Month: June 2018

Portion of Tritt property next to East Cobb Park set to be acquired by county

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Tritt property
Wylene Tritt has lived on former family farmland along Roswell Road since 1950. (East Cobb News photo by Wendy Parker)

More than half of the 53-acre Tritt property that adjoins East Cobb Park on Roswell Road is set to be purchased by Cobb County and preserved as green space.

UPDATED: Commissioners approve purchase of Tritt property

Cobb commissioners are scheduled to vote on Tuesday on a proposal to acquire 29.7 acres of land owned by Wylene Tritt for a cost of $8.3 million. The funding would come from the 2008 Cobb Parks Bond referendum, inlcuding last year’s $24.7 million in supplemental bond funds.

The proposed contract states that the purchase is for 22 of the acres; Tritt is donating the rest to the county as part of the deal. The Friends for the East Cobb Park, a non-profit citizens group, is donating $102,000 for the land acquisition, according to documents included in Tuesday’s meeting agenda.

Here’s the agenda item summary, and here’s a copy of the proposed property sale agreement.

The land that would be acquired by the county (noted in green in map provided below by Cobb County) would be adjacent to East Cobb Park and at the back of the Tritt property line.

According to information released late Thursday afternoon by Cobb government, the Friends for the East Cobb Park will begin a fundraising drive to purchase the rest of the Tritt property (noted in white, including the Tritt residence) and for future enhancements to the park.

“The chance to purchase some of the Tritt Property is an exciting opportunity and it would preserve a pristine part of Cobb County that could be enjoyed for generations to come,” District 2 Cobb commissioner Bob Ott said in a statement.

“I want to thank Mrs. Tritt for her willingness to work with the county. District 2 has the least amount of available land for parks and this is a significant contribution to the neighbors who have been asking us to look at this property for years.”

Tritt property map

Tritt, who’s in her 80s, tried to sell her entire property several years ago for a reported $20 million for the development of a senior living complex. Isakson Living’s purchase of the land was contingent on rezoning, but Cobb commissioners denied the request in 2015 after strong community opposition to a project some considered too dense for the area.

Isakson Living, which is led by the son and brother of U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, sued the county, but legal action was dropped in 2016. The developer cancelled its contract with Tritt, whose family once held vast farmland in the East Cobb area.

While the Isakson Living case was proceeding, a citizens group was formed called Concerned Citizens of East Cobb, which advocated keeping the Tritt property park land. That effort extended into the formation of Friends of Tritt Park, which sought to gauge public interest in raising money to buy the land.

Doug Rohan, a resident of the Sadlers Walk neighborhood adjacent to the Tritt property, has been involved with both groups and opposed the Isakson living proposal.

He told East Cobb News that “we are thrilled at the prospect and we feel this plan is a very responsible approach to the fiscal interests of the county, the financial needs of the Tritt family, and the public interest that this project has generated.

“It seems like a win/win/win and we are hopeful it proceeds according to plan. We will continue to monitor the progress and we plan to attend the meeting next week to make sure this goes through.”

Cobb’s proposed purchase of the Tritt property comes as commissioners are set to tackle an anticipated $30 million budget deficit for fiscal year 2019 and that could include the possible closing of parks and recreational facilities included on draft lists.

Cobb also is building new parks, including Mabry Park under construction on Wesley Chapel Road. On Saturday, the county is holding a public viewing for recently purchased land on Ebenezer Road in Northeast Cobb that will be developed into a passive park.

Tritt, the aunt of country music star Travis Tritt, moved with her late husband Norris to the property in 1950. He inherited what had been 80 acres of farmland from his aunt, Odessa Tritt Lassiter, and gradually sold off portions to nearby families.

Some of the land was sold to the Bowles family, which in turn sold that land. The property included 13 acres that formed the original boundaries of East Cobb Park, which opened in 1998.

In her will, Lassiter insisted that the trees on her property be preserved, and that “no timber is to be cut off either place except for building and repairs on those farms.”

 

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Wesley Chapel Road subdivision rezoning case approved again, five years later

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Wesley Chapel Road rezoning case
Duncan Land Investements’ 3-home rezoning case on Wesley Chapel Road got Cobb commissioners’ approval by a 3-2 vote.

On paper, considering a 3-home subdivision proposal might seem fairly routine. On Tuesday, the Cobb Board of Commissioners did do that, but the Wesley Chapel Road rezoning case they approved came after a good bit of wrangling.

By a 3-2 vote, the commissioners approved a substitute motion to rezone less than two acres on Wesley Chapel next to Garrison Mill Elementary School and across from Loch Highland Parkway to R-20 for a three-home development.

The substitute motion by commissioner Bob Weatherford stripped out a stipulation that would have reverted the property to an R-30 category (with a limit of only two homes) if the developer didn’t obtain a building permit within six months.

The tract was rezoned to R-20 in 2013 (here’s the zoning agenda item packet information). The land reverted back to R-30 because there was a clause that kicked in since the property had not been developed after five years.

Duncan Land Investments, which has an additional contract on the property, sought in its renewed application R-15, which would have allowed four homes. Although it was revised it to R-20, the Cobb Planning Commission made no recommendation.

District 3 commissioner JoAnn Birrell, who represents the area, wanted a six-month reversionary clause for the new application because that is “ample time for him to close on the property and pull the permit.”

Related stories

But Weatherford said he was “having trouble finding any logic” in rezoning the same piece of property the same category twice.

“If you want it R-30, leave it R-30. If you want it R-20, zone it R-20,” he said. “This will be the second time it’s R-20. Why go back to R-30? It just makes no sense to me unless I’m missing something somewhere.”

East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott said that a “reversion clause resets the map,” and that “once the board has rezoned something, it sets a precedent” that can be used elsewhere.

Weatherford responded that “every zoning case stands on it own.” Commission chairman Mike Boyce and commissioner Lisa Cupid voted with him on the substitute motion.

Birrell was against the substitute motion as was Ott, who said he was opposed to the R-20 request altogether. His District 2, redrawn since the 2013 case, now includes the east side of Wesley Chapel Road across from the Duncan property.

He said in the five years since the first rezoning, the area has become more built-up and cited more traffic along Wesley Chapel and surrounding development that’s zoned R-30 for his opposition.

“I cannot support changing from R-30,” Ott said.

The commissioners also voted 5-0 to approve rezoning for a Kroger gas station in East Cobb. Kroger’s request at the Pavilions at East Lake Shopping Center changed the zoning from Neighborhood Shopping to Community Retail Center with some conditions (see previous ECN post here).

Kroger is planning to demolish a 10,000-square foot building on 14 acres of the shopping center for the gas station, which will be open from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. seven days a week.

 

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Retiring Dickerson Middle School principal honored by Georgia PTA

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At last week’s Georgia PTA convention in Augusta, Dr. Carole Brink, the retiring Dickerson Middle School principal, was named the organization’s middle school principal of the year.Georgia PTA logo, retiring Dickerson Middle School principal

Brink’s retirement was announced last month by the Cobb Board of Education and is effective Aug. 1. Her successor has not been named.

Here are some other East Cobb PTA organizations and schools that were recognized by Georgia PTA, as compiled by the East Cobb County Council of PTAs:

Outstanding Local Unit, Elementary School 750 students or below
1st Place – Shallowford Falls Elementary PTA
2nd Place – Timber Ridge Elementary PTA
3rd Place – Mountain View Elementary PTA

Outstanding Local Unit, Elementary School 751 students or above
2nd Place – East Side Elementary PTA
3rd Place – Mt. Bethel Elementary PTA

Outstanding Local Unit, Middle School
2nd Place – Dickerson Middle School PTSA
3rd Place – Dodgen Middle School PTSA

Outstanding Local Unit, High School
1st Place – Walton High School PTSA
2nd Place – Lassiter High School PTSA

2017-2019 National PTA School of Excellence Award
Rocky Mount Elementary School
Hightower Trail Middle School
Wheeler High School

Georgia PTA Outstanding Middle School Principal
Dr. Carole Brink – Dickerson Middle School

 

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Cobb Police officer charged with aggravated assault placed on unpaid leave; jailed without bond

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A Cobb Police officer charged with aggravated assault stemming from an off-duty incident with a woman has been placed on unpaid administrative leave while an internal investigation against him continues. Cobb Police Officer charged

At a brief news conference Tuesday afternoon, Cobb Police Chief Mike Register said Officer Robert L. New has been a patrol officer at Precinct 4 in East Cobb.

According to the Cobb Sheriff’s Office, New was booked late Monday night on a felony charge of aggravated assault-strangulation and a misdemeanor charge of simple battery. He remains in the Cobb County Adult Detention Center without bond, according to jail records.

Register said New was arrested around 10 p.m. at his home after police received a complaint on Saturday “concerning acts of violence with an adult female.”

Cobb Police began an investigation led by Capt. Everett Cebula, head of internal affairs and until recently the deputy commander at Precinct 4, and the department’s sexual victims unit.

Register didn’t specify the acts, although an arrest warrant indicates New is accused of slapping and choking the woman during a sexual encounter sometime in March at his home on Hawkins Store Road.

Register said it’s “fairly certain” New met the woman online.

The chief said a forensic interview with the woman determined that she had a mental capacity of between 10 and 14 years of age.

Register said in response to a media question about the incident that “both parties consented, but the actions that took place during the encounter brought us to take out warrants against Officer New.”

Register said search warrants have been taken out for “where the incident occurred” and that portion of the investigation is continuing.

He also said the department is acting “with the intent to reach a timely decision” about New’s employment status.

Register said New started with Cobb Police in February 2005 and was assigned to Precinct 4 in East Cobb. He later served on the department’s DUI Task Force before returning to Precinct 4.

“We will do the right thing for the victim and the process for the officer,” Register said.

East Cobb News does not publish photographs of crime suspects before their cases have gone through the legal system, and then only if they are convicted or plead guilty and are sentenced.

UPDATED, Wednesday, June 20, 1:11 P.M.: On Tuesday night, New briefly appeared before a Cobb Magistrate Judge at the Cobb jail, and was told he would have a July 10 bond hearing.

New remains in custody without bond.

 

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Boyce takes case for Cobb tax increase to the public

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Mike Boyce, Cobb tax increase

An overflow crowd at the East Cobb Senior Center heard Mike Boyce defend his proposed fiscal year 2019 budget of $453 million that would result in a Cobb tax increase.

The Cobb commission chairman’s goal, as he asserted several times during a nearly 90-minute town hall meeting Monday night, is to return to a “level, sustainable millage rate” the county enjoyed before the recession.

He said his proposed increase of 1.7 mills as part of revised budget from an original proposed hike of 1.1 mills, would generate $50 million in additional revenue per year.

Not only would that solve the projected $30 million budget deficit for FY 2019, but it would also replenish reserve funding commissioners have used in recent years to avoid a tax hike.

Revised Cobb budget, millage chart
Cobb government included this tax chart in its revised budget proposal last week.

Several weeks after possible closures of libraries, parks and other “desired” services were made public, Boyce denied threatening to close any of those facilities.

But he said if his fellow commissioners couldn’t agree at least to an extra 1.1 mills, “we will close things. But that’s up to the commissioners.”

After urging citizens to communicate with their commissioners about ensuring those services with a tax increase, there was vigorous applause in the room.

Many citizens were wearing stickers in support of Cobb libraries. Others came on behalf of parks, recreation centers and The Art Place, located next door to the senior center and included on a draft list of options for closure.

Others were opposed to any tax increase, including Lance Lamberton of the Cobb Taxpayers Association, who brought a sign saying “Cut Waste.”

Monday’s meeting was the first of several Boyce is holding through early July, before commissioners are to adopt the budget by the end of next month.

He prefaced his remarks with charts predicting Cobb’s budget shortfall in 2014, with significant rising costs anticipated for the county pension fund, a pay increase for roughly half of county employees and public safety needs.

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In public statements, Boyce has noted for several weeks how Cobb’s millage rate has decreased steadily since 1990, even though the county population has risen dramatically, from 450,000 then to more than 750,000 today.

After a 1.51 mills increase in 2011 during the recession, the general fund millage rate went down, again, including a decrease in 2016, right before Boyce defeated then-chairman Tim Lee in a runoff.

Currently, it’s 6.76 mills.

Last year, commissioners spent nearly $20 million in reserves to balance a $405 million general fund budget, leaving only $2.6 million on hand now.

“We simply need to buy things we haven’t bought,” Boyce said.

His revised budget would fund an additional 23 police officers, and provide body cameras for all officers as part of a public safety budget increase of $15 million.

Citizens peppered Boyce with questions about their tax bills, county funding for the Braves stadium and more. While some wondered if what he was proposing was enough, especially about public safety, others didn’t like hearing Boyce adamantly defend raising taxes.

When Ellen Smith (pictured above), an attorney who occasionally argues zoning cases in front of the commissioners, suggested an increase of 3 mills, in part to fully fund the county’s animal services, some citizens loudly grumbled and yelled out, “ask a question!”

When another citizen asked Boyce if he would “be back here next year” should his budget and tax demands not be sufficient, he said that “I don’t know what the future brings.

“But I don’t want to be back here next year.”

Boyce’s final town hall is back in East Cobb on July 9, at the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center at 7 p.m.

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Dodgen Middle School student graduates from U.S. Space Camp

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Amanda Truong, Dodgen Middle School student

Thanks to East Cobb resident Phillip Truong for passing along the photo of his daughter, Amanda, who recently attended Space Camp at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala. He also shared this information below provided by the center:

The weeklong educational program promotes science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), while training students and with hands-on activities and missions based on teamwork, leadership and problem solving.
 
This program, which is specifically designed for trainees who have a particular interest in space exploration. Truong spent the week training with a team that flew a simulated space mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Once aboard the ISS, the crew participated in experiments and successfully completed an extra-vehicular activity (EVA), or spacewalk. Truong and crew returned to earth in time to graduate with honors.
 
Space Camp operates year-round in Huntsville, Alabama, and uses astronaut training techniques to engage trainees in real-world applications of STEM subjects. Students sleep in quarters designed to resemble the ISS and train in simulators like those used by NASA.
 
More than 750,000 trainees have graduated from Space Camp since its inception in Huntsville, Alabama in 1982, including European Space Agency astronaut, Samantha Cristoforetti and NASA astronauts Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger, Dr. Kate Rubins and Dr. Serena Auñón, who recently launched to the International Space Station. Children and teachers from all 50 states and 69 international locations have attended a Space Camp® program.

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Johnson Ferry-Shallowford master plan surveys accepted through July 6

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Johnson Ferry-Shallowford master plan, JOSH image survey

Udpating our previous posts (here and here) about the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford master plan survey, which has been revised following an outcry from citizens about the options in the original version: You’re running out of time to have your say about what you think future development in the community should be like.

The deadline to fill out the image preference survey is July 6, and you’ll need some time to do so. It’s 89 questions long and asks citizens and business owners to state their preferences about the look, density and feel of residential and commercial development, as well as landscaping, streetscapes, greenspaces, stormwater management and more.

A community meeting in August will summarize the findings. More on the JOSH project can be found here. Like other small-area plans, the JOSH master plan will be added to the Cobb 2040 Comprehensive Plan

Related story

 

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The East Cobb News weekly newsletter for June 17, 2018 is out!

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Good Mews 30th birthday, East Cobb News weekly newsletter
Cuddle up and catch up with what’s happened in our community this week.

The convenient East Cobb News weekly newsletter is out, with all of this week’s top headlines in one place.

This week’s top stories includes a revised Cobb budget proposal to keep parks and libraries open (and raise your property taxes), details about Georgia’s upcoming hands-free law and the 30th anniversary of the Good Mews cat shelter.

The East Cobb News Digest is delivered to your e-mail inbox every Sunday, and contains so much more, including the best calendar listings anywhere in East Cobb and convenient community information.

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Thanks for reading East Cobb News. Whatever you’re doing, have a great week!

East Cobb Business Association panel to discuss ‘Why Non-Profits Are Good for Small Business’

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Four members of local non-profit organizations will speak to the East Cobb Business Association next week. East Cobb Business Association

“Why Non-Profits Are Good for Small Business” is the title of the panel discussion at the ECBA’s monthly luncheon on Tuesday. It takes place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Olde Towne Athletic Club (4950 Olde Towne Parkway).

The speakers are Dawn Reed of Aloha to Aging, Inc., Natalie Rutledge of the Cobb Schools Foundation, Tom Gonter of MUST Ministries and Mary Kay Boler of TAG-Ed Education Collaborative.

The cost for the luncheon is $20 in advance for ECBA members, $25 in advance for guests, and $30 at the door. Online registration can be done here.

A couple of stories related to these groups that we’ve posted recently: Aloha to Aging, the East Cobb-based non-profit that works with seniors and their caregivers, is holding a gala celebration at Kennesaw State in August as a fundraiser as it expands its services.

In January the Cobb Schools Foundation held a Casino Night fundraiser at SunTrust Park to benefit its programs that assist the Cobb County School District.

The Marietta-based MUST Ministries operates a homeless shelter and services for families and individuals in need.

The TAG-Ed Education Collaborative provides students with a gateway to STEM programs and opportunities in K-12.

Also next week, the Northeast Cobb Business Association will hold its monthly luncheon. It’s Wednesday from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Piedmont Church (570 Piedmont Road), and the guest speaker is Dana Johnson, director of the Cobb Community Development Department.

The cost is $15 for members and $25 for members and online registration can be done here.

 

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Man convicted of serial Cobb rapes sentenced to life in 1986 cold cases

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A judge has sentenced a man found guilty of serial Cobb rapes 32 years ago.Cobb serial rapist, Anthony Ledell Brooks

Antonio Ledell Brooks, now 48, was found guilty by a Cobb Superior Court jury on Friday and was given two consecutive life terms plus 20 years by Judge Gregory Poole, according to the Cobb District Attorney’s Office.

Brooks was convicted on two counts each of rape, aggravated assault and false imprisonment and one count of burglary.

According to information released by the DA’s office, the first victim, who was 24 years old at the time, was attacked on Sept. 1, 1986 at a Franklin Road apartment by a man wielding a knife.

A few days later, another woman, aged 23 then and living a block away at another apartment on Franklin Road was raped and severely beaten, according to prosecutors. They said both women were treated at Kennestone Hospital, where their rape kits were collected, but no suspects were identified.

On an unspecified date in 1988, another young woman was raped at an apartment on Powers Ferry Place, off Delk Road and near Powers Ferry Road, the DA’s office said. The woman told police she later saw the same man at her complex and identified him, leading to Brooks’ conviction in that case, the DA’s office said.

It was that conviction that led to the resolution of the Franklin Road rapes, according to prosecutors, a cold case investigation more than 20 years in the making.

In 2008, Georgia Department of Corrections collected Brooks’ DNA and sent it to the GBI for entry in the federal CODIS, or DNA, database.

Five years later, in 2013, the Marietta Police Department asked the GBI Crime Lab to analyze DNA from the 1986 rapes on Franklin Road.

The Cobb DA’s office said the GBI reported an initial match in those kits to Brooks, then took new swabs of Brooks’ DNA and confirmed the matches.

He was put on trial this week, and found guilty after two hours of jury deliberation, the Cobb DA’s office said.

“What happened to these women is every person’s nightmare and despite the passage of over 30 years, justice was served today,” said Cobb assistant district attorney Courtney Veal in a statement. “The defendant has forfeited his right to live in a free society, and the judge’s sentence should ensure that he can never victimize again.”

 

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Revised Cobb budget proposal seeks tax hike, keeps libraries and parks open

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revised Cobb budget
Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce holds his first budget town hall meeting Monday at the East Cobb Senior Center. (East Cobb News file photo)

A revised Cobb budget for fiscal year 2019 would keep open libraries and parks that had been put on draft lifts as options for closures because of the county’s projected $30 million deficit.

The revised budget, which Boyce explained in his weekly video (see bottom of this post), comes to $453 million for the general fund. The current budget for the general fund is $405 million.

In addition, the proposed budget would would add police officer positions and purchase body cameras for law enforcement and have Sunday opening hours at regional libraries (including the Mountain View branch in East Cobb).

It also would keep open the UGA Cobb Extension Service and the county animal services department. Those agencies also have been mentioned for possible elimination.

The millage rate increase he is seeking is 1.7 mills, above the 1.1-mill hike he had initially sought. While the 1.1 mills could cover the $30 million gap, Boyce said additional funds are necessary to restore county services to what they were before the recession.

He said based on feedback from Cobb citizens, especially in regards to libraries and parks facilities, the message is clear.

“We’re not closing anything,” Boyce said. “From what I’ve heard and seen, people like these amenities and want us to keep them. But I have to find a way to pay for them.”

Boyce, who begins a series of budget town hall meetings on Monday at the East Cobb Senior Center, also laid out how much a 1.7-mill increase would cost property owners (see chart below), with annual jumps ranging from $170 to $1,700, based the the taxable value of their homes.

Revised Cobb budget, millage chart

After a testy Cobb budget retreat this week, Boyce got no “clear direction” from other commissioners about what proposal to take to the public. East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott has maintained that he wants to see more spending cuts before he would support any kind of increase.

Northeast Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell has said “everything is on the table” but that she didn’t favor shutting down parks facilities.

East Cobb facilities that have appeared on draft lists prepared by department heads and made public include the East Cobb Library, Fullers Park and Fullers Recreation Center, the Mountain View Aquatic Center, Mountain View Community Center and The Art Place.

Other budget details include restoring eliminated Cobb DOT maintenance positions and increasing right-of-way mowing contracts. Proposed cuts include $2 million in local grant matches and information services contracts.

Boyce said he’s gotten many e-mails from citizens complaining about unmowed grass along county roads and potholes.

On Wednesday, Cobb government asked in a social media posting for the public’s patience in handling a long backlog of transportation maintenance calls. It said Cobb DOT received 300 requests for service in a seven-day period and that the backlog includes 1,800 work orders.

“At current staffing levels, DOT is completing about 20 work orders per day,” according to the message.

“Do we want to have a county with a high quality of life serviced by the best staff in Georgia?” Boyce said in his video. “Or do we want to live in a mediocre county staffed and funded by a sub-par budget?”

He also said that “these town halls make a difference.”

Monday’s town hall meeting at the East Cobb Senior Center (3332 Sandy Plains Road) starts at 7 p.m. The town halls continue through July 9 at the Sewell Mill Library, followed by three public budget hearings that are required by law.

Budget adoption is scheduled for July 25.

Related stories

 

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Cobb Fire Department fireworks safety reminder issued for July 4 holiday

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Earlier this week a Cobb Fire Department fireworks safety reminder was issued in anticipation of the July 4 holiday, and it includes information on how to take care of pets as well:Cobb Fire Department fireworks safety reminder

Cobb County Fire & Emergency Services recommends that you attend one of the many professional public firework displays put on at various locations around the county each 4th of July.

If you choose to use fireworks, be sure to follow the recommendations below by the Consumer Product Safety Commission:

  • Never allow young children to play with or ignite fireworks. Only those 18 and older can legally use fireworks in Georgia;
  • Avoid buying fireworks that are packaged in brown paper because this is often a sign that the fireworks were made for professional displays and that they could pose a danger to consumers;
  • Always have an adult supervise fireworks activities. Parents don’t realize that young children suffer injuries from sparklers. Sparklers burn at temperatures of about 2,000 degrees – hot enough to melt some metals;
  • Never place any part of your body directly over a fireworks device when lighting the fuse. Back up to a safe distance immediately after lighting fireworks;
  • Never try to re-light or pick up fireworks that have not ignited fully;
  • Never point or throw fireworks at another person;
  • Keep a bucket of water or a garden hose handy in case of fire or other mishap;
  • Light fireworks one at a time, then move back quickly;
  • Never carry fireworks in a pocket or shoot them off in metal or glass containers;
  • After fireworks complete their burning, douse the spent device with plenty of water from a bucket or hose before discarding it to prevent a trash fire.

Fireworks can mean misery for pets. Thousands are sedated every year after being frightened by fireworks. Others are so distraught they bolt and get lost or injured.

Keep pets indoors, close the curtains and play music to drown out the noise. Make sure your pet is wearing a collar and tag and is microchipped in case it bolts and becomes lost.

Fireworks can still be enjoyed if at the same time care and consideration are given to pets, livestock and animals living in the surrounding area.

WARNING: Persons choosing to use fireworks should be cognizant of their responsibility to discharge them safely without endangering other persons or property. Please be advised that you have a legal duty to exercise reasonable care in using fireworks and are presumed to intend the natural and probable consequences of your acts. As a result, you may be subject to potential criminal and/or civil liability for any damage to persons or property resulting from your use of fireworks.

 

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Minor modifications made to Chick-fil-A Woodlawn Square renovations

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On Monday District 2 Cobb Commissioner Bob Ott signed off on minor modifications for the architecture and canopy for Chick-fil-A Woodlawn Square renovations that will begin in July.

As we noted in December, commissioners approved the restaurant’s expansion plans in December that include a double drive-through with a canopy and subject to final approval from the district commissioner.

That’s standard practice on most zoning and site plan cases that come before the commissioners. What they’re not required to do is explain what modifications they make after the cases are approved.

Earlier this spring Ott said he would publicly post any minor modifications and any other sign-offs on zoning cases online and in his weekly newsletter:

This will allow you, and your neighbors, the opportunity to review the request and to see what changes are being proposed and to provide feedback to Commissioner Ott. Commissioner Ott will review the feedback that has been provided, make possible changes and will sign the document the following week.

The canopy and architectural renderings, as modified at the Woodlawn Chick-fil-A, can be found here. The changes pertain to side and rear elevation specifics of the canopy.

As we noted in March, the busy restaurant is closing in July for the renovations and is expected to reopen in November.

 

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At tense Cobb budget retreat commissioners haggle over millage rate, spending cuts

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Cobb budget retreat
East Cobb commissioners Bob Ott (left) and JoAnn Birrell (right) wouldn’t support Chairman Mike Boyce’s call for a property tax increase of 1.1 mills at Tuesday’s budget retreat at the Cobb Civic Center. (East Cobb News photos by Wendy Parker)

One of the objectives laid out before a Cobb budget retreat on Tuesday was for county commission chairman Mike Boyce to “leave . . . with clear direction from the board.”

That board, the four district members of the Cobb Board of Commissioners, provided him with nearly everything but that in a three-hour meeting at the Cobb Civic Center. Instead, Boyce left openly frustrated as he begins a series of budget town hall meetings next week, starting Monday at the East Cobb Senior Center.

UPDATE: Cobb chairman proposes revised budget, keeping parks and libraries open

He’s proposed a millage rate increase he says will close a $30 million budget deficit that’s projected for fiscal year 2019. During the retreat, told the commissioners “if we want to keep what we have, the bill is 1.1 mills,” a reference to his recommendation to raise the general fund millage rate.

Revealed earlier are draft lists of possible closures of libraries, parks and other “desired” services that have galvanized public pleas to preserve them, and in some cases, by raising taxes.

Here’s a Cobb Budget Journey interactive the county has released to provide background on the budget and millage history in recent years.

Related stories

Commissioners picked away at a number of budget expenses, such as the cost of new police vehicles, transferring operating costs for the Cobb Safety Village to the Cobb Fire Department and proposed Sunday library hours, unwilling to give Boyce an unqualified yes vote.

Bob Weatherford of West Cobb, who is in a runoff election the day before the budget is to be adopted in July, told Boyce that “you’re asking us to commit to something before we’ve had the town halls.”

Even South Cobb commissioner Lisa Cupid, his most reliable ally on the budget, wondered aloud about having town hall meetings to solicit more public feedback, since “every single e-mail references [full funding of libraries]. They’re telling us it’s a matter of priority.”

Boyce kept making the case that “I’d rather have something to take to the people.

Cobb budget retreat
“I have to pass a budget, but I also have to count votes,” Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce told commissioners at the retreat.

“What I’m asking the commissioners is to join me in this program,” he said. “I get it. You don’t want to stick your neck out. But this isn’t hard.

“It’s $30 million in an economy of billions,” Boyce said, his voice rising. “You would think we’re living in Albania! I just don’t understand.”

Near the end, Boyce said even if the tax rate went up two mills, it’s still lower than most other local governments in metro Atlanta.

“We owe it to the people of this county to continue this level of service,” he said, suggesting that if they couldn’t, headlines would read that they’re closing things like parks and libraries.

Some county government department heads and staffers in attendance loudly applauded when he said that. Boyce received even louder applause when he said:

“I will pay a huge political price. But I’m willing to pay it. I don’t want to live in a county that’s worse than when I came here.”

After the retreat, East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott told East Cobb News that he “heard some frustration” and credited Boyce with providing more budget details than what commissioners have received in past years. Ott has said for several months that he wants to see more proposed spending cuts before he’s willing to consider a tax increase.

He couldn’t support a millage rate increase on the spot “because I haven’t seen the cuts.

“A lot of what he asked for today we heard in October” at the commissioners’ previous retreat, Ott said.

Ott doesn’t support closing any parks or recreation facilities that were disclosed last week and contained on a draft list of possible options for budget reduction. They include Fullers Park and Fullers Recreation Center in East Cobb.

“I’m not going to support closing something that is heavily used,” Ott said.

District 3 commissioner JoAnn Birrell said that “I have no interest in closing parks.” Birrell, who is up for re-election in November, told East Cobb News she’s eager for the town hall meetings to get more citizens’ input before budget deliberations begin in July. She said she’s received many messages both in support of and against a tax increase.

The Mountain View Arts Alliance is asking members to fight to keep The Art Place open.

“We’re still looking at everything,” she said, adding that “shutting down” items on draft lists “won’t add up to $30 million.”

On the draft parks and recreation list in her Northeast Cobb district are the Mountain View Aquatic Center, the Mountain View Community Center and The Art Place.

The Mountain View Arts Alliance, a non-profit citizens’ group that provides support for The Art Place, has distributed a letter urging its members speak out at town hall meetings and contact their commissioners:

“Increasing the millage rate would provide the funds necessary to close the 30 million dollar budget gap. This money goes toward programs ranging from road maintenance to emergency services to libraries to the PARKS department, which encompasses The Art Place as well as dozens of recreation facilities and public parks.”

The MVAA is also asking its supporters to “please wear your brightest blue to show support at town hall meetings.”

 

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East Cobb school safety meeting to discuss shootings and other issues

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East Cobb school safety meeting
Parents and family members supporting Walton High School students who staged a March walkout to demand gun-control measures. (East Cobb News file photo)

Thanks to East Cobb News reader and parent Rene’ Brinks Dodd for letting us know about an East Cobb school safety meeting she and other parents are putting together next week at the Whole Foods Merchants Walk location.

It’s next Tuesday, June 19, and starts at 7 p.m. in the meeting room next to the cafe in the front of the store (1289 Johnson Ferry Road) and the public is invited.

Much of this is focused around school shootings, but as you’ll see from Rene’s information below other topics will be on the agenda:

As parents, we have a say in protecting our kids, especially in school. Let’s be proactive and help make the changes the schools need so that one of our Cobb schools doesn’t end up on the news as yet another school tragedy.

I personally think our country’s culture needs to change. Other countries have guns but they don’t have a mass school shooting problem. Why does the US?

If you would like to be a part in making a change and creating a better culture for our kids to be raised in, please attend a parents local meeting next week.

Some of the topics will be recent bomb threat (Dodgen MS), sexual predators (Pope HS and recent arrest at Kell HS) and what else we need to do to make our schools safe to prevent tragedies such as mass shootings.

At Tuesday’s East Cobb meeting will be a speaker from the Sandy Hook Promise program, which trains parents and students about how to reduce and prevent gun violence.

Rene’ attended a recent meeting of the Georgia State Senate School Safety Study Committee, which was formed not long after the Parkland, Fla., school shootings that galvanized students across the country, including East Cobb high schools, to stage a March walkout (previous East Cobb News coverage here).

Members of the committee include Republican Kay Kirkpatrick of East Cobb. Additional meetings will take place through the fall, with the aim to present legislation for the 2019 session of the General Assembly.

Here’s the video of that senate committee meeting earlier this month in Roswell. It’s a little more than two hours. She says the audio quality isn’t good but there are helpful PowerPoint slides and useful information starting at the 18:12 mark.

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East Cobb resident wants Confederate general’s name in Cobb park designation

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Mableton Discovery Park
A rendering of a proposed park in Mableton, along the Chattahoochee River, includes Civil War earthworks.

An East Cobb resident who asked Cobb commissioners Tuesday to include the name of a Confederate general in the name of a new county park along the Chattahoochee River upset the commissioner who took the action item off the meeting agenda.

During a public comment period, Mary Stevens, who said she lives in East Cobb, wants the name of Gen. Joseph Johnston to be part of a proposed park in the Mableton area that includes Civil War earthworks.

Stevens said the Civil War wasn’t fought over slavery and that “had it been so bad for the freed slaves they would have left the South.”

She said blacks served the Confederate Army as cooks, chaplains and other laborers and that “naming the park anything that does not include the name of Joseph Johnston is historically inaccurate.”

Johnston was the general in charge of Southern forces that fought Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman’s Union Army at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain and the Battle of Atlanta in 1864.

Cobb commissioner Lisa Cupid, who represents Mableton and South Cobb and is the board’s only African-American, tabled a proposal to designate the 103-acre tract as the Mableton Chattahoochee River Line Park.

A master plan for what some South Cobb residents preferred to be called the Mableton Discovery Park was approved by commissioners in March. Cobb has owned the land that’s also been known as Johnston’s River Line since 1990, but finalizing the name has been a thorny matter that has been delayed before.

Cupid said she understood there would be those with different perspectives, which is why she favored the Mableton Chattahoochee River Line Park name as a compromise.

“It’s very clear that this is a very sensitive issue that I don’t think was dealt with very sensitively” by Stevens, said Cupid, saying she was “deeply offended” by her remarks.

 

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Boyce: ‘No decisions’ have been made about Cobb budget cuts

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Mike Boyce, Cobb budget cuts
Cobb commission chairman Mike Boyce explained the budget situation to the East Cobb Business Association in January. (East Cobb News file photo)

A few hours before holding a budget retreat, Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce said Tuesday morning that no decisions have been made about how to close a projected $30 million deficit.

UPDATE: Cobb chairman proposes revised budget, keeping parks and libraries open

During a public comment session at the Board of Commissioners meeting, several East Cobb Boy Scouts asked that the Mountain View Aquatic Center and The Art Place not be closed.

Those facilities were included on a draft list prepared by the Cobb Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs Department and made public last week. They outlined possible cost savings as options for balancing the budget and include several parks, pools and community centers around the county.

Also on the list are the Mountain View Community Center, Fullers Park and the Fullers Recreation Center in East Cobb.

“All that it is is a working document,” Boyce said, explaining that county department heads have been asked to be prepared to answer questions commissioners may have about the cost of individual facilities as they begin budget deliberations.

The retreat is taking place Tuesday afternoon at the Cobb Civic Center.

Related stories

Thus far, however, such options have been publicized only for senior services, libraries and parks and recreation. Also listed for possible elimination are the UGA Cobb Extension Service and Keep Cobb Beautiful.

Boyce had a town hall at the East Cobb Senior Center in January to hear from the public about fee increases at senior centers.

In February, a draft list of nearly $3 million in possible service cuts to the library system included the full closure of the East Cobb Library.

A formal budget proposal by Boyce has not been released as he prepares for several budget town hall meetings, starting next Monday at the East Cobb Senior Center. Another town hall will take place July 9 at the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center.

“If you think it’s hard for you, it’s hard for us,” Boyce told the scouts.

He said that during the budget town halls, “we are going to find out what we’re going to continue to fund” based on public feedback, with the goal of producing a budget that “reflects our conservative values.”

Boyce has suggested a 1.1-mills increase in the property tax rate that would cover the deficit. But East Cobb’s commissioners are cool to that. District 2’s Bob Ott said he wouldn’t support a hike without seeing considerable savings presented first. JoAnn Birrell of District 3, who is seeking re-election in November, said she isn’t in favor of a tax increase either.

The parks and recs draft list identified around $3.3 million in savings, and about a third of that, $1.1 million, is in Birrell’s Northeast Cobb district.

She also reminded the Boy Scouts that no decisions have been made and asked for their and other feedback at the town halls.

“We’d like to hear from you again,” she said.

An East Cobb resident whom commissioners have heard from often renewed her concerns about library cuts during the public comment period Tuesday.

Rachel Slomovitz, who organized the Save Cobb Libraries group, said she has more than 2,100 signatures on a petition, and pleaded with commissioners not to “take away the most elemental of services.”

She said Cobb could have “book deserts” if steep cuts are made, citizens will suffer from having few computers for job-hunting and students will lose additional learning resources outside school.

“When you take away a library, there are outcomes you cannot imagine,” said Slomovitz, who supports a tax increase to prevent library cuts.

“I am here also to ask why you don’t have the courage to do what’s right for Cobb. Why make Cobb citizens feel as though they are about to lose everything?”

The fiscal year 2019 budget is scheduled to be adopted on July 25, after the town halls and three public hearings.

 

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PHOTOS: Good Mews 30th birthday celebration includes debut of new surgical center

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Good Mews 30th birthday
East Cobb News photos and slideshow by Wendy Parker

The Good Mews 30th birthday celebration that was open to the public on Sunday is part of a month-long promotion that includes special prices on adoptions and the unveiling of the cat shelter’s new surgical facilities.

The cage-free, no-kill Good Mews opened in 1988 in its founder’s apartment, then to a location on Sandtown Road before moving to East Cobb. After many years at the Fountains of Olde Towne Shopping Center, the non-profit Good Mews Animal Foundation built a free-standing building on the site of a former pet day care center at 3805 Robinson Road that has been its home since late 2015.

In that time, it’s adopted out more than 8,000 cats who were once homeless, abandoned, abused, rescued or neglected. The Good Mews mission is “Finding Good Homes for Good Kitties.”

Good Mews 30th birthday

 

Good Mews 30th birthday

 

Good Mews 30th birthday

The expansive space in the free-standing building is home to around 100 cats and kittens, with a few dozen more typically out in foster homes at any given time.

Good Mews 30th birthday

Good Mews takes in cats from a number of kill shelters in north Georgia and prepares them for adoption. All are given medical screenings and some require separate rooms for medical, dietary or behavioral reasons.

Good Mews 30th birthday

Cats needing medical attention had been sent to nearby veterinarians, but Good Mews recently has been able to create its own on-premises surgical facility that includes donated ultrasound and X-Ray machines. The shelter also will be able to spay and neuter cats and provide teeth cleanings as well.

Good Mews 30th birthday, Dr. Judy Johnson

Dr. Judy Johnson is a contract veterinarian who will be leading the medical unit on-site. In addition to saving money, Good Mews will be able to better provide continuity of care.

Good Mews 30th birthday

Recently Good Mews began a Yoga with Cats program and a Reading to Cats program.

For the month of June, to mark its 30th birthday, Good Mews is adopting out adult cats at a reduced rate of $30. It’s also accepting in-kind donations of supplies like litter, food, cleaners and more on a regular basis.

Adoptions take place from 10-4 each Saturday and the second, third and fourth Sundays of each month from 1-4.

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State Rep. John Carson: No grace period for enforcing new Georgia hands free law

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State Rep. John Carson, a Republican from Northeast Cobb who was the primary sponsor of Georgia’s new hands free law that takes effect July 1, sent this message out today:State Rep. John Carson, Georgia hands-free law

ATLANTA – State Representative John Carson (R-Marietta) today clarified that Georgia drivers may utilize music streaming applications and that there will not be a set enforcement grace period after House Bill 673, the Hands-Free Georgia Act, takes effect on July 1, 2018. Rep. Carson sponsored HB 673 during the 2018 legislative session of the Georgia General Assembly, and Governor Nathan Deal recently signed this measure into law to create a hands-free driving law in Georgia. 

“According to recent data, we believe the public awareness of this new law is already saving lives,” said Rep. Carson. “We encourage all Georgians to implement the best practices stated in the Hands-Free Georgia Act prior to July 1, 2018, for the safety of all commuters on Georgia’s roadways.”

According to a recent press release from the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, drivers can listen to music streaming apps on their phone while driving under the new law, but they cannot activate their apps or change music through their phone while driving. Music streaming apps that are programmed and controlled through the vehicle’s radio system are allowed. However, music streaming apps that have video are not allowed since the law specifically prohibits drivers from watching videos.

Additionally, the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, the Georgia Department of Public Safety and local law enforcement officers recently reminded Georgia drivers that the law does not contain a 90-day grace period for enforcement. Many officers will be issuing warnings for violations in the first months of the law as part of the education effort, but citations can and will be issued starting July 1 where law enforcement officers believe they are warranted, especially those violations that involve traffic crashes.

This new hands-free driving law will prohibit drivers from holding or supporting a wireless telecommunication device or a stand-alone electronic device while operating a vehicle. Additionally, this measure will maintain the ban on texting, emailing and internet browsing while driving, but will also prohibit watching or recording videos while driving. GPS navigation and voice-to-text features will still be permitted.

For more information on HB 673, please click here.

 

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EDITOR’S NOTE: The scapegoats of the Cobb budget crisis

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East Cobb Library, Cobb budget crisis
The East Cobb Library has been in operation only since 2010 at Parkaire Landing Shopping Center. (East Cobb News photos by Wendy Parker)

The Cobb budget crisis will soon be addressed in serious detail by the Cobb Board of Commissioners, which is holding a budget retreat on Tuesday.

The week after that, next Monday, June 18 to be exact, at the East Cobb Senior Center, budget town halls will start around the county. There will be another one in our community, on July 9, at the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center.

UPDATE: Cobb chairman proposes revised budget, keeping parks and libraries open

Cobb County government is facing a $30 million budget deficit for fiscal year 2019. We have known this and been told this for months.

That’s as big a deficit as the county faced during the worst of the recession.

Yet only a small handful of “options” for addressing this gap, submitted by a few department heads, have been made public.

They’re the departments that tend to get people’s emotions riled up: senior services, libraries and, this past week, parks, pools and recreation centers.

Here we go again.

Like the proposed library cuts, the cuts on parks and rec “draft list,” if enacted, would absolutely crush the provision of popular services.

Like the proposed library cuts, closing all of the parks and rec facilities on that list wouldn’t do much to close the deficit.

In East Cobb, the “draft list” includes Fullers Park and the Fullers Recreation Center, the Mountain View Aquatic Center, The Art Place and the Mountain View Community Center.

A little more than $3 million, to be exact, is what the parks and rec savings would add up to countywide. The library cuts would amount to less than that, roughly $2.9 million.

Along with new membership fees and increases for classes and rentals at senior centers, the possible elimination of the UGA Cobb Extension Service and shutting down Keep Cobb Beautiful (also on the parks and rec list), that still doesn’t equal what the county spends every year to pay off its obligations for SunTrust Park and other costs for Atlanta Braves games and events there.

Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center
The work of local artists on display at the $10.3 million Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center, which opened last December.

As I wrote back in February: SunTrust is untouchable, having been placed on the “must” list of budget items that are required to be appropriated by commissioners every year.

Parks, libraries and senior services are not. They’re merely on the “desired” list.

Yet the cost of delivering services has grown the most in public safety, transportation, courts, community development and water and sewer.

Library hours have not been added back to their pre-Recession totals. Cobb’s unwillingness to have Sunday library hours anywhere except the Switzer branch, but only during the school year, is ridiculous.

The library system’s budget details were laid out in painful detail months ago. Employees in these endangered departments know their jobs may be eliminated.

Related stories

Why are these low-cost, high-impact services, which add exponentially to our qualify of life, vulnerable to being gutted with a record tax digest predicted for 2018?

Citizens skeptical of paying higher property taxes think it’s a ploy by Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce to get a millage rate increase. He wants to add 1.1 mills to your property tax bill, which would just about cover the $30 million.

Getting you stoked up over the possibility of losing your library, or park, is an old tactic. His predecessor, Tim Lee, did the same thing. It worked during the Recession, when tax rates went up.

The county released a “Cobb budget journey” explainer this past week with information to bolster the argument that our current general fund millage rate is just about tapped out.

We’re paying a lower millage rate now than in 1990, despite the Cobb population having grown from 450,000 then to around 750,000 now. The tax hike imposed during the Recession was brought down a couple years ago, foolishly, by Lee, with a millage rate reduction right before losing his runoff with Boyce, and just as SunTrust became fully operational.

That vote only added to the budget jam that exists now.

I’m not wild about a tax increase either, and many homeowners are already paying higher tax bills because their assessments have gone up, some dramatically.

Instead of grazing around the edges, threatening to close parks and libraries and the Cobb Safety Village and whatnot, it’s time to tackle the truly big-ticket items. There’s got to be an honest conversation about what it really costs to properly serve a fast-growing county with basic, local government services.

Cobb is no longer the sleepy bedroom community it was when our family moved here in the mid-1960s. Many who simply wanted a quiet refuge in a ranch house on a wooded lot (some built by my father, a now-retired home contractor) are finding the density, traffic, noise and increasingly urban feel to Cobb, and even East Cobb, alarming.

So do I. That’s why a visit to a park, or a library has become something much more than a treat. For me, it’s almost essential to do this, at least once a week, or when I can.

But the truth is we require more public safety services, more court services, more transportation services, more zoning services, more water and sewer services. The current millage rate, even what Boyce has proposed, likely will not cover all of what’s required in a few years. Even if he gets his wish, it may not be enough.

Ebenezer Road park
Cobb commissioners recently spent $1.7 million to purchase land on Ebenezer Road for a future passive park.

Some question the wisdom of spending millions on future park land and opening new facilities built with SPLOST money, but that operate with county budget funds.

Those are valid issues, as is the subject of SPLOST reform. These topics are likely to be hashed out during the hot summer budget months ahead. They have to be part of an eventual effort to get ahead of budget issues.

In order for that to happen, Cobb leaders have to offer something of a vision for the county that hasn’t been forthcoming for years, even before the recession.

I’m admittedly a bleeding heart for parks and libraries, but scapegoating the services that Cobb has nickeled-and-dimed for decades, and playing a game of emotional blackmail with the public, isn’t the way to do that.

 

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