A project to improve street drainage around the Georgia International Horse Park parking area, set to begin next week, was approved by Conyers City Council tonight.

The $39,330 project will stop some erosion issues that cause ditches and water retention ponds along Centennial Olympic Parkway to fill with silt, Conyers Public Works Director Brad Sutton told the News. Peach State Construction Co., the lowest of three bidders, should finish the work by June, he said.

In other council business:

-Conyers' waste management got national attention last month in "American City & County," a magazine for government officials, the council learned. An article written by city Public Relations Director Jennifer Edwards described the city's sanitation service privatization deal with local Pratt Industries, and was featured as an example of environmental projects around the country. Edwards submitted the article for a contest that the city did not win, but the magazine chose to publish it as a good example to its readers.

-The council approved a technical change in the financial agreement that provides the city with a line of credit to buy major equipment, such as police cars. Conyers gets the credit line from J.P. Morgan via a Georgia Municipal Association pool program. J.P. Morgan's credit rating recently dropped. Under recent federal financial industry laws, GMA cities, including Conyers, must enter into a "credit support annex," a legal agreement that requires J.P. Morgan to provide more loan collateral.

"Basically, it's to protect the city" in case J.P. Morgan were to fail, city Chief Financial Officer Isabel Rogers said.

-The council approved a beer and wine retail sales license for Texaco Food Mart, 1801 Highway 138 NE (application Abjum Merdia/Salman Associates, LLC), as the business is changing from a Citgo station. The council also approved a beer, wine and liquor consumption on premises license for Proof of the Pudding, the food vendor at the Horse Park, 1996 Centennial Olympic Parkway (applicant Adam Haden Noyes), in what essentially is a name change on the existing license.

-Julius Epps, owner of Headquarters Barbershop on West Ave., questioned the council about why he recently was cited for having lighting in his shop's window. He it said important for safety and promotion. Mayor Randy Mills explained it's a zoning ordinance violation and put him in touch with city planning and development officials.