alabama football game. But he should look on the positive side. Chappell might be able to work weekends at that new Club Plush near Peachtree Mall.

+ Auburn punter Patrick Tatum was named the Southeastern Conference special teams player of the week. When your punter is considered the star of a 55-20 win, this is NOT a compliment to the offense.

+ Atlanta Falcons coach Bobby Petrino promised D'Angelo Hall will face "significant discipline," for the penalties he picked up in Sunday's loss to Carolina. One more outburst like that, and Hall will have to clean up all of Michael Vick's homes.

+ Instant Message to Lakewood Baptist Church in Phenix City: I'm glad you have that new outreach ministry called C.A.R.E. But when I call the number on the screen after the WLTZ telecast and only hear an answering machine - well, is this "outreach" stuff only one-way?

COMING WEDNESDAY: Where I'm driving for a getaway.... while I can still do it for free....

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