A young visitor approaches the stage at the Sewell Mill amphitheater. (East Cobb News photos by Wendy Parker)
It was around 50 degrees when Cocoa and Concert began Friday at the Sewell Mill Library, as a few dozen people brought coats and concert chairs, sipped on hot cocoa, enjoyed crafts and the music of local artists.
After a colder and wet weekend, the week of Christmas will be warmer, with temperatures reaching the mid-60s by Christmas Day and staying in that range the rest of the week.
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Thanks to reader Karen Fox, who sends along word that her family home in East Cobb is having a special holiday lights treat on Saturday night.
The lights are synchronized to music that you can listen to on your car radio at 88.3FM, and the display features two snow machines, leaping arches, an animated skating pond and a frozen display.
She says Santa will be visiting Saturday, starting at 7 p.m., and will be available for free pictures, hot chocolate and treats. He usually stays an hour or so, or until the last child is seen.
The display is free to enjoy between 6-11 p.m. nightly through Jan. 6, but Karen says they’re accepting donations for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Holy Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church.
The address is 2994 Clary Hill Court, located off Post Oak Tritt Road near McPherson Road, in the Clary Lakes subdivision. Below is a map to help you get there, along with more photos and a video.
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East Cobb cityhood has been greeted with skepticism since the group’s first public appearance in March. (ECN file photo)
The Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb announced Thursday it will not be pursuing legislation next year that would call for a referendum later in 2020.
A bill introduced this year by State Rep. Matt Dollar of East Cobb was to have been considered in the upcoming legislative session.
But after two public events last month, including the announcement of an expanded proposed city map, the cityhood group said it’s opting to go through another two-year legislative cycle.
“We are committed to continuing this process,” cityhood CEO David Birdwell said in a statement. “We want to take the time to do it right because we know that the more educated voters are on this issue, the more they will support it.”
East Cobb News has left messages with Birdwell and Dollar seeking comment.
Rob Eble, another cityhood leader, told East Cobb News the group “got a lot of feedback,” and “people feel like the process was rushed. That was the biggest complaint.
“We really took that to heart. The last thing we want is for this to be divisive and this was becoming divisive.”
Eble said the cityhood group wants to make a renewed effort to engage more with the public.
He acknowledged that while there are those who oppose cityhood, others said they weren’t sure what they thought but felt they didn’t have enough information and felt the process was being rushed.
Last month, the cityhood group conducted a town hall meeting at Wheeler High School and participated in a debate with cityhood opponents.
The cityhood group had not made any further public comments or appearances since then, until Thursday’s announcement.
The expanded map was to have included the Pope and Lassiter attendance zones, but the cityhood group has not produced a detailed map for the public.
Legislators, including State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick of East Cobb, who would be the bill’s likely sponsor in the Senate, said they haven’t seen a map.
When contacted by East Cobb News Thursday, Kirkpatrick said she was glad for the cityhood delay, because of feedback she got from constituents.
“I think that’s a wise decision,” she said. “This is going to be much more fair to the people of East Cobb.”
She said the group was running out of time to have a new map ready for the legislative session, and constituents were all over the map on what they thought about cityhood.
Kirkpatrick said some were opposed, others worried about their taxes going up, and some were concerned about development issues.
“There’s just been a lot of confusion,” she said, referring to the changing map and suggestions to change the proposed services of a City of East Cobb.
She said she was preparing to do a poll before the legislature begins, but holding off on cityhood for now “is a better approach.”
East Cobb Cityhood leaders David Birdwell, Karen Hallacy and Rob Eble at an April town hall meeting at Walton High School. (ECN file)
Earlier this week, the East Cobb Alliance, which opposes cityhood, produced what it called its best estimate of the revised map. Birdwell estimated the new population would exceed 115,000.
The Alliance said it still considers the legislation active, since the cityhood group “is no longer in control of what happens in the Legislature.”
“Until/Unless [Dollar] says he will withdraw the bill, and does withdraw the bill, he can, and very well may, continue to push this bill forward, regardless of what the Cityhood Committee says they want.”
Dollar, who sponsored the cityhood bill in the house on the next-to-the-last day of the 2019 legislative session, told East Cobb News earlier this month that the map was still being revised and probably would be until the 2020 General Assembly starts.
Eble said the map Birdwell showed during the Wheeler town hall was an estimate done by a GIS firm for the cityhood group.
“That’s one of the reasons we don’t want to do this during the legislative session,” Eble said.
The decision to delay cityhood comes a little more than a year after the group unveiled a financial feasibility study conducted by Georgia State University.
That study concluded that a City of East Cobb, in unincorporated Cobb in Cobb Commission District 2 east of I-75 and with a population of 96,000 was financially viable.
The study concluded that a city could provide community development, police and fire services at or below the current Cobb millage rates, and with a surplus.
But skeptics of the study and of cityhood emerged quickly, as the group declined to identify donors and others pushing for a municipality.
The group asked several citizens to examine the feasibility study. One of them, Joe O’Connor, quit the ad hoc group when he was told it was none of his business to know who funded the study.
O’Connor said he was told most of the study was funded by Owen Brown of the East Cobb-based Retail Planning Corp., which leases shopping center space. Brown is the cityhood group’s treasurer, but the refusal to name others has fueled suspicions of development interests behind the cityhood drive.
Earlier this year, Birdwell, a retired entrepreneur with a real estate background, became the public spokesman for the cityhood group and is listed as its CEO.
He conducted the first public meeting involving the cityhood group, during commissioner Bob Ott’s town hall meeting in March, and was met with skeptical and at times hostile reaction.
Under state law, cityhood bills must go through a two-year cycle. A bill would have to be reintroduced in 2021 and must be passed by the full legislature by 2022 for a referendum to take place.
Alliance leader Bill Simon said his group will continue to track Dollar’s bill unless or until “it dies in committee, or is defeated in the Legislature. One thing we know from experience in watching the Georgia Legislature: Nothing is ever guaranteed, and we trust nothing we hear or read when it comes to legislation.”
Eble said the cityhood group’s plan is “not to give up,” but to use public feedback it received to offer a fresh approach to connecting with the public.
“We made some mistakes,” he said, “but there’s no ulterior motive here.”
Mindy Seger of the anti-city East Cobb Alliance debates David Birdwell of the Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb in November (ECN file)
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U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath voted with her fellow House Democrats Wednesday as DonaldTrump became the third president in U.S. history to be impeached.
The 6th District Congresswoman, who represents most of East Cobb, voted for both articles of impeachment that she also had supported last week in the House Judiciary Committee.
The vote on Article 1, abuse of power, was 230-197; and for Article 2, obstruction of Congress, the vote was 229-198.
Trump was charged on the first article for allegations that he threatened to withhold foreign aid to the government of Ukraine if it did not investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, a Democratic presidential candidate.
The second article alleged that the president impeded its investigation in the Ukraine matter.
Only two Democrats voted with the Republican minority. Another Democrat, Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, who’s running for president, voted “present” on both articles, saying she preferred that the House censure and not impeach Trump.
Barry Loudermilk, a Republican who also represents Cobb County and is a strong Trump supporter, noted in floor remarks before the votes that:
“One week before Christmas, I want you to keep this in mind: When Jesus was falsely accused of treason, Pontius Pilate gave Jesus the opportunity to face his accusers. During that sham trial, Pontius Pilate afforded more rights to Jesus than the Democrats have afforded this president in this process.”
Republicans have charged the impeachment process has been motivated entirely for partisan reasons, and that it’s being done to subvert the 2016 presidential election.
McBath is among a few dozen House Democrats who represent districts that voted for the president. Trump carried the 6th District, which also includes North Fulton, Sandy Springs and North DeKalb, but only with 51 percent.
McBath, who last year became the first Democrat to win the district in 40 years, is being targeted again nationally.
The two Republicans running for the seat, former Rep. Karen Handel and Marjorie Greene Taylor, have been critical of McBath on impeachment.
Trump joins Andrew Johnson (1867) and Bill Clinton (1998) as presidents who’ve been impeached in the House. Both were acquitted in trials in the U.S. Senate and served the remainder of their terms.
The current Senate has a Republican majority. Georgia Sen. David Perdue is a strong defender of Trump, and incoming Sen., Kelly Loeffler, who succeeds the retiring Johnny Isakson in January, blasted the House process as an impeachment “scam.”
Trump has been Tweeting his displeasure with the impeachment vote, calling it a “hoax,” and retweeting others critical of the Democrats. He also Tweeted this:
I got Impeached last night without one Republican vote being cast with the Do Nothing Dems on their continuation of the greatest Witch Hunt in American history. Now the Do Nothing Party want to Do Nothing with the Articles & not deliver them to the Senate, but it’s Senate’s call!
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The last two school days before the holiday break in the Cobb County School District will be shortened days.
On Thursday and Friday, schools will be releasing early for local school professional learning sessions, so the buses will be out and about around the lunchtime hours.
Students will be served lunch at school before they’re released.
Here’s the early release chedule, and it’s the same for both days, two hours earlier than usual.
11:30 a.m. – High School
12:30 p.m. – Elementary School
1:30 p.m. – Middle School
The first day of the second semester is Monday, Jan. 6.
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A number of initiatives have been begun to address those trends, including the Cobb Opioid Fatality Review Project under the auspices of the Cobb District Attorney’s Office. That project received a nearly $900,000 U.S. Justice Department grant to cover three years.
On Wednesday DA Joyette Holmes sent out the following message about the project’s first review:
In the DA’s Office, Judicial Case Manager Latoya Inzar and Inv. Matthew Mize are dedicated to the Fatality Review Project.
“Cobb County completed its first opioid fatality review (OFR) on Nov. 20, with great participation from stakeholders and the U.S. Department of Justice,” Inzar said. “We were able to review three recent overdose deaths, and recommendations followed to improve policy and practice. As the OFRs are still new to Cobb County and the state of Georgia, our team will continue to improve the process.”
Among the accomplishments, Inzar created a treatment guide and community resource booklet of food, housing, healthcare and other resources available to Cobb residents impacted by the opioid crisis.
Project leaders have attended various trainings, and they participated in Marietta Police Department’s opioid symposium in September. They regularly review findings of the Cobb Medical Examiner on overdose deaths and are engaged in mapping and analyzing individual cases.
Mize, who works to identify the drug dealers behind overdose deaths, said: “The significance of this work is that it will save lives, but more importantly, we aim to transform the lives of those suffering from addiction so that they may reach a sustainable recovery.”
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From Jane Lang of the Good Mews Animal Foundation comes the following information about an ongoing cat adoption special, and the flyer has more details:
Good Mews has a lot of cats that have been with them for months, some even years. They’d love to find their long-time residents a forever home in time for the holidays! So from December 16th-31st, all cats that have been at Good Mews 6 months and longer will have a reduced adoption fee of $25!
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The following East Cobb food scores from Dec. 16-20 have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing to view details of the inspection:
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East Cobb cityhood leaders still haven’t made public details of a revised map of the proposed city, more than a month after announcing new boundaries at a town hall meeting.
A group opposed to cityhood isn’t waiting around. On Monday, it released what it calls a “best-estimate” of what it thinks the new proposed map will look like.
The East Cobb Alliance said its version of the map was done with donated efforts from South Avenue Consulting, a Smyrna-based Geographic Information Systems (GIS) firm. The map, according to the Alliance, is 95 percent accurate.
The map was done, the group said, without exact GIS coordinates from the Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb and was drawn from the image cityhood leader David Birdwell displayed at a Nov. 11 town hall meeting at Wheeler High School.
At their first town hall meeting in April, cityhood leaders said they would be revising the map, most likely to include the Pope and Lassiter attendance zones.
Cityhood leader David Birdwell points to a revised map at a November town hall meeting, but that’s all the public has seen of the proposed new boundaries. (ECN file)
Birdwell indicated at the Wheeler meeting the new boundaries would indeed include most of the Pope and Lassiter areas.
He didn’t offer precise details, saying he had first seen the new map only that day. He wasn’t sure if a financial feasibility study done for the cityhood group based on the original map would have to be revised or redone.
East Cobb News has left messages for Birdwell seeking comment.
He did not respond to a message earlier this month when East Cobb News contacted State Rep. Matt Dollar of East Cobb, the cityhood bill sponsor. He wasn’t at the Wheeler town hall and said he had not seen the map shown at that meeting.
Dollar did say that the map is undergoing revisions and probably will be after the Georgia legislature convenes in January.
His bill must pass the full legislature in order for a cityhood referendum to be held next year. Lawmakers also would approve the final map and proposed city charter.
But other local lawmakers, including State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick of East Cobb, said they haven’t seen the new map as they hear from citizens about cityhood.
The original map included all of unincorporated Cobb in commission District 2 east of I-75, excluding the Cumberland Community Improvement District.
That map hasn’t been updated to reflect the proposed new boundaries.
The East Cobb Alliance estimate indicates that the northern boundary of the city would be the Cobb-Cherokee line, stretching from extreme Northeast Cobb to the Trickum Road-Jamerson Road intersection.
The original map would included only one quadrant of the Holly Springs-Post Oak Tritt intersection in the City of East cobb; a new estimate would include all but the southwest corner.
The additional areas would some of the Ebenezer Road corridor, mostly below Blackwell Road, and most of the Holly Springs Road corridor, and would fill in the area between Holly Springs and Sandy Plains with the area in the original map.
Also in the proposed new city would be the Sandy Plains-Shallowford area with a cluster of commercial and retail properties as well as several county facilities:
Mountain View Regional Library
East Cobb Senior Center
Mountain View Community Center
The Art Place
Mountain View Aquatic Center
Carl Harrison Park
Sandy Plains Park
Sweat Mountain Park
The original map included a population of around 86,000; at the Wheeler town hall, Birdwell said the new map would include a population of around 115,000, but that was an estimate.
The cityhood group is proposing a City of East Cobb provide community development (including planning and zoning), police and fire services.
Those new areas all fall in Cobb commission District 3, represented by JoAnn Birrell, who’s opposed to cityhood.
She said after a Nov. 12 debate between Birdwell and Mindy Seger of the East Cobb Alliance that nobody from the cityhood group had contacted her about the new map.
“They’re encroaching in my district,” she said at the time. “So now I’m being outspoken.”
Since then, Birrell has included cityhood information in her weekly newsletter, urging her constituents to get in touch with their elected officials, including Cobb’s state lawmakers, to tell them what they think.
She also included contact information for members of the House Governmental Affairs Committee, the first step for the cityhood bill’s consideration.
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A revised senior-living proposal would have primary access on Sandy Plains Road (bottom right in the rendering).
Imagine that the primary means of access into your neighborhood is performing a U-turn across two lanes of traffic on Sandy Plains Road, then making a quick right turn onto your residential street just below the intersection of Ebenezer Road.
Some Cobb commissioners were aghast at a revised proposal by Traton Homes that would call such a deft (daring, even) piece of driving at a Tuesday zoning hearing, and that Cobb DOT concurred.
They voted instead to delay the case until their February zoning hearing.
“I have serious concerns about any access from Sandy Plains,” commissioner Bob Ott said. “I don’t know how you allow U-turns there.”
After getting a favorable recommendation from the Cobb Planning Commission earlier this month for a proposed 31-home senior-living community, Traton attorney Kevin Moore presented a revised site plan that provided main access along Sandy Plains.
Under the revision, residents heading southbound on Sandy Plains would make a simple right turn into the community from a deceleration lane.
But residents traveling northbound on Sandy Plains would have complete a U-turn that Cobb DOT transportation engineer Amy Diaz said was doable.
“You’re kidding me?” Cobb commission chairman Mike Boyce said. “You’re asking for trouble.”
He said the U-turn “may be difficult, but you know drivers.”
The blue star is the proposed senior-living development, with U-turn access indicated in red at the Sandy Plains-Ebenezer intersection.
The initial application called for sole access on Ebenezer Road, close to the Sandy Plains intersection, which Cobb DOT indicated would be problematic, as did some residents living in the adjacent Kerry Creek subdivision.
Traton’s new submission includes right-in access southbound along Ebenezer into the development, and a right-out exit to turn northbound on Sandy Plains.
Diaz said a senior-living development typically yields less traffic than other residential subdivisions, and there had been “no safety red flags at Sandy Plains at that location” to recommend against a U-turn.
But members of the nearby Sandy Plains Baptist Church, located just below the 10-acre tract sought by Traton, said the new traffic plans would have a detrimental effect.
They’re not against the development and had no problem with Ebenezer Road access, but Sandy Plains Road access would affect more than Sunday worship traffic. The church also has a preschool during weekdays.
“It’s been said that the previous plan was dangerous,” said Edward England, a church deacon. “Sandy Plains Road is much more dangerous than Ebenezer.”
The proposal comes as major road construction along Sandy Plains between Piedmont and Ebenezer roads is due to be completed this month.
“I know DOT said that’s a good alternative,” church leader Walter Stevens said, referring to Sandy Plains access, “but I’m telling you it’s not. I think this is a bad alternative to what was originally proposed.”
Boyce said he thought the U-turn proposal was “trying to make a traffic pattern fit a development. This just doesn’t fit.”
Commissioner JoAnn Birrell, who represents the area, made the motion to hold the application. It won’t be heard until February, since commissioners don’t consider rezoning cases in January.
Moore said “we’ll have to take a look at” whatever would be proposed as a traffic alternative, but he reminded commissioners that other types of residential zoning on that land would result in more vehicles on Sandy Plains.
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After the Cobb Board of Commissioners approved a master plan for the new Ebenezer Road park property Monday night, commissioner JoAnn Birrell said the name of the 18-acre park would be Ebenezer Downs.
The master plan approval came on a 4-0 vote (with commissioner Bob Ott absent), and after a brief presentation by Cobb parks director Jimmy Gisi (previous ECN post here).
The land at Ebenezer and Canton Road was two homesteads that features a lake and wooded areas.
The features of the master plan are a fishing lake and lakeside pavilion, walking trails, a playground, a 30-space parking lot. One of the homes would be used for small events, including wedding receptions and private parties, and public restroom facilities would be built.
The entry to the park would be aligned with the Ebenezer Road entrance to Noonday Baptist Church.
Gisi said community suggestions during public feedback meetings in recent months that the county took back to its parks consultant resulted in a better master plan.
“It’s a beautiful piece of property,” Birrell said. “I go by there a lot and people are fishing all the time.”
The master plan approval does not include park construction; that funding would have to approved separately by the commissioners and no timetable for that consideration has been announced.
Also on Monday, commissioners approved spending $373,000 in 2016 SPLOST funds for an operations barn at Hyde Farm in East Cobb. Gisi said construction is expected to be completed by next June.
Also approved was relocation of parking space at the Mountain View Community Center, costing $572,000 due to the adjacent Sandy Plains MarketPlace that’s in private development.
The county formerly shared parking with Mountain View Elementary School before it relocated to make way for the retail center.
Commissioners also voted to rename the East Cobb Senior Center the Tim D. Lee Center, in the memory of the late Cobb commission chairman (previous ECN story here).
Lee’s widow and children were in attendance, as was former chairman Sam Olens, who like Lee served District 3 in Northeast Cobb on the commission.
Commission chairman Mike Boyce also presented a proclamation to Tejas Veedhulur of Boy Scout Troop 1776 for his Eagle Scout project cleaning up the Gold Branch of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area off Lower Roswell Road.
The troop meets at the Catholic Church of St. Ann.
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Thanks to East Cobb real estate agent Ariel Starke (@ArielStarke on Instagram) for sending along these photos of homes decked out for the holidays, with lights, trees and other displays.
The photo above is from the Five Lakeside neighborhood off Casteel Road.
If you’d like to share your photos, we’ll be posting them through the holidays (and that includes New Year’s). E-mail us: editor@eastcobbnews.com and we’ll share them with the community!
Normandy neighborhood off Casteel Road.Normandy neighborhood off Casteel Road.Ariel’s children decorating the family Christmas tree.
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Mountain View Regional Library staff is hosting the Caring Heart Foundation’s Holiday Toy Drive through Friday,Dec. 20. The three county libraries serving as toy drive collection locations for the local nonprofit organization are:
West Cobb Regional Library, 1750 Dennis Kemp Lane, Kennesaw (770-528-4699)
South Cobb Regional Library, 805 Clay Road, Mableton (678-398-5828)
Suggested donations of new, unwrapped toys for children ages 2-17 include action figures, sports equipment, dolls, arts and crafts sets, board games, building sets, toy vehicles, pretend play and dress up sets, puzzles and books.
The Holiday Toy Giveaway program will be held at Mountain View Regional Library on Saturday, Dec. 21. The Caring Heart Foundation team will have gifts set up from 1 to 3:30 p.m. for registered families to select toys.
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Trump supporters wave to motorists during Saturday’s protest at U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath’s Sandy Springs office. (Photo courtesy Trump Victory Committee)
Supporters of President Donald Trump protested outside the 6th Congressional District office of U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath Saturday afternoon in Sandy Springs.
McBath, a Marietta Democrat, voted with her party Friday when the House Judiciary Committee returned two articles of impeachment against Trump, who is accused of abuse of office and obstruction of Congress.
The Trump protestors got approving social media messages from U.S. Sen. David Perdue and U.S. Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia, both strong Trump supporters, as well as the Cobb Republican Party.
Danielle Alvarez, regional communications director for the Trump re-election campaign, said around 50 people turned out for the protest.
Georgians are fed up with the Democrats’ obstruction & impeachment sham. They want results: Growing the economy, rebuilding our military, and leveling the trade playing field. @GaRepublicans#gapol#gasenpic.twitter.com/XMsrn6QXJ9
Trump is accused of threatening to withhold U.S. foreign aid to Ukraine if it didn’t investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, a Democratic presidential candidate. House Democrats also charged the president with obstructing their investigation.
Republicans and Trump supporters have been charging that the Democratic-led House investigation is a “sham impeachment” process. Former U.S. Rep. Karen Handel, who’s campaigning to win back the seat McBath claimed from her in last year’s elections, has used similar language.
After Friday’s committee vote, Handel said “that since the beginning of this sham process, Lucy McBath has been purely partisan and has had no interest in finding the facts. She promised us she would be independent and bipartisan, but it is obvious that promise was empty.”
Handel was at a North DeKalb Republican women’s event on Saturday.
Saturday’s rally wasn’t the first time Trump supporters have gathered outside McBath’s office.
The 6th District includes East Cobb, North Fulton and Sandy Springs and North DeKalb, and it is being eyed as another battleground seat in House elections in 2020. McBath is the first Democrat to represent the district in 40 years.
The full House is expected to vote on the impeachment articles next week.
The protest was organized by Stop the Madness, which is supported by the Republican National Committee.
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Cobb Police said they’ve arrested Zaire Dhanoolal, 18, of Marietta, on two counts of aggravated assault, and Joweer Ponce, 19, also of Marietta, who’s charged with reckless conduct and carrying a concealed weapon without a permit.
Cobb Police spokeswoman Officer Sydney Melton said both have been taken to the Cobb Adult Detention Center.
She said the person who was shot, Ethan Green, 18, is being treated at WellStar Kennestone Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Melton said Anthony Ezell, 21, was a victim of aggravated assault because the suspect pointed a gun at him before firing at Green.
Police have not indicated a possible motive for the shooting but are continuing to investigate.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Cobb County Police Department Crimes Against Persons Unit at 770-499-3945
ORIGINAL POST:
Cobb Police said one person was shot at the food court at Cumberland Mall Saturday afternoon, prompting a temporary closing of the shopping center while they’re searching for a suspect.
Police said the victim was taken to a hospital but did not identify the person or disclose the severity of the injuries.
Police they were called at 1:18 p.m. and that out of an abundance of caution initial indications were that it was an active shooter situation, police said.
But police said when they arrived on the scene they determined there was no random shooting, which is what usually triggers an active shooter alert, and said that a dispute led to shots being fired.
The suspect fled the scene, and police did not have a description of the suspect or offer other details.
Law enforcement presence around the mall is heavy and motorists in the area are being asked to use alternate roads.
David Banks suggested board pay raises at the same time staff and teachers get them.
Cobb Board of Education members haven’t had a pay raise since 2003, and they won’t be getting another one anytime soon.
The board voted 4-3 Thursday against a proposal by school board member David Morgan of South Cobb to ask the legislature for a $3,800 annual boost in their salaries.
Voting with Morgan was Charisse Davis, who represents the Walton and Wheeler clusters, and David Banks, who represents the Pope and Lassiter clusters.
School board members receive $19,000 a year in compensation; the board chairman, who has additional duties on behalf of the board, is paid $22,800.
Morgan was seeking requests to push pay to $22,800 for board members and $26,600 for the chairman.
“We deserve a pay raise,” Morgan said, rattling off increased responsibilities, duties and appearances for board members. “I believe this in the bottom of my heart.”
Morgan’s comments came at a school board work session Thursday afternoon, where Banks suggested that board pay raises occur as they are given to Cobb County School District staff and teachers.
No other board member engaged him on that subject, and Banks didn’t bring it up again at the Thursday night business meeting before the vote.
The Georgia General Assembly must approve salary increases for school board members, and Morgan’s proposal was a “one-time” matter he wanted the board to take to State Sen. David Wilkerson, chairman of the Cobb legislative delegation.
Information presented at the work session indicated that in the metro Atlanta area, only DeKalb County school board members are paid more than Cobb, whose scale is on par with Fulton County.
Voting against the pay raise resolution was David Chastain, the outgoing board chairman who represents the Kell and Sprayberry clusters.
Morgan and Banks, who are nearing the end of their third terms, have the most seniority on the board. Both will be up for re-election in 2020 and they have drawn primary opposition.
South Cobb community activist Tre Hutchins has declared his Democratic candidacy for the Post 3 seat held by Morgan.
Also on Thursday, the school board voted 7-0 to approve a resolution asking district officials to prepare a $100 million short-term loan against SPLOST collections for 2020 construction, maintenance and technology projects.
The board is expected to finalize the loan request at its January meeting.
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A couple months back we posted about dynamic speed display signs that were proposed—and later approved—along part of Holly Springs Road.
Cobb DOT is proposing another set of the flashing signs—designed to get you to slow to the actual speed limit—along the entirety of Mabry Road.
It’s an agenda item before the Cobb Board of Commissioners, which is meeting at 6 p.m. Monday, instead of its usual 7 p.m. Tuesday evening meeting, because of the holidays.
The Monday meeting takes place in the second floor board room of the Cobb government building, 100 Cherokee St., in downtown Marietta.
It’s also the only business meeting of the month for the commissioners, who will have their usual monthly zoning hearing Tuesday at 9 a.m.
The Holly Springs Road flashing signs, those proposed for Mabry Road are because enough traffic is traveling at least 10 mph above the posted speed limit of 35 mph to warrant the warning signals (details here).
The cost is not to exceed $6,000 for the two flashing signs, which will be posted in both north and south directions.
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A proposed master plan for the Ebenezer Road Park to include a lakeside pavilion, playground and walking trails—including access to trails serving nearby Noonday Creek Park—will be considered Monday by the Cobb Board of Commissioners.
The master plan proposal was put together following public information sessions in recent months. Most of the 17.5 acres on Ebenezer Road at Canton Road comprises a lake that the proposal indicates could be used for public fishing, and includes former homes that could be used for events.
The Ebenezer Road Park master plan is one of two on Monday’s agenda, including the new Furr Park on Old Westside Road in South Cobb (read about them here).
The lands were purchased in 2018 with proceeds from the 2008 Cobb Parks Bond referendum. The Ebenezer Road property had an open house for the public before master plan work was conducted.
They’re designed to be passive parks, with most of their natural settings preserved. At the entrance to the Ebenezer Road Park is a parking lot and the playground (in yellow).
A lake takes up most of the Ebenezer Road Park land bought by Cobb County in 2018.
The master plan approval is meant to provide a guideline for build-out of the park, which would have to be approved and paid for separately by commissioners, and no timetable has been established.
It will be the second new passive park in Northeast Cobb in recent years, following the opening of Mabry Park in May.
The recent county land acquisitions include nearly 30 acres of Tritt property next to East Cobb Park. A master plan has not been commissioned for that land, which for now is designated green space.
Also on Monday, commissioners will hear a proposal to build an operations barn at the Hyde Farm property off Lower Roswell Road.
The former farmland has been preserved to re-establish its history as a working farm dating back to the early 1800s. The 2016 Cobb Parks SPLOST program includes funding for the barn, which would store farm equipment and supplies, and a low bid of $373,000 is being recommended.
The pond at Hyde Farm, an 1800s-era working farm, located off Lower Roswell Road.
Commissioners also will be asked to spend $572,687 to relocate and expand event parking at the Mountain View Community Center (3330 Sandy Plains Road), due to nearby construction of the Sandy Plains MarketPlace.
The new shopping center is going up on the former site of Mountain View Elementary School, and the community center shared some of the school’s parking space.
But the new development is private, and the community center’s parking lot is being moved to fit totally onto county-owned land.
The center has recently undergone renovations, but enabling it to serve as a venue for events including weddings, reunions and private parties also requires additional parking under county zoning codes.
Funding for that project also has been earmarked in the 2016 Cobb Parks SPLOST.
Monday’s meeting starts at 6 p.m. in the second floor board room of the Cobb government building, 100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Another weekend loaded with holiday events is already underway in East Cobb, but there’s plenty going on through Sunday:
From 8-11 Saturday morning, the East Cobb Lions Club Pancake Breakfast is serving up pancakes, sausage, juice and coffee at East Cobb United Methodist Church (2325 Roswell Road). Kids can have their picture taken with Santa, and if you bring an unwrapped toy you’ll get a free raffle ticket. The cost is $7.50 per person, and proceeds go to Lions Club programs to provide free eye screenings for needy students.
From 10-4 Saturday, the St. Andrew UMC Nativity Display continues. The public is invited to celebrate the birth of Jesus. It’s free to attend in the Keheley Center at the church (3455 Canton Road), but any donations you care to make will benefit Cobb Senior Services.
From 10-2 Saturday, warm up and enjoy the festive season at the Mugs & Mocha event at the Sewell Mill Library (2051 Lower Roswell Road). Cool beans will be serving up the java, and you can purchase a handcrafted mug and enjoy free ceramic ornaments, crafts for kids and a visit from Santa.
The Sewell Mill Library also is having an opening event for its latest art gallery exhibit during the Out and About Reception from 2-4. The works are from local artists from the Sewell Mill Cultural Center’s Atlanta Artists Center. The exhibit will continue through Jan. 7.
For four shows only, the Johnson Ferry Christmas Festival takes place this weekend, with shows at 4 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Baptist church (955 Johnson Ferry Road). The choir and orchestra will be featured with a traditional sing-along.
From 6:30-10:30 p.m. Saturday, it’s local artist John Driskell Hopkins’ Sounds of the Season Holiday Show at Olde Towne Athletic Club (4950 Olde Towne Parkway). Hopkins and the Joe Gransden Band will perform a special Christmas concert, with dinner prepared by celebrity chef Rusty Hamlin, and dancing, in a benefit for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. To purchase tickets, click here.
On Sunday, The Art Place (3330 Sandy Plains Road) is having its holiday-themed Empty Bowl Brunch from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Guests can choose a bowl made by students at The Art Place and enjoy homemade soup on premises. The cost for the bowl is $15 each, and the proceeds will benefit MUST Ministries.
On Sunday evening, the public is invited to the Christmas at East Cobb Concert from 4-7 at East Cobb UMC, featuring a holiday choir, instrumentalist, children, and an audience sing-along in the Sanctuary. That gets underway at 5, preceded by a Bethlehem-inspired petting zoo at 4, and following everything will be s’mores and a bonfire.
You’ll find more details about those events and can check out more of our calendar listings for this weekend and beyond.
Send your events to us and we’ll post ’em here: calendar@eastcobbnews.com.
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Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
