A flyer the Eastvalley Elementary Advocacy Alliance has been circulating about the trailers.
For a few weeks parents of students at Eastvalley Elementary School have been organizing to protest what they call “deplorable” conditions at the 13 trailers located there.
On Thursday, they formally took their complaints to the Cobb Board of Education.
Five parents spoke during the public comment session, urging the board to provide newer trailers while Eastvalley awaits a new campus.
“We are maxed out to the point where we have lost our supplemental computer lab and we’re at risk for losing our foundation-funded supplemental science teacher because he no longer has a trailer,” said Cristine Morris, a mother of two Eastvalley students and the president of the school foundation.
She said the school has experienced eight percent year-over-year enrollment growth in recent years, prompting the science teacher to vacate a trailer to make room for a traditional classroom.
“What is the timeline for building a new school?” Morris asked. “And what, if any, are the county’s plans for year-over-year growth in the meantime?
Board members didn’t respond (they rarely do during public comment sessions).
Eastvalley, located on Roswell Road, has an enrollment of more than 700 students in buildings designed for less than half that. The 13 trailers there house roughly a third of the present enrollment, and Morris said that figure is more than twice the number of trailers at other schools in the Cobb district.
Eastvalley is slated for a new campus on the former site of East Cobb Middle School on Holt Road in the new Cobb Ed-SPLOST V, but no construction timetable has been established.
The SPLOST sales tax collection period began in January and continues through the end of 2023.
The trailers in use at Eastvalley now are old, some more than 30 years, as parents pointed out to the school board.
Miranda Philbin, the mother of a third-grader whose classroom is a trailer, said she understands that continuing use of trailers is inevitable while a new school is planned.
But the trailers have “mold, rotting stairs and crumbling structures,” among other conditions. “They are cramped in a tiny space like sardines,” she said of the students in the trailers.
“Thirty-five percent of our students do not have access to 21st century technology,” said Mike Fung-A-Wing, the father of two Eastvalley students. Safety issues include teachers and students not being able to hear messages in the trailers because there’s no intercom access.
Parent Jason Templeton asked that the district provide another trailer for the science class that has been displaced, “although I’m not sure where we’d put it, given our space constraints. I don’t understand why we can’t be provided with newer, larger trailers.
“‘No capital improvements’ was the statement we were provided years ago, and we’ve waited patiently. But we’ve done so to the detriment of our students and our teachers,” Templeton said.
Russell Sauve, the father of an Eastvalley fifth grader, said “we want what is bragged about on the Cobb school website, that Cobb schools is the best place to teach, lead and learn. Thirty-five percent of our students are not in a secure place to teach and learn.
“You are putting 286 children in unsecure, moldy, physically unsafe trailers every day,” he said. “We need you to bring these trailers up to a safe and secure standard while we wait for a new building to be built.”
Eastvalley is one of three elementary schools to be rebuilt in the current SPLOST. Cobb school officials said the first of those priorities is at Harmony Leland in Mableton, where construction is currently underway.
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Cobb school board members will no longer offer comments at the end of business meetings. At the end of a long and contentious discussion Thursday, they voted themselves into silence.
The 4-3 vote along partisan lines came after more than 90 minutes of often heated debate, including interruptions, seven amendments and accusations of censorship.
The ban does not affect the public comment period held at the beginning of meetings, and that allows remarks from parents, students and others from addressing the board.
The board members’ comment period is typically uncontroversial, with elected officials speaking about school visits, rooting for prep sports teams and noting academic and extracurricular achievements.
Board chairman David Chastain, who represents the Kell and Sprayberry attendance zones, said he has become concerned over political and personal opinions being expressed by board members.
Chastain, part of the four-member Republican board majority, said he’s noticed in recent months that some of the comments have become too partisan, and some aren’t even about school matters at all.
There hasn’t been a board policy regarding comments.
David Morgan, one of three Democrats on the board, said a better solution would be for the board to craft a comments policy.
Charisse Davis
He proposed several amendments to that effect, but they were all defeated, most by the same 4-3 partisan split.
Chastain countered that having a policy would put the chair in an awkward position of having to judge the appropriateness of colleagues’ remarks.
“The chair is supposed to be chairing a meeting, and then becomes an arbiter,” Chastain said. “This chair does not want to be the scorekeeper.”
Charisse Davis, one of two first-year Democrats on the board, said the board didn’t have a problem when members talked about football games and mourning police officers slain in the line of duty.
“When a couple of us get here and bring up words like ‘equity,’ we’re censoring,” said Davis, who represents the Walton, Wheeler and part of the Campbell clusters. “You want to censor members on the board agenda. That’s not okay.”
During their comment time, Davis and Democrat Jaha Howard, the other newcomer, have on occasion discussed calls that the Cobb County School District hire a diversity officer.
A group calling itself Stronger Together also has been demanding cultural training in Cobb schools to address what it calls lingering racial concerns it claims the district isn’t handling well.
Jaha Howard
Howard pressed Chastain for examples of comments that crossed the line, but he didn’t offer any. Howard, who represents the Osborne and Campbell districts, also wanted the other Republicans to explain why they supported a comments ban.
None of them did, and Chastain said there are “all sorts of ways to talk about personal opinions” outside of a board meeting, including the use of the Internet and social media.
“This discussion is nothing but partisan,” Davis said at one point. “Right now, we’re not being heard.”
At last month’s board meeting, Howard made references during the board comment period to the year 1619, when the first slaves arrived in the American colonies from Africa, recent deadly mass shootings and immigration:
“Depending on where you live in Cobb County, you have neighbors and family members that have been a part of ICE raids where someone that you know may have been separated from their families. These kids are coming to our schools, and it would be a horrible mistake to have a disconnect of these realities from our schools.”
Howard also mentioned gun violence “in our own backyard” and cancer concerns stemming from the Sterigenics lab in Smyrna, near where he lives, that is closed for the time being.
“Yes, this is a school board meeting, but we exist in a context, and I’m just highlighting the context that we live in,” he said.
At the end of his remarks, Howard discussed what he called “hypocrisy” over praising leaders “who are anything but respectful, responsible and role models. Who’s going to call them out?
“I’m tired of it, so get used to hearing me calling it out,” he said.
Howard didn’t name names, but said that “we have significant ethical issues at the top of the political food chain with our commander-in-chief and many elected officials here in this county and this state. It needs to be called out.”
At Thursday’s work session, Howard defended what he insists is a need to discuss larger concerns beyond the schools.
“Guess what? Cobb is complicated, and we shouldn’t be running from this. This is cowardice.”
Chastain pushed back, saying “no sir. Public comment isn’t the place for that. That’s not censorship.”
Howard tried to get the board to delay imposing a ban so as not to “make a rushed decision.” His final amendment, somewhat sarcastic in tone, would have allowed for board members who were “good” to offer comments.
Chastain interrupted him, saying it was a “frivolous motion, and you’ve talked this thing to death.”
The motion to ban comments was passed 4-3, with the four Republicans (the others are David Banks of East Cobb, Randy Scamihorn and Brad Wheeler of West Cobb) voting in favor, and the three Democrats voting against.
The only amendment that passed was a measure by Howard to allow Superintendent Chris Ragsdale to offer comments.
Since the ban was effective immediately, only Ragsdale spoke at the end of a brief Thursday night board business meeting.
Among his remarks included thanking the Wheeler culinary arts students for what he said was an excellent pot pie meal for him and the board before the meeting.
“I can attest to that because I had two helpings myself,” Ragsdale said.
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A few restaurants in East Cobb get perfect scores of 100 on their health inspections. But only one in metro Atlanta gets a local media outlet’s Golden Spatula Award every week.
In early September, Reveille Cafe in East Cobb was presented with the award, which is given out by CBS46 Atlanta. The breakfast, brunch and lunch spot, located at the Sandy Plains Centre, was inspected on July 10 by the Cobb health department (here’s the report).
Since then, only two East Cobb restaurants have had perfect 100 scores, although a number have scores in the 90s.
Reveille Cafe is part of the J. Christopher’s group, opened in 2013.
The French Table opens on Lower Roswell
On Sept. 7 The French Table, a French-themed furniture and home decor store, held a grand opening event at 4665 Lower Roswell Road. That’s in the small retail center with Ming’s Asian Kitchen at the intersection of Woodlawn Drive.
The owner is Tracy Kreiner Barnes, a real estate agent and CEO of Luxury Homes Atlanta.
Fit Body Boot Camp opening soon
On Sept. 30, the indoor fitness chain Fit Body Boot Camp will open an East Cobb location. It will be at 1062 Johnson Ferry Road, in the Shops at Woodlawn. The local owner and operator is Anan Tanneeru, a longtime IT professional.
According to company literature, Fit Body Boot Camp “that combines bodyweight exercises and minimal equipment to create a low risk, high reward workout.”
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An independent group of finance and legal professionals reviewing a feasibility study for the proposed City of East Cobb has concluded that it’s not only financially viable, but also could offer enhanced services and reduce property tax rates.
But the five-member Independent Financial Group, which was formed in May, also is recommending a future East Cobb city government not provide police services from the beginning, should a city be created.
That’s because the review group says determining the actual revenues for an East Cobb city police force wouldn’t be known until a city government would work out a revenue-shifting agreement with Cobb County.
The feasibility study, commissioned last fall by the Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb and conducted by the Georgia State University Center for State and Local Finance (read it here), “lacks sufficient funding for police protection and does not assume an equitable agreement,” according to the IFG, which is releasing its findings to the public.
The GSU study estimated a City of East Cobb annual budget of around $49 million, with police expenses costing $13.2 million. It based those figures on a property tax rate of 2.96 mills, and cityhood leaders have said a city can operate without higher taxes than what East Cobb taxpayers are currently paying.
Police is one of the three services the East Cobb cityhood group is proposing to provide (cities must provide at least three), along with fire and community development, which includes zoning.
The cityhood group is proposing to carve out most of unincorporated Cobb Commission District 2 for a City of East Cobb, with nearly 96,000 residents, for what advocates maintain would be “more local control” of government services.
Legislation introduced by State Rep. Matt Dollar, an East Cobb Republican, must pass next year calling for a referendum in November 2020. If a city is approved, elections for mayor and city council would take place at the start of a transition period from 2021-22. That would include the transfer of county-provided services before the City of East Cobb’s first full budget in 2023.
Instead of police, the financial review group is recommending that a City of East Cobb offer solid waste disposal services.
“It’s an easy service to provide that’s revenue-neutral,” said Ken Pollock, a member of the financial review group, who joined three other members for an interview with East Cobb News Wednesday.
Pollock is a public finance attorney at Butler Snow LLP, an Atlanta law firm. Bill Green is a retired finance executive with Open Solutions, a cloud computing company. Russ Morrisett is a retired corporate finance executive with United Parcel Service. Both have MBAs. Bill Dennis is a financial analyst with a master’s degree in economics.
They all live in the proposed City of East Cobb, as does the fifth member of the group, Shailesh Bettadapur, vice president and treasurer for Mohawk Industries, who also holds an MBA. Bettadapur was the only vote against the review group’s findings, according to Green. He said Bettadapur, who did not attend Wednesday’s meeting with East Cobb News, resigned from the group on Monday.
Green said he and Morrisett have known each other as long-time neighbors in the East Hampton subdivision, but otherwise the review group members didn’t know each other beforehand. Nor were they vetted by the cityhood group.
Green said he was a cityhood skeptic, then attended an April town meeting at Walton High School (ECN coverage here) and volunteered to serve on the financial review group.
The four financial review group members East Cobb News spoke with on Wednesday all said they are neutral on the subject of cityhood.
They said their work was limited only to an analysis of the GSU financial feasibility study—which they said has some flaws—and that they were completely independent of the cityhood group.
“We’re not saying yes or no on cityhood,” said Green, who added that he’s reached out to Bill Simon of the East Cobb Alliance, which opposes cityhood.
Former Cobb Police Precinct 4 commander Jerry Quan is advising the East Cobb cityhood committee. (ECN photo)
To budget for police, or not
The review group hasn’t yet put together what Green calls a “strawman” budget proposal because it’s still seeking financial data from the county, in particular for public safety services.
In what it calls its “near-term most likely” scenario, the review group has outlined a $40.3 million annual budget without police. Property taxes would provide $24.9 million in revenues. The biggest expenses would be administrative ($12.2 million) and fire ($9.9 million).
First-year expenditures under this scenario would be $28.6 million, with a surplus of $11.6 million. Recurring expenditures would cost $27.9 million and the recurring surplus would be $12.4 million.
Those revenues do not include new franchise fees, which were factored into the GSU feasibility study at $6.1 million a year. Franchise fees are imposed by cities for such services as utilities, so current East Cobb residents don’t pay them. But they do pay franchise fees assessed on cable television bills.
“We’re tossing them out because we don’t think they’re needed,” Green said.
In addition, “many citizens of East Cobb are unlikely to accept any new taxes or fees, unless the property tax millage rate were reduced to offset the new franchise fees,” the review group wrote in its report.
The IFG’s “intended scenario” budget with police, fire and community development would have $50.8 million in revenues and $46.8 million in expenses. The police line-item is the same $13.2 million that’s in the GSU study. It also would have $11.4 million in intergovernmental revenues, including an agreement with Cobb over shifting police services to a new city.
The state Service Delivery Strategy Act of 1997 (also known as SDS and HB 489) spells out intergovernmental agreements between cities and counties. The Cobb Six Cities Memorandum of Understanding, or MOU, has existed since 1999.
The East Cobb city review group is recommending that before providing police services, a new city government should push to renegotiate the current 10-year MOU (which ends in 2024) for what it sees as double taxation. The MOU allows for cities to draw a share of funds from counties for services, based on a city’s share of the combined municipal tax digest.
The Cobb MOU allocated $4.85 million total among the six cities in 2017, and $5.45 million is expected by 2023, according to the GSU study.
An East Cobb city would get around $2.5 million, or 50 percent of that amount, since half the tax digest value of what would be seven cities would be in East Cobb.
But the bigger issue is what the East Cobb review group has found to be double taxation by the county for police services in cities not patrolled by Cobb Police.
Every property owner in Cobb was levied a county general fund tax rate of 6.76 mills in 2017. The review group found that in spite of provisions of HB 489, taxpayers in Cobb’s cities are actually paying 8.46 mills, the current general fund millage rate, under the MOU, the same as unincorporated Cobb.
Green called that “a red flag,” and the review group report goes deeper on the subject by saying that “in return, these cities appear to have accepted insufficient intergovernmental transfers from the County.”
Furthermore, the East Cobb cityhood’s lawyer “has commented that the cities should be prepared to litigate aggressively, if necessary, to force County compliance with the SDS Act’s spirit and letter.”
The IFG calculated that East Cobb taxpayers generate $10.5 million a year in general fund revenues for county police operations alone, a figure that “is expected to grow.”
The GSU feasibility study also has determined that $7.8 million of a projected $8.6 million in start-up costs would be for equipping and training a 142-officer police force.
The IFG is suggesting instead a 90-officer force “until further detailed budgeting is complete.”
Some East Cobb residents are highly skeptical of claims that property tax rates wouldn’t go up to fund a new city. (ECN photo)
Surplus, taxes, services and more
Without police costs to start, the review group believes a City of East Cobb would be able to keep a healthy surplus to improve services, if it chooses to spend some of that money, or possibly reduce the current millage rate.
The Cobb Fire Department, Green said, is “world-class. Our opinion is that we would want to replicate what we’re getting now and enhance it.”
The review group says “a meaningful tax cut is possible because county taxes currently generated from East Cobb taxpayers . . . far exceed the expenditures made by the County for services benefitting East Cobb,” the review report states.
“The opportunity to mitigate this current imbalance is what makes a future City of East Cobb compelling from a purely financial standpoint.”
At the end of it all, Green said, “we [the review group] don’t make that decision. It’s a political decision, the voters who elect a city council, will make that decision.”
East Cobb News will follow up this post with reaction from pro- and anti-cityhood forces and will examine more details of the review group’s report.
Cityhood committee member Rob Eble told East Cobb News recently there are plans for a town hall meeting in October, but a date hasn’t been scheduled.
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Four high schools in the Cobb County School District had graduation rates of 96 percent or more for the Class of 2019, and three of them are in East Cobb.
By a slim margin, Lassiter High School’s rate of 97.4 percent is the highest of the district’s 16 high schools, with Harrion at 97.2.
Walton came in third at 96.9 percent, and Pope had 96.2. It’s the second year in a row Lassiter topped the list. In 2018, Lassiter’s graduation rate was 95.6 percent.
Those were highlights of 2019 graduation rate information released Wednesday by the district, which had an overall rate of 86.98. That’s 1.8 percent better than 2018 figures and five percent higher than the Georgia statewide average, according to the CCSD release.
Other metro Atlanta school district graduation rates include: Fulton, 87.2; Gwinnett, 80.9; Atlanta, 78; Marietta, 75.7; and DeKalb, 73.4.
The biggest jump in Cobb graduation rates came at Wheeler High School, which went from 77.3 percent last year to 86.7, an increase of 9.4 percent.
Graduation rates were also up at Kell and Sprayberry, included in the chart below, which also shows what the district has compiled as “four-year” graduation rates.
The single-year 2019 figures are based on a federal formula that counts students who attend at least one class day in the school year.
Cobb factors in graduation rates on a full-year basis, including one-, two-, three- and four-year scales. While the class sizes are reduced over time, the graduation rates go up.
Lassiter’s is 100 for students who attend all four years—what the district also calls “real” graduation rates.
2019 Grad Class Size
2019 Rate
2018 Rate
4-Year Rate
Kell
366
89.3
83.8
96.3
Lassiter
532
97.4
95.6
100
Sprayberry
436
89.4
86.2
97.0
Pope
487
96.3
94.1
99.0
Walton
670
96.9
95.1
99.0
Wheeler
540
86.7
77.3
99.1
Cobb
9,058
87.0
85.2
97.6
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Tritt secretary Suzanne Alea, at left, and Sprayberry clerk Beth Gibeaut at the Classified Employees of the Year luncheon. (CCSD photos)
Two staff members at East Cobb schools have been named among the Classified Employees of the Year by the Cobb County School District.
Suzanne Alea, a secretary at Tritt Elementary School, and Sprayberry High School clerk Beth Gibeaut were among those honored at a CCSD luncheon Tuesday at Roswell Street Baptist Church in Marietta.
Alea was the overall Cobb schools recipient for elementary schools, while Gibeaut was similarly chosen at the high school level.
The other school-level recipient is Janice Frost, a paraprofessional at McClure Middle School. Sandra Oliver, a secretary in the school leadership department, was named the Central Office recipient.
Cobb schools honors non-teaching employees who include clerks, secretaries, paraprofessionals, bus drivers, custodians, librarians, cafeteria workers, bookkeepers, police officers and others.
Here’s what CCSD is sharing about the two East Cobb winners:
“The Elementary Level winner from Tritt Elementary School has served Cobb students, staff and parents for 13 years. Suzanne Alea is the ‘face’ of her school and is described as a source of patience and kindness.”
“The High School CEOTY, Beth Gibeaut, has transformed and improved the attendance office at Sprayberry High School. She’s described as having a positive influence on the entire school, and even in the most stressful situations, she communicates with grace and poise.”
The other classified employees of the year at East Cobb schools are as follows:
Sope Creek ES: Nancy Crenshaw, kindergarten parapro;
Timber Ridge ES: April Harris, visually impaired parapro;
Walton HS: Anilda Cook, scheduling clerk;
Wheeler HS:Robert Marbach, custodian.
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In zoning cases, the word “precedent” is used quite often by those opposed to high-density proposals, or for requests that don’t match approved land-use categories in a particular area.
On Tuesday, residents of two neighborhoods near Wheeler High School banded together to urge the Cobb Board of Commissioners not to set a precedent they fear could take hold in East Cobb given the chance:
Subdividing a single home lot into two lots, below minimum lot size requirements.
That’s what Danesh Roshan, the owner of a Holt Road home lot, was attempting to do. He applied for a reduction in the minimum lot-size of 20,000 square feet for homes zoned R-20 to accommodate two lot sizes of 18,118 square feet each.
It’s technically not a zoning request and was listed under “Other Business”—for applications seeking site plan amendments and changes in stipulations that don’t have to go back before the Cobb Planning Commission.
But residents of the adjacent Bannock Estates and Spring Creek neighborhoods sprung into action, pressing commissioners with pleas to reject Roshan’s request. He has not filed any formal development plans, and Cobb Zoning staff recommended that commissioners deny the request.
Some opponents said the request amounted to a variance issue. Others, including the East Cobb Civic Association, said subdividing the .42-acre lot at Holt Road and Emory Lane would in effect change the zoning to R-15, a higher-density category.
One resident who spoke against the request said most of the surrounding homes are on lots of 23,000 square feet or more.
Allowing such a precedent, said Hill Wright, a Spring Creek homeowner, “would paint a target on neighborhoods like this in the future.”
When Wright vowed to support candidates “who will protect our properties,” commission chairman Mike Boyce interjected that “we got plenty of e-mails about this case” and that citizens know their elected officials are accessible on such matters.
According to Cobb property deed records, Roshan purchased the land in 2018 from the estate of L.D. Satterfield for $170,000. His obituary states that Satterfield was a World War II veteran who died in 2010. On the land sits a three-bedroom, 1,923-square foot ranch-style home built in 1964.
The home at 515 Holt Road is shrouded by trees and brush, including along Emory Lane.
Roshan, who lives in nearby Pioneer Woods, is the owner of several residential and commercial properties in the surrounding East Cobb area and elsewhere in the county, according to tax assessors’ records.
Peggy Jackson, who lives on Emory Lane, next door to the former Satterfield home, said the home has been in disrepair as long as she can remember, although it’s been renovated recently, and was upset she wasn’t notified about Roshan’s request.
Page Morgan, an East Cobb real estate agent, said that if properties would be allowed to be subdivided this way “we are doing exactly what the folks of East Cobb don’t want. . . . It will set a precedent we can never roll back.”
Cobb commissioner Bob Ott, who represents the area, said the Roshan property is at an entrance to a subdivision, and that’s where “we should not allow carving up lots and making them different than what’s in the neighborhood.”
He made a motion to deny the request, and there was no discussion before commissioners voted 5-0 to turn it down.
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An East Cobb man received a 20-year sentence after being convicted last week of sexually abusing a girl over several years.
The Cobb District Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday that Gary Charles Hufstetler Sr., now 70, was found guilty by a Cobb Superior Court jury and was sentenced by Judge Reuben Green, with eight years to serve.
According to testimony introduced at the trial, Hufstetler began abusing the girl—who was not related but regarded him as what prosecutors described as a “grandfather figure”—when she was six years old, and it continued until she was 11.
According to prosecutors, Hufstetler knew the girl through his long-time live-in girlfriend, and the abuse progressed over time, beginning with such activities as watching Popeye cartoons together. The victim didn’t tell anyone until “a triggering event” prompted her to tell a therapist and police, according to a statement from the Cobb DA’s office.
Spokeswoman Kim Isaza said in the statement that Hufstetler had been investigated previously for allegations involving other children in his family, but no charges were filed.
Hufstetler’s home address is listed on Smithwood Drive, off Allgood Road near East Piedmont Road, according to Cobb court records, which also show that Hufstetler previously lived on Chestatee Drive in East Cobb and in Acworth.
According to Cobb assistant DA Meredith Florio, “this predator took care in grooming and selecting a child that he thought would never tell. However, this young woman, now 17 years old, showed incredible strength by facing her fears and this defendant in describing to the jury the abuse she suffered at such a young age.”
Hufstetler was indicted in Aug. 2017, according to Cobb Superior Court Clerk’s records. According to the Cobb Sheriff’s Office, he was taken into custody at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center on Friday, the day he was convicted.
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This is at the Sandy Plains Centre (2960 Shallowford Road), in Suite 112 formerly occupied by Teriyaki Madness. Last week, Pita got an alcohol license. There’s no opening date that’s been announced yet.
Pita began in 2011 with a store in Peachtree City, and has since expanded to 20 stores in metro Atlanta and north Georgia. The East Cobb location, which is one of several slated to open soon, would be close to existing Pita restaurants near Town Center and the Marietta Square.
The eatery features Greek menu items, including pita and gyro options, and well as Middle Eastern specialties including shawarma, falafel, kafta, hummus, ganoush, rice bowls, salads, kids’ plates and desserts.
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The attorney for a proposed suites hotel next to the Hilton Garden Inn at Powers Ferry Road and Windy Hill Road has withdrawn an application for a special land-use permit.
Garvis Sams, who represents Milestone Hotel Management, wrote a letter to the Cobb Zoning Office dated Sept. 10 about the withdrawal without prejudice, which means it can refile the application anew.
Milestone’s request is listed on the agenda (main case file here) as a continued case for Tuesday’s meeting, which begins at 9 a.m. in the second floor board room of the Cobb government building, 100 Cherokee St., in downtown Marietta.
In addition to zoning cases, the commissioners also consider land-use permits and changes to site plans and stipulations in previously approved zoning cases under the category Other Business (OB).
The Cobb Zoning Office had continued the Milestone hotel case, which has been delayed before, until October. Milestone had sought to build a five-story, 95-suite Homewood Suites by Hilton next to the Hilton Garden Inn on 1.9 acres.
Currently the land includes an accessory parking lot for the existing hotel, and it’s zoned for office mid-rise (OMR). The Future Land Use category is listed as Regional Activity Center.
Milestone was proposing 95 parking spaces, but the required minimum under the current zoning category is 105. In late August, Sams filed a continuance letter with numerous stipulations.
Opposition to the application came from from ML Wildwood Holding LLC, which owns the land at 3045 Powers Ferry Road where the Hilton Garden Inn is located. David Kirk, an attorney with Troutman and Sanders, which represents ML Wildwood, cited parking and traffic issues, along with density and other factors, including the possible impact to The Flats at Riverwalk, a nearby condominium complex.
Another East Cobb Other Business case we’ve noted before is being continued until the Oct. 15 zoning hearing. That’s a request by request by Poag Shopping Centers, LLC, owners of The Avenue East Cobb, to change stipulations and a site plan amendment (case file here).
Poag wants to change the appearance and location of the monument sign at the entrance to the shopping center, and to alter opening hours for a fitness center from 7 a.m. to 5 a.m. The closing hours would remain at 11 p.m.
The nearby East Hampton neighborhood has objected on both counts, asking for a smaller sign and saying there’s no need for a fitness center to open at 5 a.m.
The East Cobb Civic Association has filed a letter in support of East Hampton.
A few items on Tuesday’s agenda in East Cobb have drawn opposition:
OB-47, Geneva Roswell, LLC, 4905 Alabama Road, which is seeking to change a site plan and stipulations for a now-vacant LA Fitness Center space at the Indian Creek Shopping Center. The proposal would subdivide the space for a smaller fitness center and neighborhood retail uses and allow for a truck dock to be installed behind the building (see case file);
OB-51, Danesh Roshan, who wants to reduce the minimum lot size for R-20 zoned land at Holt Road and Emory Lane. He wants to tear down an existing home there and build two homes; the East Cobb Civic Association is opposed, saying it would set a bad precedent because it would reduce zoning to R-15, a higher category, than what surrounds it (see case file);
On the consent agenda (which includes items that have no stated opposition) are the following cases in East Cobb:
Z-48, SAW Holdings, 4076 Ebenezer Road, from neighborhood shopping to neighborhood retail on 1.7 acres that had generated previous opposition;
Z-54, Kay Porter, owner of Perfect Reflections, a hair salon and home boutique business at 4781 Alabama Road. She’s retiring, and is seeking rezoning of a building on a half-acre from general commercial to neighborhood retail center;
OB-50, Michael Clarke, who wants to amend a site plan at a home at 2875 Brandl Cove Court to allow for a gazebo;
OB-54, J.D. España, who is seeking to amend a site plan for the development of four houses on 1.98 acres 4648 Steinhauer Road, reducing it to one house and removing stipulations from a 2014 zoning case;
OB-56, Waldron and Lee Dentristy, LLC, which is seeking flag-style entrance signage as a change to a 2018 zoning case that allowed for a dental building under construction on Roswell Road, next to the Bank of America at East Piedmont Road.
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As drug abuse and overdoses continue to take lives and destroy families, innovative solutions are emerging in communities throughout the country. Sharing those solutions to “Fight Addiction and Fuel Recovery” is the theme for the 2019 national conference of Building Communities of Recovery.
The conference, in its second year as a showcase for solutions-based recovery programs, will be held Sept. 22-25 in Marietta, Ga. It is presented by the Davis Direction Foundation, which was founded by Missy and Michael Owen after they lost their 20-year-old son Davis to a heroin overdose in 2014.
By bringing solutions together in one place, the BCOR conference offers inspiration and hope to communities who are looking for ways to provide safe and sober environments, supporting people in recovery and encouraging them to live productively. According to the Surgeon General’s most recent report, there are more than 25 million people in recovery in the United States.
REGISTER HERE to take advantage of national experts and community innovators who will share their successes and lessons learned in four primary areas:
Medical and behavioral health
Education and prevention
Law and legal
Faith-based/spiritual
Keynote speakers will include Sara A. Carter, Fox News contributor and founder of the Dark Wire Investigation Foundation; Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House and a leader of Advocates for Opioid Recovery, a bipartisan initiative promoting evidence-based treatment for opioid addiction; and Dr. Kelly Clark, past president of the American Society of Addiction Medicine and founder of Addiction Crisis Solutions, which helps stakeholder groups transform addiction treatment into evidence-based care.
The conference kicks off at 7 p.m. (EDT) on Sunday, Sept. 22, with the movie premier of Not in Vein, open to the public in the Ballroom of the Hilton Atlanta/Marietta Hotel & Conference Center.
Over the next three days, speakers will share their experiences in innovative solutions-based recovery programs. Examples:
The Centergy Project works with schools in Georgia, Illinois, Alabama, and Virginia to launch student and family support centers customized to the barriers and assets of each community.
In Panama City, Fla., a pilot project at the Bay County Jail Facility conducts resilience training for inmates who are addicted to opiates and other highly addictive substances. The program has reduced recidivism by 50 percent over two years.
Advocates for Opioid Recovery has relied on grassroots advocacy and successful use of social media to break down barriers to evidence-based treatment.
Harry Nelson, author of The United States of Opioids: A Prescription for Liberating a Nation in Pain, will be keynote speaker for the awards banquet on Tuesday. Sept. 24, recognizing advocates, organizers and partnerships that have worked tirelessly to fight addiction and fuel recovery.
Cost for the three-day conference is $399, or $299 for students, meals inclusive, with the exception of the Sept. 24 VIP dinner with plenary speakers costing $100.
The conference will provide educational opportunities that satisfy continuing education requirements for the following:
CMEs for medical professionals
P.O.S.T. credits for law enforcement officers
CEs for CADC, CAADC, CCS and CAC-I and CAC-II
Conference sponsors include Co-Host – WellStar Health System, The Zone, Cobb EMC Community Foundation, Mental Health for US, Atlanta Copier Rentals, DisposeRx, Advocates for Opioid Recovery, Kennesaw State University’s Center for Young Adult Addiction and Recovery, National Safety Council, Northside Hospital, Summit BHC, and Tanner Health System.
The conference will include an exhibit hall of various programs, sponsors, informational organizations and nationally identified innovative solutions.
The Davis Direction Foundation is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to fight addiction and fuel recovery while serving as the national model for “Building Communities of Recovery” in the midst of a national opioid/heroin epidemic. The Davis Direction Foundation focuses on advocacy, education, harm reduction, prevention and recovery.
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The 2019 Cobb County Catholic Coalition has partnered with NW Metro Atlanta Habitat for Humanity for the 27th year and, this year is building two houses for Habitat homeowners on Old Bankhead Highway in Mableton. The coalition has built and dedicated 42 homes since 1993.
The first nails were hammered on both homes Saturday, September 7 for the Gamble and Vonnordeck families— both well-deserving single mothers. The coalition is comprised of six churches: The Catholic Church of St. Ann, St. Clare of Assisi Catholic Church, St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church, The Catholic Church of The Transfiguration, Holy Family Catholic Church and St. Joseph Catholic Church.
Jessica Gill, CEO of NW Metro Atlanta Habitat, said, “No other Habitat coalition in our organization has remained dedicated as long and faithfully as the Cobb Catholic Coalition. And it is not just an annual build— coalition members serve tirelessly year-round as board and construction committee members, house leaders, crew leaders and in many volunteer roles that support our mission.”
“From not knowing if I can provide food for my son to the blessing of Habitat, I know God is good all the time. I now take my experiences and minister to other women within my church and at a local shelter to help them overcome,” said Ms. Vonnordeck.
“This house will allow me to provide a stable home in a safer neighborhood for my son to grow up … I also feel with the process I can teach my son about community, loving others and how to serve and give back to other in our community.”
Ms. Gamble added, “We are growing stronger every day and I know having our own home will make our lives so much sweeter! My oldest son wants a garden, birthdays, holidays, barbecues!”
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A juggler from Timber Ridge Elementary School doesn’t miss a beat marching in the East Cobber parade. (East Cobb News photos and slideshow by Wendy Parker)
Skies were cloudy but the rain held off after Friday’s thunderstorms as nearly 100 groups and organizations marched down Johnson Ferry Road Saturday morning for the 24th annual East Cobber parade.
A little sun even managed to come out as well, as schools, churches, civic groups, businesses, political candidates, sports organizations, marching bands and many others took part in the event, which included a festival Saturday afternoon at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church.
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A sample rendering of other Atlantic Residential properties included in the company’s release on Friday.
On Friday afternoon Atlantic Residential, which is interested in redeveloping Sprayberry Crossing, released new details of a mixed-use project that includes nearly 400 residential units and 30,000 square feet of commercial space.
Atlantic Residential is saying that of the 195 conventional apartment units, 75 percent will be one-bedroom and 25 percent two-bedroom.
The proposal includes 3- and 4-story buildings, with commercial activity on the ground floor and three floors of rental living space above. The townhomes would be three stories.
According to an aerial rendering of the proposal (below; click here for a larger view), the apartments would be in the front of the 15-acre property on the south side of Sandy Plains Road, just east of East Piedmont Road, with the townhomes in the back. Another 6,000 square feet of residential amenities would be included.
The senior living building would be on the eastern side of the property, along with 8,000 square feet of related amenities.
Joe Glancy of Sprayberry Crossing Action, a group of citizens pushing to rebuild the blighted property, said the developers “are ready to meet with the community at any time.” He said a community meeting would not take place until after the fall Cobb County School District break in late September. The group he helped, the Sprayberry Crossing Action Facebook page, which now numbers 5,000 people, has an active comments section.
Here’s also what he said:
“As always, I ask that everyone continue to be respectful in their dialogue and discussion. This page provides an opportunity to express you opinion, not to drown out or belittle so else’s. We have a really good history of respectful dialogue and expect that will continue. This is a wonderful community and I couldn’t be more proud to be a part of it.”
The developer said the co-working space would be developed by Work at Thrive, which has facilities in Roswell, Milton, Alpharetta and soon in Canton. The senior apartments would be built by Evoq Town Flats and would be 1- and 2-bedrooms for those age 55 and older. Atlantic Residential would be building the 195 other apartments, and the townhome developer is still to be determined.
Here’s more from the Atlantic Residential brochure:
“While this project will not have the scale and impact of well-known mixed use projects like Avalon or Ponce City Market, it will be designed to be sustainable for the long-term and to be a spark for the redevelopment of adjoining and nearby properties that currently are not achieving their full potential for the community.“
We”ll update this story with more reactions and details when they become available.
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The possibility of rain and partly sunny skies in the forecast isn’t likely to dampen the spirit of the Twilight Twirlers, an East Cobber parade regular. (ECN file)
If you’re making plans to attend the EAST COBBER parade and festival Saturday, you may want to include some rain gear just in case.
The thunderstorms that came through the East Cobb area Friday night are the front edge of what could be a rainy weekend.
The parade steps off from Mt. Bethel Elementary School at 10 a.m., then heads down Johnson Ferry Road to the south parking lot of Johnson Ferry Baptist Church, where the event’s festival runs from 11-3 (Details of traffic closures and the parade route.).
According to the National Weather Service in Atlanta, there will be a 40 percent chance of rain Saturday, mostly after 2 p.m. The forecast calls for partly sunny skies, with a high temperature in the East Cobb area of 87.
By the start of the parade, the temperatures are expected to be in the mid 70s.
A 30 percent chance of rain is expected Saturday night and a 20 percent is possible Sunday, also after 2 p.m. Highs Sunday are forecast to be in the high 80s.
Sun will return by the start of the week. Temperatures are forecast in the low to mid 90s, a bit lower than this week’s blistering heat, and into the high 80s by the end of next week.
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Next weekend religious and spiritual leaders from several faiths will be featured at a Christian Spiritual Formation conference at Holy Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church in East Cobb.
Rev. Panayiotis Papageorgiou
“Exploring the Richness of the Christian Faith” will take place Friday-Sunday Sept. 20-22. It’s the fourth annual conference in the series, and this year the specific theme is “Ancient and Modern Voices: Salvation, Sanctification & Theosis.“
The program “explores the connection of modern Protestant reformers with ancient Christianity and how these connections affected their theologies” and participants “also will explore how their theologies compare with Eastern Orthodox and Western Christian theologies (both Catholic and Protestant).”
The work of the English cleric John Wesley will be featured at the conference, which takes place from 7-9 p.m. Friday, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and 1-5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 20-22. According to the conference flyer:
“The goal of this series of Conferences is to help participants discover or get back in touch with our Christ-centered spirituality and also learn spiritual exercises and disciplines to strengthen and encourage our spiritual resilience in our journey to God’s Kingdom.”
The presenters include:
Dr. Roberta Bondi, Emory University
Dr. Robin Darling Young, Catholic University
Dr. Gary Moon, Richmont Graduate University
Dr. Charles Nienkirchen, Ambrose University
Rev. Dr. Panayiotis Papageorgiou, Holy Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church
Rev. Joshua Toepper, Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church
The cost is $50 for the full weekend, or daily rates of $10 for Friday and Sunday and $30 for Saturday. Holy Transfiguration is located at 3431 Trickum Road.
For more information about the conference or to register online click here.
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The food pantry at Brumby ES opened last November. (Special photo)
Parent Nicole Monge Mason is sending out word that the food pantry at Brumby Elementary School is in “dire” need of meat and milk, among other items, and that special hours are being set up for Monday donations.
That’s because the next shopping day for Brumby families in need is next Tuesday, Sept. 17. What the panty needs most are individually wrapped ground beef, turkey and chicken packages and gallon milk containers. Those donations can be dropped off at the school (815 Terrell Mill Road) Monday between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m.
The pantry is open to families Tuesday from 12-2 and 4-6. Brumby is one of more than 30 schools in the Cobb County School District that has a pantry for students and their families.
Nicole says what’s critical about this shopping day is that it’s going to have to last through the fall break week from school (Sept. 21-27). Reduced-price breakfast and lunches won’t be served, so families will be loading up on extra food supplies. She writes in her message:
“The stresses and fears that we relate to on a daily basis PALES in comparison to what most families face on a daily basis when it comes to food insecurities and households in need.
“We have a unique opportunity to be apart of helping families and especially children NOT stress about where their next meal is coming from….at least for a few weeks and especially NOT during the fall break coming up.
“As a community we can be apart of the solution but overlooking the essential need that is right here looking us in the eye is only contributing to the problem…
More information about what’s needed at the Brumby pantry can be found at this online sign-up form.
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Sunny Walker at the unveiling of “Sunny” the piano at East Cobb Park in 2017. (ECN file photo)
The Friends for the East Cobb Park is sending out word that Sunny Walker, one of the key figures in the creation of East Cobb Park, has died.
Walker, 71, died on Aug. 27. She also was a past president of Friends volunteer organization, helping to raise money to buy the land on Roswell Road where the park continues today.
In 2017, a piano donated by the East Cobb-based Play Me Again pianos non-profit was named “Sunny” in her honor and located at the park’s upper-level gazebo.
Walker was named the 1993 East Cobb Citizen of the Year by the East Cobb Area Council of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce. Her other community activities included being a Chamber board member as well as its Leadership Cobb initiative. She also was a supporter of the Theatre in the Square in Marietta. From her obituary:
“Sunny is remembered for her unconditional love of people and her perpetual heart of service. Dedicated to the arts, she championed numerous projects that were important to her community and its cultural development. Sunny’s influence is ever-present and vast.”
Walker, who lived in Smyrna, grew up in Rome and moved to Atlanta after graduating from the University of Georgia. She and her sister started the family-owned Frameworks Gallery, located on Johnson Ferry Road.
She is survived by her sister Diane Spencer of Woodstock and four other siblings, two children and five grandchildren. Walker was preceded in death by her husband “Big Al” Walker.
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Cobb Police said a pedestrian died after he was hit by a car Wednesday night on Powers Ferry Road.
Harold Glaspy, age 69, of Marietta, was pronounced dead after being taken to WellStar Kennestone Hospital, Cobb Police Officer Sydney Melton said in a release.
Police said a grey 2010 Mazda 6 was driving north on Powers Ferry around 9:15 p.m. Wednesday when it reached the intersection of Wood Hollow Drive. The left front side of the car then collided with the pedestrian, and the driver immediately stopped and sought help from other motorists, Melton said.
She said the driver of the Mazda is Ernest Moore, 50, of Marietta, and added that “per investigators, there is no evidence of impaired driving, distracted driving, or speeding. The roadway is not lit at the scene of the collision.”
Melton said Glaspy’s next of kin has been notified and that the investigation is continuing.
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The following students at East Cobb high schools were among the more than 16,000 nationwide named semifinalists for the 2020 class of National Merit Scholarships this week.
They will continue competing for an estimated $31 million in total scholarship money that will be awarded in the spring of 2020. Here are the students, with more details at the end about the National Merit program:
Lassiter: Eleanor Froula; Claire Halloran; Joseph Kramer; Gabrielle Levitt; Anna Mitchell; Catherine Pereira; Paul Tegethoff;
Pope: Ada Burris, Sanjeet Harry, Andrew Myers, Yelizaveta Pivnik;
Sprayberry: Reilly S. Misra;
Walton: Chanwoo Bae, Jordan Bass, Alec Berger, Andrew Cameron, Daniel Catanese, Anjali Chareddy, Taylor Chiles, Sinead de Cleir, Judith Denning, Julia Dierker, Russell Emerine, Reagan Jacobson, Guy Kemelmakher, Aleem Lakdawala, Andrew Li, Viviana Lu, Nidhi Manikkoth, Kara McKinley, Rushil More, Russell Newton, Erik Pitts, Neeraj Raja, Anant Rajan, Pranav Rajbhandari, Aaron Rieck, Arvind Saligrama, Tara Shabazaz, Eric Simon, Bill Sun, Shiloh Thomas-Wilkinson, Qilin Tong, Ria Uppalapati, Akshin Vemana, Tharun Venkatesan, Madeline Zhang, Zaim Zibran;
Wheeler: Ann-Marie Abunyewa, Kruthik Alapati, Ava Autera, Charlie Bishop, Patrick Chen, Alessa Cullinan, Rose Jewel, Brian Kent, Emma Mason, Pranav Nedumpurath, Jeremy Payne, Morris Wan, Eric Yao.
Candidates are assessed based on their academic records, as well as participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment and honors and awards received. According to the National Merit fact sheet:
“A semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school offi cial, write an essay, and earn SATor ACTscores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.”
About 15,000 students are expected to advance to the finalist level, and will be notified in February. From that group the scholarship winners will be chosen.
Corporations, organizations in local communities and collages offer individual types of scholarships under the National Merit program, and there are state-representational scholarships as well.
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