Extending Cobb students’ ability to apply to attend a school outside of their designated school zone, the Cobb County School District opened 5,800 transfer seats this year.
The online application deadline for these transfers is Wednesday, February 28. Available space at a school is based on permanent classroom space, which includes seats at each grade level.
Although parents are not required to provide reasons why they want to transfer their child to a different school, they do have to provide their own transportation if their child does transfer.
Students who are already enrolled in the program are not required to reapply every year. They only have to reapply when advancing from elementary school to middle school and middle school to high school. Those students are given priority in the school choice lottery during the reapplication process.
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The day after a mass shooting at a south Florida high school left at least 17 people dead, Cobb County School District superintendent Chris Ragsdale said the district would be re-evaluating safety protocols and continue plans to better prepare staff and students to respond to emergency situations.
At a Cobb Board of Education work session Thursday, Ragsdale updated board members on those efforts, including what he said would be unannounced code red drills to boost preparedness. He said those drills would be “absolutely uncomfortable” for people at the schools that are selected.
Those drills would serve as preparation for the most severe level of emergencies, including active shooter situations.
“Our student and staff safety is our top priority,” Ragsdale said during the lengthy discussion, which was not initially on the board’s agenda. The topic was added after he received e-mails from parents and students in wake of the Florida tragedy, the third-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history.
Yesterday a former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Broward County walked into the building and began shooting with an AR-15 rifle.
The suspect, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, was taken into custody, and at least 14 other people are hospitalized. Some of the dead include teachers and coaches who shielded students from the gunfire.
Ragsdale said all of Cobb’s 112 schools are required to have at least one code red drill per semester. Principals underwent further training in safety protocols in January.
Ragsdale also said all classroom doors in school buildings are marked from the outside for first responders, and current Cobb Ed-SPLOST V funding has been earmarked to continue efforts to improve access control measures at elementary and middle schools.
“The message to our parents, students, staff, and community is that we are not just saying that safety is our top priority, we mean it,” Ragsdale said.
He later acknowledged that “there’s no way to put parents completely at ease.”
During the presentation, which included questions from board members, Ragsdale showed a video detailing an enhanced security alert system called AlertPoint, which is being demonstrated at two schools this year, including Bells Ferry Elementary School.
That system allows teachers and staff to trigger an alert for emergencies, similar to fire alarms.
Ragsdale said high schools pose the most challenging safety issues because they have multiple points of entry. Several Cobb high schools have “buzz in” requirements, already in place in elementary and middle schools but he did not identify those high schools.
After schools have code red drills, the district’s public safety department conducts an evaluation to provide feedback. Another new “suspicious persons” measure would have plain-clothes staffers from the Cobb schools police department enter a school and see how far they can go before being noticed.
Ragsdale said Cobb schools “are doing more” than any other school district in the state to improve safety.
While it’s “impossible” to completely prevent someone from coming in a school with an attack in mind, he said that “what we have to be able to answer is: Do we have in place all the options that we can possibly have to ensure the safety and security of our staff and students?”
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The following East Cobb restaurant scores from Jan. 13-Feb. 13 have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing to view details of the inspection:
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The Cobb County School District said Tuesday that nearly half of the 8,000 teacher contracts sent out last week for the 2018-19 academic year were signed the very first day.
The district sent out out a release today saying that around 4,000 contracts distributed on Friday had been signed that day.
The decision to send out contract offers a little earlier than usual compared to last year was to reward teachers and get a head start on hiring decisions that need to be made.
Last year was the first in which Cobb schools sent out contracts electronically. Deputy superintendent John Adams said the district also saves around $40,000 in time, printing and distribution costs by making offers this way.
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The new Sewell Mill Library would be a 20-minute drive for a resident who lives close to the East Cobb Library that’s proposed for closure. (East Cobb News file photo)
Tuesday morning was the first opportunity for the public to formally comment on proposed Cobb library closings before the county board of commissioners.
Several East Cobb residents appeared during a general comment session at the board’s business meeting, and some indicated they would support a millage rate increase to keep open the East Cobb Library and other branches recommended for closure by the county library system.
Nearly $3 million in proposed cuts—a quarter of the Cobb County Public Library System budget—were made public last week, and they include closing or consolidating eight of the 17 branches.
“Nobody wants their taxes raised,” said East Cobb resident Peggy Williams, but she added that “most people in this fairly affluent county could afford to pay more taxes.”
Donald Kay of the Hampton Woods neighborhood, who supports a millage rate increase, said the East Cobb Library, located just a few minutes away from his home, “is a font of the community. It’s full of people all the time. It’s a real resource to the community.”
He said that if the East Cobb Library closed, traveling to the new Sewell Mill Library several miles away on Lower Roswell Road would be a 20-minute drive.
Matt Little of East Cobb, who took off work to speak Tuesday morning, said he “could not fathom our local library closing.”
His children have grown up spending plenty of time at the East Cobb Library, as well as playing in the East Side Baseball program at Fullers Park. Little said that the summer reading program at the library is vital, as is the branch’s role as a hub in “a very close community.”
Charles McCrary of East Cobb said that he thinks that a millage rate increase alone isn’t going to solve the county’s budget issues, but “libraries mean more than you might think.
“The way the community comes together in a library is badly needed in today’s polarized society, where people can exchange ideas and have an environment [in which] to do it,” he said.
Marietta resident Peggy Poole noted the library system’s new program that enables Cobb public school students to use their student IDs as library cards, making them “a whole new group of library patrons.”
She said that several rounds of Cobb library cuts begun in 2008, starting with the recession, have taken a toll, and asked commissioners “what is the cost?” of more.
“Please don’t close our libraries,” she said.
Commission chairman Mike Boyce said what’s on the table now is only a proposal, but he wanted “to put it out there early,” five months before the fiscal year 2019 budget is adopted.
He said while it will be a “tough budget, we’ll get there because of more public input early in the process.”
East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott has opposed closing the East Cobb Library but has been in favor of consolidating what he calls “underperforming” libraries. On March 5 he will hold a town hall meeting at the new Sewell Mill Library.
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A couple of weeks ago demolition crews began knocking down what had been a Carwash USA location at Roswell Road and Old Canton Road (3103 Roswell Road).
The car wash closed there in December after 14 years, and the owners indicated the business would reopen “nearby” in 2018, although they did not specify a new location.
One of East Cobb’s biggest bottleneck intersections has become competitive ground for a glorified gas station battle.
A nearly 5,000-square-foot RaceTrac is going up at the site, which initially was a gas station, and it’s on a catty-corner from a newly renovated and expanded Quick Trip.
This RaceTrac will include a convenience store, free Wi-Fi, frozen yogurt and a coffee selection.
When we drove by earlier today, construction crews were digging deep into the Olde Mill Shopping Center outparcel. A news report last March indicated that the new RaceTrac will open in the third quarter of this year, but it looks to be sooner than that.
RaceTrac, which is headquartered in Cobb at the Galleria, also has an East Cobb location at 2337 Canton Road.
Gigi’s Cupcakes closes
The Gigi’s Cupcakes location at Merchants Walk (1281 Johnson Ferry Road) closed on Jan. 31, but the announcement didn’t come until today, two days before Valentine’s Day. A message posted on the store’s Facebook page said “we will miss being a part of your lives.”
Gigi’s opened in East Cobb in early 2011. A Kennesaw location, the only other Gigi’s store in Cobb, also closed the same day.
On the move
Palm Beach Tan has relocated from Market Plaza (1275 Johnson Ferry Road, adjacent to Zeal’s) to The Avenue (4475 Roswell Road). It’s located in Suite 1420, between the Barre 3 studio and Springfree Trampoline.
That’s the same location formerly occupied by Solar Dimensions, which was purchased by Palm Beach Tan in January.
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Cobb Commissioner Bob Ott announced over the weekend he’s holding a town hall meeting March 5 at the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center (2051 Lower Roswell Road).
The meeting lasts from 7-8:30 p.m.
While the format is general in nature—he typically briefs constituents on county issues, and then fields questions from the audience—the upcoming budget process figures to be a major topic.
In particular, proposed library cuts are likely to be a high-interest subject. Ott’s last town hall meeting in August, at the East Cobb Library, came just as his fellow East Cobb commissioner, JoAnn Birrell, proposed shuttering that branch.
The East Cobb Library is on the list of proposed closures for the coming fiscal year 2019 budget, which is slated for adoption in July.
Commission chairman Mike Boyce has said he wants to hold town hall meetings related to the budget in the spring, but hasn’t announced any dates.
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In the wake of steep budget cut proposals, Cobb library branches have set up tables for patrons to have their say, and contact their county commissioners. (East Cobb News photo by Wendy Parker)
I went to the East Cobb Library Saturday, and it was PACKED! With people of all ages, and from all walks of life. Yes, the weather was dreary, and yes, the few weekend hours it’s open certainly had a lot to do with the turnout.
We all know this, given how the East Cobb branch is the second-busiest in the Cobb County Public Library System. I read a few newspapers and magazines, browsed the bookshelves and did some research for this piece.
At times I wondered if all this might go away in a few months, this corner of the Parkaire Landing Shopping Center, given how the East Cobb Library is on a list of proposed closures.
I was afraid of getting too sentimental, since I grew up in East Cobb (and have written previously about my neighborhood branch, the late, great East Marietta Library).
I’ll admit I’m a bleeding heart for libraries, and this week some really bad emotions came flooding back when I saw not just the East Cobb branch on the hit list (as was suggested last year by commissioner JoAnn Birrell), and several others. Nearly half of all the county branches. A quarter of the operating budget may be slashed, and nearly half of the current operating hours.
For the second time in seven years, local elected officials are playing Cobb library politics, and this time I fear the results could be worse. In 2011, then-commission chairman Tim Lee threatened to shut down 13 of the 17 branches.
The county was in the midst of a budget crisis due to the recession, and his ploy worked. No branches were closed, but hours were cut back. Library patrons kicked up a fuss, and property taxes were raised.
As a citizen, I took a dim view of Lee’s tactics. Those of us who ardently support libraries were played, like a cheap fiddle, even though none of our branches were closed. We felt we had won a battle, but looking back, there was a larger war over our emotions that we may have conceded, and possibly for good.
As a ballyard sage famously put it, it’s déjà vu all over again. Lee’s successor, Mike Boyce, has learned very quickly in his first year in office that nobody wants their property taxes raised. He couldn’t get a 0.13-mills rate increase last year to fully fund the 2008 parks bond referendum that was part of his campaign.
For the last month or so, he’s been toting budget boards to speaking events around the county, with pie charts and lists and all kinds of dollar signs, illustrating a projected fiscal year 2019 deficit of at least $30 million.
Cobb commission chairman Mike Boyce at an East Cobb Business Association luncheon in January.
It’s likely to be much higher, and he’s trying to get ahead of the process by repeating this message months ahead of time, preparing Cobb citizens for the worst, what he’s called “the painful truth.” Others think he’s pandering to their emotions to get a tax increase.
At a town hall meeting last month at the East Cobb Senior Center, he told seniors angry about fee increases and the imposition of a membership fee that “we’re all in this together.” Some of them groaned, but he understood the power they wield.
“You all vote,” he said. On the other hand, library patrons “may not all be voters, but if you close their libraries, they will become voters.”
There were some chuckles around the room. This was just a few weeks after the commissioners held their budget retreat, and instructed department heads to look for steep budget cuts.
This week, the library list was the first to be revealed, and nobody is laughing. These proposed cuts have stirred the emotions of library advocates, right on cue. Tuesday’s commissioners meeting will include a public comment session that figures to be the first of many occasions in which they will get an earful from citizens about libraries.
This round of Cobb library politics is complicated by two other major factors that weren’t there in 2011: the Atlanta Braves stadium, and a property tax rollback two years ago.
Boyce and East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott have been making a point recently that the $8.6 million Cobb pays annually for the bond issue to build SunTrust Park may pay off for itself this year.
However, that vote—made in haste in late 2013 following a sham of a process that lacked transparency and accountability—reflects what many, myself included, still believe to be misplaced priorities.
Ott and Birrell, East Cobb’s other commissioner, voted for the millage rollback in 2016 at the behest of Lee, right before Boyce trounced him in a runoff. Those decisions cannot be undone, but they certainly have contributed to Cobb’s financial state today.
The Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center opened in December, two months before drastic budget cuts were proposed by the library system.
We starve libraries in Cobb, and have for years. It’s ridiculous that I can’t go to my new neighborhood branch, the fantastic Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center, before 1 p.m. on a Saturday.
Never on a Sunday is any Cobb library branch open, except the main Switzer branch, but that’s only during the school year.
Braves stadium funding, by the way, is on the “must” list. That item, with a 30-year contract, moved to the head of the line of priorities. Libraries, must settle, as usual, for scraps, if there are any at all to have.
The public library system has a short history in Cobb. Until 1957, libraries were operated only in cities, by municipal governments in Marietta, Powder Springs and Austell. Then the Cobb-Marietta system was born, prodded by Dennis Kemp, a former library board chairman from West Cobb concerned that there were no library services for citizens in unincorporated Cobb.
The county would soon rapidly transform from farmland to suburbia. The first countywide library bond issue was in 1965, and the library system became part of Cobb County government in the 1970s.
I discovered this information in a book about the history of Cobb County by Thomas Allan Scott, a historian at Kennesaw State University. It was published in 2003 by the Cobb Landmarks and Historical Society, and it’s available in every Cobb library branch.
I may not have known this without spending a lot of time in library branches here in East Cobb. Sure, you can buy that book on Amazon, and do a lot of things online, and on your phone, that libraries still haven’t quite grasped. A book I checked out Saturday at the East Cobb Library, “BiblioTech,” argues eloquently that libraries are as vital today as ever, but they need to get their digital act together.
It’s hard to do that if you don’t have the resources, and political support when it matters the most. Sadly, libraries pop up on the Cobb political radar only when they’re threatened.
On the list of proposed library closures revealed this week is the Kemp Memorial Library, named after Dennis Kemp. Another is the Sibley library on South Cobb Drive, named after Frances Weldon Sibley, the first licensed librarian in Cobb County, who started her 30-year-plus tenure in that role in the 1930s.
They were visionaries, well ahead of their time, who believed in the common good of libraries long before they became the third-rail political issue of today.
Whatever you think about tax increases, and the SPLOST process, it’s a shame their names could vanish into history, as well as the East Cobb Library, because elected officials might end up doing more this year than simply playing to your emotions. And mine.
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Sally Peter, Warren Ballew, Pam Egan, Jan Barton, Jill Tempest, Doreen Davey, Karen Yanosky, Camille McClellan, Lenny Deutsch, Linda Shilling, Trilby Wood, Tom Cheek, Tim Perkins, Christine Surdyka; Kathleen Atkins, Reginald Davis, Kathleen Mayfield, Barry Abernathy, Jacqueline Hurley, Ann Lane.
Katherine Carlson, Susan Kovach, Paul Amoruso, Sara Wells, Bett Gibson, L. Thomas, Riny Schartman, Emma Dix, Marilyn Norvill, Betty Feehan, Richard Dry, Andrea Pauquette, Jeri Crouse, Bonnie Lantz, Lilia Sadoux, Dave Cunningham, Kes Stadler, Jean Callaghan, Gloria Smith, Jane Kendall.
Cathy Schweers, Jenny Lee, Diane Brim, Leslie Kahrs, Samantha Anderson, Michelle Stone, Joanne Mazor, Candice Jansen, Melissa Gordon, Melissa Rose, Janice Reardon, Phyllis Preston, Ellen Repasky, Wanessa Moore, Louise Clemenger, A.J. Warren, Michael Blackwell, Michael Hake, Tom Stanley, Jane Corby.
Lynn Rutledge, Sharon Godin, Shirley Weaver, Amy Chrz, Christopher Bradley, Susan Edwards, John McFarland, Art Cohen, Eugene Kimball, Pamela Adley, Linda Coleman, Dewey A. Staggs, Ronnie Brake, Carolyn Grubaugh, Johnie Hunsucker, Andrea Zare, Jan Sherwood, Lisa Scheidt, Ellen Crolley.
The rain that began Friday night is not expected to let up for most of the weekend, and as a result Cobb County and much of metro Atlanta are under a flood watch.
The watch began at 7 a.m. today and continues through 7 p.m. Sunday, with Cobb possibly getting between 2-4 inches of rain.
The usual areas in East Cobb that are prone to flooding—along the Chattahoochee River and Sope Creek, as well as the Noonday Creek area—are susceptible to this weather pattern, which includes the possibility of thunderstorms.
The National Weather Service issued the watch for most of north and central Georgia, from a line north of Columbus to Griffin to Athens.
In addition to the rain, dense and heavy fog is expected to linger in the watch area throughout this afternoon, and visibility could be reduced between a quarter to a half-mile.
The chance of rain in East Cobb is 50 percent today and 80 percent tonight, with rain and patchy fog returning overnight. Highs are expected in the low 60s, with lows in the same range.
On Sunday, the chance of rain is 90 percent, with fog returning during the day and temperatures reaching the high 60s. The lows Sunday are expected to be in the high 50s as a high chance of rain continues.
The chance of rain continues into the start of the week, but a rainy and overcast week is expected as warm temperatures continue.
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It’s supposed to be a bit soggy, but not enough to dampen a spirited weekend of events in East Cobb:
Tonight and Saturday are the final showings of “The Savannah Disputation” at The Art Place-Mountain View (3330 Sandy Plains Road), presented by CenterStage North and the Mountain View Arts Alliance. It’s a Southern theological comedy (there is such a thing!) involving two elderly sisters and a door-to-door evangelist caught up in a crisis of faith. Tickets are $16 and the curtains lift at 8 p.m. both nights;
Also tonight, at the nearby Mountain View Regional Library (3320 Sandy Plains Road) historical novelists Lauren Willig and Deanna Raybourn will be discussing their books from 6:30-8 p.m. The event is free, and copies of their books will be sold and available for signing;
The 38th annual Walton Raider Chase 5K gets underway at 8 a.m. Saturday at Raider Valley (1590 Bill Murdock Road). The event is a fundraiser for the Walton track and cross country teams. A 1-mile fun run starts at 9:30 a.m., and walk-up registration is available for both races;
From 10-5 on Saturday, the Lassiter High School Band is holding a mattress sale fundraiserfor its 2019 trip to the Tournament of Roses Parade in the band room (2601 Shallowford Road). Name-brand items will be sold at a discount, and you can arrange for delivery;
The enticing aromas of Essential Oils will discussed and diffused during a special presentation from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday at the East Cobb Library (4880 Lower Roswell Road). The guide is Heather Seeley of Young Living, who will demonstrate the health and cosmetic benefits of such substances. Registration is required by calling 770-509-2730;
Also on Saturday, a Local Lens film screening will take place from 4-5:30 p.m. at the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center (2051 Lower Roswell Road). Local filmmaker Bill Pacer will show “Meatfactory,” a music video, and take questions after.
Did we miss anything? Do you have a calendar listing to share with the East Cobb community? Let us know! E-mail calendar@eastcobbnews.com with your information. Check out more things to do, this weekend and beyond in East Cobb’s most comprehensive events guide! Have a great weekend!
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When we passed by the old Mabry Farm homestead building on a nice Sunday afternoon drive, the photo we snapped would turn out to be one of the last to be taken of the historic farmhouse.
On Monday, an East Cobb News reader noted that the structure has been demolished. We swung by there again this afternoon and saw that construction indeed has begun on an 18-home subdivision that was approved for rezoning last year.
The homestead building, which was once part of the Mabry Farm spread (history here), was built in 1915. It’s located on Wesley Chapel Road, just south of Sandy Plains Road, and right across from what will be Mabry Park.
The construction work for that park, also on former farmland owned by the Mabry family, is just getting underway after Cobb commissioners finally approved funding in November.
CSP Development, LLC is putting up 3,000-square-foot homes, or about two per acre, on the nine acres of gentle rolling hillside.
Mabry Farm was established in 1904 and ultimately spanned 220 acres. In a blog post from 2016, local nature artist Ed Cahill—whom we met last summer at the first East Cobb Garden Tour at MacFarlane Nature Park—wrote about his impressions of the Mabry Farm, and his paintings of the surroundings.
In addition to the horses, he noted the flowering trees that dotted the landscape, as well as a tomato barn and other structures that served the many uses of the farm.
Because of the historic nature of the building, the developer was required in a stipulation as part of the rezoning to pay a mitigation fee for historic preservation efforts in Cobb County. Acceptance of that $7,500 payment from CSP Development is on the Cobb Board of Commissioners agenda Tuesday.
Just beyond the construction sites on either side of Wesley Chapel Road are homes and subdivisions similar to what’s going up now, on a vanishing slice of East Cobb’s not-so-distant past.
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What East Cobb Library advocates have feared for months has come to pass: Their branch, the second busiest in the Cobb County Public Library System, has been formally recommended for closure due to Cobb County government budget cuts.
Several months after Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell suggested closing the East Cobb Library, the branch is included on a proposed list of eight library closings or consolidations from the library system to the commissioners.
The Cobb library system has set up an “I Love My Library” page on its website with information about the draft budget proposal, submitted by library director Helen Poyer.
The other library branches that would be closed under the proposal include Kemp Memorial in West Cobb, Lewis A. Ray and Windy Hill in Smyrna, Sweetwater Valley in Austell and Sibley in Marietta. In addition, the Acworth and Kennesaw branches would be consolidated.
The proposed budget cuts also include the elimination of all part-time staff positions, and hours would be cut nearly in half, from the current 780 hours a week throughout the system to 424.
The proposed library cuts would total nearly $3 million, or about 25 percent of the system’s current fiscal year operating budget of $12 million.
Cobb County officials say they’re facing a fiscal year 2019 deficit of at least $30 million, and have been directing department heads to recommend cuts in services to balance the budget.
“We need to really fight, now that we’ve seen it in black and white,” said Rachel Slomovitz, who calls the East Cobb Library her “second home” and who has been a vocal library proponent.
The East Cobb Library got a reprieve for fiscal year 2018, but that came just as the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center was set to open on Lower Roswell Road. Commissioners temporarily delayed full funding of that expanded branch—formerly the East Marietta Library—until after the start of the fiscal year 2018 in October.
In December, Slomovitz started an online petition, seeking the support of 1,000 people for raising the millage rate to avoid library budget cuts. Thus far, that petition has more than 750 signatures.
In her petition, Slomovitz estimated that what she called a “minor” millage increase would result in a $25 a year increase in property taxes to fund libraries. Last week, she started a closed Facebook group called “Save Cobb Libraries” to provide information and urge other citizens to contact their elected officials.
The East Cobb Library costs around $770,000 in staffing and for other operations every year, but that doesn’t include an additional $263,000 in annual rental expenses.
The branch opened at the Parkaire Landing Shopping Center in 2010, after operating as the Merchants Walk Library. The cost of moving and relocating the branch was borne by the developers of Merchants Walk when that retail center was redeveloped.
“I always feared that East Cobb would be on the list” because the branch is leased, Slomovitz said, but she added that the situation is an opportunity for citizens to reinforce to commissioners what’s important to them.
She said she noticed that during recent town hall meetings on senior center fees that funding for the Atlanta Braves’ SunTrust Park was included on a “required” list, while libraries are on a “desired” list, along with senior services and parks and recreation.
“Why can’t the libraries be regarded as just as worthy?” Slomovitz said.
In early 2011, then-chairman Tim Lee proposed closing 13 of the 17 branches as the county faced deep budget cuts due to the recession.
It was a ploy to get commissioners to come to the cutting table and it worked, but also generated heated opposition from library patrons who packed the commissioners meeting chambers.
No branches were closed, but library hours were cut from 1,089.5 hours a week to the current 780 hours, and some programs and services were also reduced.
The new proposed closures come less than a month after county officials, including all five commissioners, participated in ribbon-cutting ceremonies at the new Sewell Mill branch, which has been declared “the library of the future.”
Current Cobb commission chairman Mike Boyce has wanted to get an early start on the FY 19 budget, which doesn’t go into effect until October. Budget adoption is in July.
But just as he heard from Cobb seniors about rising costs and a membership fee to use county senior centers, Boyce and commissioners are bracing for an earful from library supporters.
In addition to the Sewell Mill Library, the East Cobb area is served by the Mountain View Regional Library on Sandy Plains Road and Gritters Library, located near Canton Road and Piedmont Road.
The “I Love My Library” page reminds readers that the proposals are not final, and that there will be public comment periods at commission meetings to offer citizens a chance to have their say about the libraries, and the budget. The page also includes scheduled meeting dates over the next few months.
“We’ve saved the libraries before,” said Slomovitz, who admits she’s “scared” by the prospect of the East Cobb Library closing its doors for good. “If we did it once, we can do it again.”
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The thunderstorms that have moved through western Georgia this morning were spreading into metro Atlanta, and Cobb County is included in a hazardous weather outlook that will be in effect for most of today.
At 10:30 a.m. the National Weather Service office in Peachtree City issued the outlook, which includes most of metro Atlanta and a good portion of north and central Georgia.
The outlook includes information about potential severe weather, including thunderstorms and the possibility of tornadoes.
Tornado watches and warnings have been in effect in various areas of Georgia this morning. High winds and storms have been reported in Bremen, as that weather system headed east toward metro Atlanta.
The NWS said that in the outlook area, an isolated severe storm is possible, as are high winds and isolated tornadoes.
Between an inch and two inches of rain also is expected to fall, causing the possibility of flooding in some areas.
Thursday and Friday will see sunshine, but a rainy weekend is in the forecast.
This week is Weather Preparedness Month in Georgia. A scheduled statewide tornado drill scheduled for close to noon today has been postponed to Friday because of the current weather conditions.
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Over the objections of nearby residents, the Cobb Planning Commission Tuesday recommended approval of a climate-controlled self-storage facility at the former Mountain View Elementary School site (previous East Cobb Newspost here).
The vote was 4-1, with planning commissioner Thea Powell opposed.
The 105,340-square foot building has been added to a mixed-use development approved in October that would call for “high-end” restaurants, shops and other retail uses.
Residents living in the Cutters Gap neighborhood accused the developer, Brooks Chadwick Capital, of a “bait and switch” in proposing a three-story building at the southwest corner of the 14-acre parcel at 3448 Sandy Plains Road.
Others said they feared the building, which one called “a monster,” would tower over their neighborhood, and suggested a two-story limit.
Kevin Moore, an attorney for Brooks Chadwick, said among the stipulations included with the request would be a 45-foot height limit on the self-storage building, which would include 13 parking spaces.
“It’s the quietest possible use there could be in this location,” Moore said.
The planning commission recommended denial of another East Cobb rezoning request to convert empty office space into a mixed-use development at Johnson Ferry Road and Lassiter Road.
Dr. Robert Licata, a pediatrician who’s long had a practice at 3000 Johnson Ferry Road, wants to move his office to 2863 Johnson Ferry Road and get an acre currently zoned for low-rise office (LRO) to neighborhood retail commercial (NRC).
The request included the possible use for a restaurant and gym as well as other shops. Two empty buildings have sat vacant at that property, but residents in the nearby Lassiter Walk neighborhood are opposed (agenda item information here).
Planning commission chairman Mike Terry said “there are issues that are problematic,” including 37 parking spaces (the county zoning staff is recommending at least 52) and the lack of loading access behind the buildings.
Licata later deleted the restaurant from the rezoning request, but the planning board voted 5-0 to recommend denial.
The Cobb Board of Commissioners will decide on both cases on Feb. 20.
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The Cobb Planning Commission is recommending a height reduction of apartments at the MarketPlace Terrell Mill development (in back, center) to three stories.
The Cobb Planning Commission is recommending approval of a Powers Ferry-Terrell Mill Road development that’s been held up for months, but made some changes Tuesday before sending it along for formal action later this month.
By a 4-1 vote the planning board approved rezoning a 23.9-acre tract at the northwest corner of Powers Ferry and Terrell Mill to community retail commercial (CRC) and multifamily residential (RM-16).
It’s slated to become what its developer, Eden Rock Real Estate Partners, is calling the MarketPlace at Terrell Mill, anchored by a Kroger superstore, and to include restaurants, retail shops, and an apartment building and a self-storage facility.
Eden Rock was requesting a Planned Village Community (PVC) designation after the commission held the application in December. Eden Rock initially sought CRC and urban condominium (UC), but sought a new category that would reduce proposed variances from 21 to 10 and made other changes.
Those changes weren’t enough to sway some planning commissioners and residents of the Salem Ridge condominiums, which are adjacent to the proposed apartments and self-storage building.
After a lengthy discussion, the planning commission included a set of stipulations in its recommendation that would reduce the height of the apartment building to three stories from four, and a maximum of around 220 units in all. The latest site plan had cut that number from 350 to 298.
“I don’t think this is too intense at all,” said planning commission Mike Terry, who represents District 2, which includes the Powers Ferry-Terrell Mill area.
His motion to approve PVC rezoning was voted down before planning commissioner Judy Williams moved to delete that category and replace it with CRC and RM-16.
As he has stated often during the long-delayed application process, Terry said that the Eden Rock proposal—an assemblage of property that includes the current site of Brumby Elementary School—is a key to reviving the Powers Ferry area, especially with the nearby relocation of the Atlanta Braves having provided a spark.
“This is vital to revitalize this whole corridor,” he said. “If this collapses, we’ll have a hodgepodge [of potential future development] . . . and would have the same thing we’ve got now.
“I want this community to be revitalized, and this is the first bite of the apple we’ve had.”
The development has been supported by the Powers Ferry Corridor Alliance, a civic group. But Salem Ridge residents echoed their concerns about density, traffic and potential noise from the complex, including an outdoor swimming pool planned for the roof of a parking deck next to the apartment building.
They also objected to the PVC request, which mandates a 50-acre minimum.
“This request just doesn’t fit,” said Salem Ridge resident Amy Patricio. “It’s too dense, and it doesn’t fit the code or the master plan.”
Planning commissioner Thea Powell, the lone dissenting vote, agreed, even after previously saying that “this not a PVC case.”
The Eden Rock proposal has been more than three years in the making. Partner Brandon Ashkouri said the site plan that was heard Tuesday was the 61st version of the project.
The Cobb Board of Commissioners will make the final decision on the application on Feb. 20.
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The Lassiter High School band at the 2017 Cherry Blossom Parade in Washington, D.C. (submitted photo)
On Saturday, the Lassiter Band wants to sell you a mattress to help raise money for its participation in the 2019 Tournament of Roses Parade (previous East Cobb Newspost here).
The mattress sale takes place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the band room at Lassiter (2601 Shallowford Road). They’ll be selling name-brand mattresses at a discount and will deliver. For details text the word “Lassiter” to 678-999-7278.
This will be the 130th Tournament of Roses parade and the fifth appearance for the Lassiter Band, which is sending 250 students, educators and others to Pasadena, Calif. for the New Year’s Day event.
Here’s more about related fundraising efforts for the trip, sent to us by Lassiter Band mom Sharon Renaud, who also submitted the photo above:
The Lassiter Band also is selling raffle tickets for chances to win a 2018 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sport 4×4. The drawing will be held Nov. 17. More information is available by emailing JeepRaffle@lbba.org. As a 501(c)(3) organization, the band also accepts tax-deductible donations which may be mailed to LBBA, P.O. Box 670253, Marietta, GA 30066.
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We noted this a few weeks back, but it’s now open: Okko Ramen Asian Kitchen, in the same building as the New Lucky China restaurant in the Sandy Plains-Shallowford Road area.
To be specific, the address is 3045 Gordy Parkway, Suite 108. Okko opened its doors in mid-January, and the menu features several Ramen entrees and other Japanese specialties, starters and sides.
Okko is open seven days a week; phone is 770-988-5000.
Challise & Co. honored
Challise & Company, a hair-skin-body salon located at 3534 Canton Road, has been recognized by Salon Today 200, a leading business for salon owners.
The Salon Today 200 list includes businesses nominated by the publication’s readers, and who meet various criteria for best business practices.
Challise & Company is owned by Challise Copeland, who took over the former Studio 5 Salon in 2003, and Carrie Cox. They’re active in the Northeast Cobb Business Association and the Cobb Women’s Business Association as well as Small Business Saturday (previous East Cobb Newspost here).
Other openings in East Cobb
The following East Cobb businesses have been granted licenses over the last couple of weeks:
Body Face Image Solutions, 1475 Terrell Mill Road, Suite 108 (esthetician);
Brazilian Bakery Cafe, 1260 Powers Ferry Road, Suite 115 (bakery);
Novo Psychotherapy, 1225 Johnson Ferry Road, Suite 170 (counseling);
Nubesec, 2704 Stillwater Lake Lane (computer consultant);
Salata, 4101 Roswell Road, Suite 1100 (restaurant);
Sherry Goins, 2145 Roswell Road, Suite 200 (beautician);
Styles by Isaac, 4101 Roswell Road (beauty salon);
Superior Dental of East Cobb, 2745 Sandy Plains Road, Suite 118 (dentist);
Ushak Rug Gallery, 1762 Shady Hill Road (carpet sales);
Wood Family Chiropractic, 3417 Canton Road (chiropractor).
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For the first time in school history, the Pope girls swimming team has won a state championship.
The Greyhounds edged Johns Creek, 349 points to 338 points, to win the Georgia High School Association Class 6A title at Georgia Tech on Saturday.
Pope swimmer Sarah Sorensen won individual state crowns in the 100-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke, and her teammate Mady Bragg won the girls 200-yard freestyle.
Sorensen, Bragg, Julia Keith and Anna Prestel took the 6A championship in the 400-yard freestyle relay event.
The Walton girls were attempting a second consecutive state championship in Class 7A, but placed third with 282 points, behind Brookwood and Lambert. The Lassiter girls were sixth, with 213 points.
The Raiders’ 200-yard freestyle relay team of Jasmin Hoffman, Abby Belinski, Jami Williams and Melissa Cox won the 7A state title. Hoffman and Cox finished 1-2 in the 50-yard freestyle finals and they were 2-3, respectively, in the 100-yard freestyle.
Williams was second in the 100-yard backstroke, and Walton diver Mackenna Buchanan won the 1-meter springboard event.
In the boys competition, Lassiter finished second in the Class 7A team results with 304.5 points, which Brookwood won easily with 404 points. The Pope boys were fourth in Class 6A with 283 points.
Sprayberry’s Ananda Lin won the state championship in the Class 6A 100-yard freestyle event with a time of 44.66. He also was second in the 200-yard finals. Other top finishers from East Cobb schools in their respective classifications:
Boys 200-yard medley relay: Pope, 2nd (Mitchell Hunt, Langston Weddington, Ben Prestel, Gabe Lacasella);
Boys 1-meter diving: Casey Harrison, Pope, 2nd;
Boys 200-yard freestyle: Parker Ciaramella, Lassiter, 3rd;
Boys 50-yard freestyle: Jordan Dunn, Lassiter, 3rd;
Girls 100-yard butterfly: Sophie Taylor, Lassiter, 2nd;
Boys 100-yard freestyle: Brendan Hausdorf, Lassiter, 2nd;
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
