Month: January 2023

Cobb to seek additional state funds for new Gritters Library

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Gritters Library rendering

Facing a $2.5 million shortfall to rebuild the Gritters Library branch, the Cobb Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday to seek additional state funds.

The board voted 3-0 to apply for a $1 million grant from Georgia Public Library Services, a division of the state board of regents, that would go toward construction costs.

In late 2021, commissioners approved an $8.6 million construction contract, including $1.9 million from the state, to build the Northeast Cobb library branch that’s nearly 50 years old, as well as renovate the adjacent Northeast Cobb Community Center.

The current Gritters branch has outdated restrooms and poor drainage has resulted in mold and mildew.

Among the programs that would be part of the new building would include digital literacy training and job training and workforce development with CobbWorks.

In 2018, Cobb commissioners approved spending $2.9 million from the 2016 Cobb SPLOST to renovate Gritters, but a rebuild of the branch was recommended at a cost of $6.8 million.

There was a groundbreaking for the new library in December 2021. But rising construction costs have pushed the price tag to $10.5 million. Last September, commissioner JoAnn Birrell asked her colleagues to approve using county reserve funds to make up the difference, but she couldn’t get the support and withdrew the request.

“It’s near and dear to my heart and it kills me not to be able to move this forward,” she said at the time. “We’ve got some work to do, but we’ll get there.”

It’s not clear where the rest of the funding would come from if another state grant is approved, and at Tuesday’s meeting, Birrell wasn’t on the dais to speak to the issue.

She and fellow Republican commissioner Keli Gambrill were spectators in the board room, removed from their seats after being ruled in in violation of board policies by abstaining from voting in a dispute over the commission’s electoral maps.

Abby Shiffman, an East Cobb resident who is head of the Cobb library system’s board of trustees, said during a public comment session that the Gritters project was first identified in 2014. The current branch, built in 1973 in Shaw Park she said, has been declared a “subpar building” by Cobb property management officials.

She countered comments at a Monday work session that library officials “keep coming back for more funds . . . but this is not true.

“This is not just a rebuild of a library in dire need,” Shiffman said. “This is an investment to fit the meeds of our taxpayers and all of the citizens of Cobb County.”

Before the vote, Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid said that “we will be looking for unique ways to support this” but she did not suggest how the rest of the funding would be derived.

Based on public feedback, she told her colleagues, “this is an important project and I appreciate your support in moving this forward.”

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Deborah Dance reappointed to Cobb Planning Commission

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Deborah Dance reappointed Cobb Planning Commission
Deborah Dance

Former Cobb County Attorney Deborah Dance has been appointed to serve a four-year term on the Cobb Planning Commission by District 3 commissioner JoAnn Birrell.

Dance will serve through the end of 2026, the length of Birrell’s fourth term that began in January.

Dance was initially appointed in February 2021 following the death of Judy Williams.

Dance’s reappointment was announced at the end of Tuesday’s Cobb Board of Commissioners meeting.

But Birrell was not formally part of the meeting after she and fellow commissioner Keli Gambrill were asked to leave for abstaining from votes.

They’re protesting a commission electoral map they say is unconstitutional and is the subject of a lawsuit.

Birrell and Gambrill were both re-elected in November, but their Democratic commission colleagues approved different maps from those reapportioned by the legislature.

Planning commissioners serve in an advisory role, hearing zoning cases and making recommendations that are forwarded to county commissioners.

Planning board members typically lead the discussion of cases in their respective commission districts. Dance inherited the Sprayberry Crossing redevelopment case, and the planning board ultimately made no recommendation.

Cobb commissioners eventually approved the rezoning but without a Lidl grocery store that was to have been the anchor of the new project and with apartments limited only for those aged 55 and older.

Lidl is applying to build a store at the Canton-Piedmont intersection but its application has been delayed.

It’s unclear what the new commission district lines will look like in February, when zoning cases will next be heard.

The District 3 in the legislature’s map includes most of East Cobb; the county’s map retains in East Cobb a good portion of District 2.

Gambrill also reappointed Fred Beloin to the planning commission and to the Cobb Board of Zoning Appeals through 2026.

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American Heritage, Trail Life youth groups form in East Cobb

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East Cobb Trail Life American Heritage yputh programs to form

Reader Steve Kleinreichert sends word of two national youth programs that are faith-based alternatives to scouting that will be forming local chapters in East Cobb.

There’s a Feb. 7 organizational meeting for American Heritage Girls and Trail Life USA on Feb. 7 at the Marietta Alliance Church (1787 E. Piedmont Road) starting at 7 p.m.

The program works in tandem but are separated by sex and are for youth between the ages of 5-18. The twin organizations, Kleinreichert tells us in a message, are “tasked with helping to raise Godly kids through adulthood.”

Trail Life USA began in 2013, after the Boy Scouts of America allowed gay youth to join.

American Heritage Girls was formed in 1995 and partnered with the Boy Scouts until membership in the latter was opened to girls. AHG eventually teamed up with Trail Life USA.

For information on the Feb. 7 meeting in East Cobb contact stevekleinrichert@yahoo.com.

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Cobb Republican commissioners leave meeting over abstention

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Cobb Republican commissioners abstain
Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell listens to Deputy County Attorney Debbie Blair about the board’s rules for abstaining from voting.

The two Republican members of the Cobb Board of Commissioners were asked to leave the elected body’s first meeting of 2023 Tuesday morning after they said they would abstain from voting on agenda items.

GOP members JoAnn Birrell of East Cobb and Keli Gambrill of North Cobb tried to abstain in protest of a commission redistricting map that’s the subject of a lawsuit.

The board’s three Democratic commissioners in October approved a redistricting map that keeps District 2 Democratic commissioner Jerica Richardson in her seat.

But the Republican-dominated legislature approved maps last year that would draw her into Birrell’s District 3, which now covers most of East Cobb.

A lawsuit has been filed opposing the county’s home rule challenge, claiming that only the legislature can conduct reapportionment.

Birrell and Gambrill, who were both re-elected in November, have repeatedly stated that the county-approved map is not legal.

There was a hearing in Cobb Superior Court last week seeking an injunction against the county maps, but a ruling has not been issued.

Before the first agenda item on Tuesday, Birrell asked Cobb Deputy County Attorney Debbie Blair which maps the commission was “operating under” for the meeting.

Blair responded the county map is considered to be in effect. Birrell cited an opinion from the Georgia legislature’s Office of Legislative Counsel (you can read it here) that the commission’s resolution is unconstitutional, and the Georgia Secretary of State’s office has reached the same conclusion.

“It has no bearing whatsoever,” Blair replied, saying that the attorney for plaintiff in the lawsuit—East Cobb resident Larry Savage—was voluntarily dismissing the suit for technical reasons and is expecting to have it refiled.

“That is their opinion,” Blair said of the legal opinions, “that the procedure we conducted was not proper. That is not the opinion of the county.

“Until it is overturned by the courts, it is a valid process that we did follow.”

Democratic Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid tried to prevent Birrell from pressing the issue at that point, saying it wasn’t part of the meeting agenda.

“I’m just not comfortable with the makeup of the board, not knowing, this is still pending,” Birrell said.

“This is a state issue that we don’t control.”

At the first item up for a vote—approval of a typically routine certificate for a swimming pool construction at a home in the Chattahoochee Plantation neighborhood in East Cobb—Birrell and Gambrill abstained.

Cupid initially recorded the vote with the clerk as approval of the certificate by a 3-0 vote with two abstentions, then asked for a legal clarification.

Blair said commissioners cannot abstain from voting unless they have a “valid” conflict of interest that should have been expressed in advance.

They also must leave the dais before abstaining from a vote, Blair said.

“The conflict is the votes with [maps] the county is saying are in place,” Birrell said. “Everything is going to be a conflict, and I’m abstaining.”

Cupid then called for a recess followed by an executive session, according to Birrell, who told East Cobb News after the meeting that the county attorney “advised if a commissioner is present they have to vote unless there is a conflict of interest. I feel that this was a conflict of interest for me since a ruling on the maps has not been decided.”

When the executive session was over, Cupid asked Birrell and Gambrill to cast votes on the same agenda item. They both declined, and Cupid called for another recess and asked her two colleagues to “remove themselves from the dais.”

They were told they would be escorted away by security if they did not leave their seats voluntarily.

When the meeting resumed again, Birrell and Gambrill were absent from the dais, having been dismissed by Cupid. They watched the rest of the meeting in the guest seating area of the board room.

“The chair’s ‘use of force’ by ordering the police officer to remove us from the dais when no crime has been committed would have resulted in a lawsuit against the chair and county,” Gambrill said, as neither “Commissioner Birrell nor I broke any laws.”

(You can watch a replay of the meeting below; the sequence above occurred between 4:00 and 40:00, including the recesses.)

Gambrill told East Cobb News in a message Wednesday morning that as far as procedures go, Cupid should have made a motion to rescind the vote in which Gambrill and Birrell abstained before asking them for another vote.

“Coming back from [executive session] and demanding Commissioner Birrell and I to vote when there was no active motion on the floor—is dictatorship at its finest,” Gambrill said.

“In addition, after the chair removed us from the Board, she then changed the vote to 3-0 with Birrell and Gambrill absent. This is false.”

The three remaining commissioners, all Democrats, went through the rest of Tuesday’s meeting agenda.

At the end of the meeting, Cupid remarked that she was hopeful that all five commissioners will be in attendance at the board’s next meeting later this month and that “we will be abiding by the rules of procedure.”

Should the county lose its legal challenge, Richardson may be forced to step down from office, triggering a special election for the remaining two years of her term.

Under state law, Richardson would have had to move into the new District 2 by Dec. 31 to be eligible to run in 2024. But she has vowed to defy what she said has been an “unprecedented” vote by the legislature to reapportion a sitting elected official out of a seat.

Cupid said at Tuesday’s meeting that based on legal advice from the county attorney, the maps approved by the commission’s Democratic majority “are the maps that stand until there is a successful legal challenge in a court of law.”

Birrell and Gambrill also have complained that the county attorney’s office has not sought a response from the Georgia Attorney General’s office, which thus far has not formally weighed in.

“An opinion by the Attorney General’s office is an opinion,” Cupid said. “It does not determine the outcome nor the work of this board.”

Cupid added that “I cannot allow for this board to be a circus for people to share differences of opinion that are completely outside of our rules of procedure.

“I hope that the public understands that and I hope our commissioners understand that.”

In response to questions from East Cobb News, Birrell reiterated her concerns via e-mail that she and Gambrill “have asked for the Attorney Generals’ opinion in the past and again today as this is a state issue.”

The commissioners’ next scheduled meeting is Jan. 24.

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Cobb Martin Luther King Jr. celebration event to take place Jan. 16

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The official Cobb Martin Luther King Jr. national holiday celebration takes place next Monday, Jan. 16, at the Jennie T. Anderson Theater at the Cobb Civic Center (548 S. Marietta Parkway). Cobb MLK holiday service

The festivities, sponsored by the Cobb NAACP, begin at 10 a.m. and will singers, dancers, musicians, spoken word performers and more.

Cobb government offices will be closed; the county will livestream the MLK event at its YouTube page.

Classes and activities in the Cobb County School District also will be closed on Jan. 16.

 

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Water main replacement work to begin under Sope Creek

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Sope Creek water main replacement work begins
Open Street Map

From the office of Cobb Commissioner JoAnn Birrell:

Project update: Construction of the Blackjack Mountain 36-inch Water Main Replacement project for Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority (CCMWA)

The contractor has remobilized back to the project site and will begin the Jack and Bore installation underneath Sope Creek at the intersection of Wallace Road and Barnes Mill Road. Due to the rain last week, the contractor will be finishing out drilling and blasting this week at the intersection. They will likely start excavation of the bore pit and possibly begin the underground trenchless jack and bore within the following two weeks.

 

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Technology and safety town hall scheduled for Tim D. Lee Senior Center

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Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell will be holding a town hall meeting this month to explain how technology is being used for public safety purposes.Stuart VanHoozer, Cobb Police Chief

Cobb Police Chief Stuart VanHoozer and other department officials will be presenting information at the Tim D. Lee Senior Center (3332 Sandy Plains Road) on Wednesday, Jan. 18, from 6-8 p.m.

The meeting comes after commissioners approved an extension of a contract with a facial recognition technology company to assist law enforcement in identifying suspects in criminal investigations.

Despite some citizen protests, VanHoozer said that the AI platform being used isn’t used for broad surveillance.

“What this product does for the most part is take a photograph of a known offender and compare that to a database that has images that are legally obtained and publicly available so that we can identify that individual,” VanHoozer told commissioners last month, before they voted to continue the contract.

He has said the policies surrounding the use of the facial recognition technology are being crafted carefully and with strict provisions so that citizen concerns “are strongly mitigated.”

Critics said the vendor, Clearview AI, has been hacked and sued multiple times over privacy concerns and has been fined in some European countries.

Commissioners voted unanimously to approve the Clearview AI contract, and the Cobb Police Department’s policy is being finalized.

For information about the town hall, contact Kimberly Jorgensen at Kimberly.Jorgensen@cobbcounty.org or call 770-528-3317.

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East Cobb residential real estate sales, Dec. 19-23, 2022

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Jefferson Township, East Cobb real estate sales
Jefferson Township

The following deeds for residential East Cobb real estate sales were filed Dec. 19-23, 2022 with the Cobb Superior Court Clerk’s Office Real Estate Department.

The addresses include ZIP Codes; subdivision names and high school districts are in parenthesis:

Dec. 19

5225 Willow Mill Drive, 30068 (River Springs, Walton): The Highbourne Group LLC to Amy Clark and Alexander Novelli; $577,500

4915 Willow Lane, 30066 (Willow Creek, Kell): Estate of Thomas Ruwe to Honatho Saddler; $389,000

1997 North Landing Way, 30067 (North Landing, Kell): Alecia Weston, administrator to Yashwant Sinha; $288,500

3734 Townsend Way, 30062 (Suttons Orchard, Lassiter): Keith Riggi and Josie Taylor to Giang Huong Do; $490,000

3500 Brighton Place, 30062 (Independence Square, Walton): Betty Madden to Jonathan, Brandi and Antonio Toole; $537,500

Dec. 20

3917 Blustery Way, 30066 (Christopher Robbins, Kell): Ali Fahad to Nicholas and Brianna Waters; $565,000

3184 Oak Drive, 30066 (Oak Knoll, Sprayberry): Patricia Harned to John Minnick; $312,000

3180 Vandiver Drive, 30066 (Vandiver Heights, Sprayberry): Michael Bannister, executor to Rolando Campos; $305,000

124 Woodlawn Drive, 30067 (Sanders Field Estates, Walton): Woodlawn Homes 2022 LLC to Kourosh Baghaei; $695,000

420 Smokerise Circle, 30067 (Chimney Trace, Wheeler): Kathryn Ann Smith to Shaun Wright; $230,000

Dec. 21

2627 Forest Way, 30066 (Forest Chase, Lassiter): Dianna and Michael Thompson to LPF Blvd. Atlanta LLC; $310,000

4508 Westcliff Trace, 30066 (Chatsworth, Lassiter): Shannon and Michele Bates to William Monahan; $665,000

3692 Stoney View Drive, 30062 (Rock Mill, Lassiter): Randall Wiltrout Jr. to Alexander Steen; $330,000

3318 Woodrun Trail, 30062 (Country Woods, Lassiter): Robert and Nancy Pridgen to Booker Thomas Wilson III; $389,000

3714 Petite Forest Drive, 30062 (Petite Forest, Pope): Jeremy Froy to Joshua Gardner; $525,500

3302 Ellsmere Trace, 30062 (Davis Point, Pope): Peter Wong to Magued and Suzan Habib; $565,000

1813 Chasewood Park Drive, 30066 (Chasewood Park, Sprayberry): Redfinnow Borrower LLC to Jesus and Maria Moyao; $420,000

760 Summit Terrace, 30068 (Indian Hills, Walton): Estates of Edward and Edna Beavers to Dorri Investment LLC; $465,000

Dec. 22

4970 Turtle Rock Drive, 30066 (Turtle Rock, Lassiter): Open House Atlanta Realty & Investments to FT Entertainment Inc.; $398,000

4663 Township Walk, 30066 (Jefferson Township, Lassiter): Sarah Cox to Shannon and Michele Bates; $799,000

252 Paxton Circle, 30066 (Sumter Ridge, Sprayberry): Open House Atlanta Realty & Investments to Yukihiro Ikawa; $516,000

2889 Cynthia Court, 30066 (Mountain View, Sprayberry): Oscar Hernandez to Alfred Lee; $520,000

2943 Wendover Street, 30062 (Creek Park, Pope): Open House Atlanta Realty & Investments to Sadaaki Kaneyoshi; $486,000

1900 O’Shea Lane, 30062 (Holly Springs Crossing, Pope): Craftek Japan Inc. to Sergey Boroditskiy; $429,000

1625 Bill Murdock Road, 30062 (Princeton West, Walton): Cecil Pruitt Jr. to Jennifer Fann-Tucker and Nicholas Tucker; $485,000

4022 Fawn Run, 30068 (Fawn Ridge, Walton): Janet Metcalf to Farideh Shahbazi; $425,000

300 Willow Glenn Court, 30068 (Weatherstone, Wheeler): Todd Garrett to Erin and Alejandro Basurto; $450,000

135 Dickerson Road, 30067 (Walton): Michael and Cindy Gray to Anthony and Jennifer Robinson; $1.25 million

2351 Ashton Woods Court, 30068 (Ashton Woods, Wheeler): The Joannah Shoushtarian Living Trust to Laura and Todd Garrett; $635,000

2472 Cedar Wood Court, 30068 (Cedar Cove, Wheeler): Open House Atlanta Realty & Investments to Kenji Sasaki; $545,000

159 Kenley Court, 30068 (Magnolia South, Wheeler): Opendoor Property Trust to Muneer Bhamani; $469,500

3770 Fox Hills Drive, 30068 (Fox Hills, Wheeler): Open House Atlanta Realty & Investments to Rieko Matsui; $521,000

Dec. 23

1285 Robert Lane, 30068 (Crafton Heights, Walton): Rember Sandoval to Sudhakar Kunji and Abinaya Sudhakar; $1.36 million

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Cobb Community Foundation appoints new board members for 2023

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New Cobb Community Foundation board members 2023
L-R: Carole Cox, GLOBALT Investments; Darion Dunn, Atlantica Properties; Cheryl Richardson, Richardson Legal Services; Ray Thomas, Mableton Improvement Coalition

Four new members of the Cobb Community Foundation began two-year terms on Jan. 1, helping direct a non-profit organization that manages charitable funds for local individuals, families, for-profit and non-profit organizations.

“Like all our board members, these four individuals are all so well-respected and deeply connected to Cobb County.  I cannot wait to see the impact they will have as we continue to grow our donor advised and other charitable funds so we can do even more to help our community thrive,” said CEO Shari Martin in a release this week.

CCF’s tasks include connecting donors with causes, awarding CCF grant funds, conduct the Cobb Human Needs Assessment, provide scholarships and more.

The new board members are:

  • Carole Cox, Senior Portfolio Manager at GLOBALT Investments; Previous Southern Regional Director of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Institute; Current Board Member of the Atlanta Society of Finance and Investment Professionals (ASFIP); Member of Finance Committee of Early Learning Property Management Inc.
  • Darion Dunn, Managing Partner at Atlantica Properties; Formerly with the Buckhead CID, Croy Engineering, and Harrington, George & Dunn, P.C.; Currently Serving on Boards of the Chattahoochee Technical College Foundation, The Center for Family Resources, Open Doors, and Star-C and on the Advisory Board of the Georgia Tech School of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
  • Cheryl Richardson, City of Marietta Councilwoman of Ward 1 and Founding Attorney at Richardson Legal Services, PC; Retired U.S. Army, Member of State Bar of Georgia & Cobb County Bar Association; Former Associate Judge for Marietta Municipal Court; Currently serving as Administrative Hearing Officer for City of Marietta and teaching at Kennesaw State University.
  • Ray Thomas, President of Mableton Improvement Coalition; Founder of MIC’s HOA Network; Mableton Citizen of the Year 2022; Currently Serving on Austell Gas System Board; Current Member of Cobb County Police Precinct Discussion Group and Chattahoochee Riverlands Greenway Trail Work Group.

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Credit Union of Georgia donates $100K+ for charity in 2022

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The Credit Union of Georgia announced this week donated more than $100,000 in philanthropic donations in 2022, supporting a number of local nonprofit organizations in Cobb County and metro Atlanta.Credit Union of Georgia

Credit union employees vote annually to select the local charities to support, with events throughout the year that included monetary donations, volunteerism and donations of food, clothing, toys and personal hygiene items.

Employees also donated more than 650 hours to the community, attended more than 1100 local events and sponsored over 400 local events.

“Credit Union of Georgia is dedicated to our members, communities and local charities,” said Brian Albrecht,
President/CEO of Credit Union of Georgia said in a statement. “We hope that our ongoing efforts of giving back can create a lasting impact in the communities we serve.”

The 2022 charities include the following:

  • Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
  • Mostly Mutts Animal Rescue
  • MUST Ministries
  • The Children’s Haven
  • The Salvation Army

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Cobb school district releases 2023 graduation schedule

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Tadiwa Zinyongo, inspiring Cobb senior

The Cobb County School District will be holding commencement exercises for the Class of 2023 from its 16 traditional high schools in late May.

On Friday the district released full details of its graduation schedule, which lasts from May 22 to May 27.

Ceremonies begin on Monday, May 22, and continue through the evening of Saturday, May 27.

Each of the six high schools in East Cobb will be holding graduation at the KSU Convocation Center:

  • Kell High School: Monday, May 22, 7:30 p.m.
  • Pope High School: Tuesday, May 23, 7:30 p.m.
  • Walton High School: Wednesday, May 24, 7:30 p.m.
  • Lassiter High School: Thursday, May 25, 10 a.m.
  • Sprayberry High School: Friday, May 26, 7 p.m.
  • Wheeler High School: Saturday, May 27, 2:30 p.m.

The Cobb school district has set up a special commencement page that will be updated in the spring with more specifics, including parking, livestreaming and DVD ordering.

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Cobb school board elects officers for 2023, sets meeting dates

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Cobb school board elects 2023 officers
Post 4 board member David Chastain taking the oath of office for his third term.

The Cobb Board of Education’s Republican majority elected two of their own members Thursday to serve as officers for 2023.

The board also voted to approve a meeting calendar for the year, and along partisan lines, declined to alter some of the meeting dates.

At the board’s organizational meeting, two new members and outgoing chairman David Chastain were publicly sworn in, after officially taking the oath of office prior to the meeting.

Chastain, of Post 4 in East Cobb (Kell, Lassiter and Sprayberry clusters), showed some emotion when he left his seat to be sworn in by Cobb Superior Court Judge Kelli Hill, joined by his wife Lori.

A Wheeler High School graduate, Chastain was re-elected to a third-term in November in a bitterly contested campaign with Democratic newcomer Catherine Pozniak in a race that preserved the GOP majority.

Board chairs cannot serve two years in a row, but the vice chair position can.

Second-term Republican Brad Wheeler of Post 7 in West Cobb was elected chairman on a 4-3 vote, and for the third consecutive year, GOP member David Banks of Post 5 in East Cobb was elected vice chairman, also by the same 4-3 partisan vote.

The three Democrats all were nominated for vice chairman, but each vote failed 3-4, also along partisan lines. Democrat Tre’ Hutchins of Post 3 in South Cobb was nominated for chairman but that voted failed 3-4.

“It is an honor to serve as the Board Chair of a District that has earned a reputation for delivering a world-class education thanks to Cobb’s dedicated school staff and supportive families and community,” Wheeler said in a statement issued by the Cobb County School District after the meeting.

“I am looking forward to continuing that legacy as we work together to keep schools’ focus on academic excellence, and ensure every Cobb student succeeds.”

The board also voted along the same partisan lines to defeat an amendment to the meeting schedule that would return to a schedule of work sessions and voting meetings on separate days.

Newcomer Becky Sayler of Post 2 in Smyrna offered the amendment, saying she has received feedback from the public, including teachers.

For those six months—May, August, September, October, November and December—she suggested having the separate meeting dates.

Currently, the agenda is posted two days before board meetings. Changing the schedule this way, Sayler argued, “would give us time to have more community engagement and feedback.”

She referenced the a vote by the board in July to approve the hiring of armed guards at schools as part of school safety changes.

The public didn’t know about the proposal until the Tuesday before a Thursday vote, at which there were vocal protests and a recess during the meeting.

“It was a very quick turnaround,” Sayler said, adding that the Cobb County Association of Educators has expressed interest in some of the meeting date changes in addition to others in the public.

“If we decide not to do it, let the people know why,” she said.

Wheeler said that in his experience with both formats, the current schedule “saves the district staff a lot of time . . . I think it works better as is.”

Also sworn in on Thursday was newcomer Democrat Nichelle Davis of Post 6, which previously had included the Walton and Wheeler clusters.

Davis, a former teacher, is in a post that includes the Cumberland-Vinings-Smyrna area after reapportioned maps took effect Jan. 1. She succeeds Charisse Davis (no relation), who did not seek re-election.

The Post 5 boundaries have expanded to include Walton, Wheeler and the Pope clusters and some of the Lassiter cluster.

The school board holds a work session in the afternoon and an evening voting session on the same day once a month.

The board meeting schedule for 2023 is as follows, with work session starting times tentative:

Thursday, January 19, 2023 *2:00 p.m. Work Session – Public Comment

 Followed by Executive Session

 7:00 p.m. Board Meeting – Public Comment
Thursday, February 16, 2023 *2:00 p.m. Work Session – Public Comment
Followed by Executive Session

 7:00 p.m. Board Meeting – Public Comment
Thursday, March 23, 2023 *2:00 p.m. Work Session – Public Comment
Followed by Executive Session

 7:00 p.m. Board Meeting – Public Comment
Thursday, April 13, 2023 *2:00 p.m. Work Session – Public Comment
Followed by Executive Session

 7:00 p.m. Board Meeting – Public Comment
Thursday, May 18, 2023 *2:00 p.m. Work Session – Public Comment
Followed by Executive Session

 7:00 p.m. Board Meeting – Public Comment
Thursday, June 15, 2023 *2:00 p.m. Work Session – Public Comment
Followed by Executive Session

 7:00 p.m. Board Meeting – Public Comment
Thursday, July 20, 2023 *2:00 p.m. Work Session – Public Comment
Followed by Executive Session

 7:00 p.m. Board Meeting – Public Comment
Thursday, August 17, 2023 *2:00 p.m. Work Session – Public Comment
Followed by Executive Session

 7:00 p.m. Board Meeting – Public Comment
Thursday, September 14, 2023 *2:00 p.m. Work Session – Public Comment

 Followed by Executive Session

 7:00 p.m. Board Meeting – Public Comment
Thursday, October 19, 2023 *2:00 p.m. Work Session – Public Comment

 Followed by Executive Session

 7:00 p.m. Board Meeting – Public Comment
Thursday, November 9, 2023 *2:00 p.m. Work Session – Public Comment

 Followed by Executive Session

 7:00 p.m. Board Meeting – Public Comment
Thursday, December 7, 2023 *2:00 p.m. Work Session – Public Comment

 Followed by Executive Session

 7:00 p.m. Board Meeting – Public Comment

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East Cobb Food Scores: Hong Kong Star; Chopt; Provision Cafe; more

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Hong Kong Star, East Cobb Food Scores

The following food scores for the week of Jan. 2 have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing for inspection details:

Chopt East Cobb
4250 Roswell Road, Suite 630
January 4, 2023 Score: 88, Grade: B

Eastside Christian School
2450 Lower Roswell Road
January 5, 2023 Score: 100, Grade: A

El Serranito 
2520 Shallowford Road, Suite 100
January 5, 2023 Score: 97, Grade: A

Faith Lutheran School
2111 Lower Roswell Road
January 5, 2023 Score: 100, Grade: A

Hong Kong Star Chinese Cuisine
4719 Lower Roswell Road, Suite 110
January 3, 2023 Score: 84, Grade: B

Papa John’s Pizza
3165 Johnson Ferry Road, Suite B
January 6, 2023 Score: 96, Grade: A

Provision Cafe at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church
955 Johnson Ferry Road
January 6, 2023 Score: 92, Grade: A

Shivam Chaat Corner
1826 Lower Roswell Road
January 6, 2023 Score: 90, Grade: A

Sterling Estates of East Cobb
4220 Lower Roswell Road
January 5, 2023 Score: 94, Grade: A

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Parents in Cobb schools mask mandate lawsuit win appeal

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Cobb schools sued COVID-19 protocols
Leland Cavorley, one of four Cobb school students whose parents have filed a federal lawsuit.

The parents of four medically fragile students in the Cobb County School District who filed a federal lawsuit in 2021 to impose a mask mandate and other COVID-19 mitigation measures have won a round in court.

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta in late December reversed a lower court ruling in November 2021 that denied the plaintiffs a preliminary injunction in their attempt to mandate masks and other precautions in order for the affected students to safely attend classes in-person.

The ruling, issued by a three-judge panel (you can read it here), said the Cobb school district failed to make “reasonable modifications or accommodations” under guidelines issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control for those students to attend classes at their home schools.

The parents, including Sara Cavorley of East Cobb, filed the lawsuit in October 2021, claiming that their childrens’ educational rights under the Americans With Disabilities Act were being denied when the Cobb school district dropped its mask mandate for the 2021-22 school year.

Cavorley said her son Leland, then 13, was unable to attend classes at Simpson Middle School because he suffers from leukemia. In an East Cobb News profile published before the lawsuit, Cavorley explained how her other children, who were attending classes in person at schools without mask mandates, worried they would expose Leland to COVID-19.

After requiring masks for the 2020-21 school year, the Cobb school district—which previously had been sued by parents opposing the mandates—made them optional, but offered parents a virtual learning program.

Cavorley said she was unaware of that option, and eventually withdrew her children from in-person classes, although the deadline to sign up for online learning had passed.

In September 2021, the Cobb Board of Health, in a special-called meeting, approved a measure urging schools to follow CDC COVID-19 measures, including universal masking.

But Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale, a member of the health board, abstained from voting, saying the Cobb school district was following all but the mask recommendations, and he hadn’t had time to see the revised resolution before the meeting.

In his August 2021 decision to drop the mask mandate, Ragsdale said that some areas with mandated masks in schools have no lower COVID-19 figures than those without mandates, and that he wanted to leave it to parents to decide what is best for their families.

The Cobb school district said in its response to the suit that the parents were “simply complaining about not receiving their preferred educational services—not a deprivation of access to education altogether.”

A federal district judge in Atlanta agreed, and denied the restraining order on the grounds that the plaintiffs were not likely to win their case on the merits.

The appeals court rejected the Cobb school district’s claim that the lawsuit was moot, saying the issue is about more than a mask mandate.

The case is being remanded back to the district court, which must “analyze whether virtual schooling is a reasonable accommodation for in-person schooling, not education in general,” the appeals court ruling states.

“The students argued that CCSD ignored those recommendations and continues to disregard CDC guidance in this respect,” the ruling concludes. “Therefore, this remains a live controversy.”

The suit was filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center, whose senior staff attorney, Eugene Choi, said in a statement this week that “school districts cannot relegate students with disabilities to home virtual programs because of their disabilities. Instead, schools must make reasonable accommodations and modifications so that students with disabilities can safely and meaningfully access their schools in-person.”

Last month, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced a settlement involving a similar lawsuit that acknowledged that universal masking is a “reasonable modification” under the ADA, after he previously had banned mask mandates in schools.

The settlement affects 10 school districts, which must determine whether masks would be required, or they would make other modifications to satisfy the rights of the students with disabilities.

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Flooding update: East Cobb Park reopens; Noonday Park closed

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Flooded Noonday Park closed
Noonday Park. Photo Cobb PARKS

Cobb PARKS said Wednesday that heavy rains Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning had flooded some county parks, prompting their closures.

Noonday Park remains closed, and East Cobb Park reopened at 1 p.m. Wednesday, according to the department’s social media postings.

Also closed is Fullers Park off Robinson Road.

The sun came out on Wednesday afternoon, as the rainy weather that greeted the new year began to taper off.

A flood warning had been in effect until noon Wednesday, as several inches of rain fell in the Cobb area and metro Atlanta.

Some roads were closed in parts of North Fulton, but there were no specific reported closures in Cobb.

Cobb government said in a social media message Wednesday morning that “Cobb DOT is not reporting any significant travel issues at this hour.”

A flood warning was issued in Cobb along the Chattahoochee River at Georgia Highway 280.

Motorists should turn around and drive away from flooded roads instead of trying to pass through them.

The weather system included thunderstorms and flash flooding, and a tornado reported south of Atlanta.

Today’s highs are expected to reach around 70, with lows in the low 50s, and the temperatures will be getting cooler.

Highs will drop to the high 50s and around 60 over the next few days, with lows falling into the 40s and 30s over the next several nights, according to the National Weather Service.

But we will have sunny skies through Saturday, with a 40 percent chance of rain on Sunday.

Rain also is in the forecast for early next week.

 

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Harry Kone, East Cobb World War II veteran, dies at 102

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Harry Kone dies at 102
Harry Kone celebrated his 100th birthday in 2020

Harry Kone, who survived wounds at the Battle of Guadalcanal and was a public school teacher before moving to East Cobb to be close to family, died on Dec. 30 at the age of 102, according to a notice posted on social media by his church.

Unity North Atlanta Church announced on its Facebook page that Kone passed away Friday at 2:30 p.m. “mid way through his 102nd year of blessing this world and this church.”

His full obituary can be found by clicking here. A Celebration of Life service is scheduled for Unity North on Feb. 4 at 3 p.m.

Kone had been featured in local media outlets in recent years and was interviewed elsewhere about his military service during World War II.

Shortly before his 100th birthday in August 2020 Kone told East Cobb News that “I never worry about tomorrow” because of his experiences as a Marine.

“From then on, I never worried about much. I had plans, but I didn’t worry about what I’m going to do tomorrow,” he said.

“This is what worries a lot of people,” Kone said, but “if I’m dead tomorrow, I don’t have to worry.”

Kone and his late wife Marjorie raised two daughters and a son in the Chicago area, where he was a teacher for 40 years.

Harry Kone, East Cobb World War II veteran
Harry Kone marking his 99th birthday at a Marine League event in Woodstock.

They moved to East Cobb in 1995 to be near their children, including daughter Sue Lind, who later became her father’s caregiver.

He got active in local veterans organizations, including the Squire “Skip” Wells Marine Corps League, and was a member at Unity North Church on Sandy Plains Road.

In 2021, the Cobb Board of Commissioners recognized him for his 101st birthday and declared Harry Kone Day in the county. He was a supporter of ongoing efforts to establish a Cobb Veterans Memorial.

His centenary birthday came during the COVID-19 pandemic, but he was able to meet with family members in a socially-distanced fashion.

Kone was born Aug. 16, 1920 in Baltimore, Md., the only child of a railway clerk and a homemaker, Kone was an avid reader, the habit instilled by his mother.

In 1939, he moved to Milwaukee to work as a welder, and attended a branch of the University of Wisconsin on a scholarship to help develop children’s programming in the very early days of television.

He was living in a boarding house there when he met his future wife.

After the Pearl Harbor attack on Dec. 7, 1941, Kone enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and was a machine-gunner. He was wounded after being strafed by Japanese fighter planes.

Kone was honorably discharged in 1945 and also was awarded a Purple Heart.

A bout with tuberculosis kept him in a Veterans Administration hospital for two years.

In 2019 he was profiled by the American Veterans Center, and the year before, he spoke with the Atlanta History Center (see video below).

He and Marjorie Kone were married 65 years until her death in 2011.

In addition to his daughter Sue Lind, Kone is survived by a son, Stuart Kone of Douglasville, four grandchildren, and three great grandchildren.

He also was preceded in death his other daughter, Barbara Bechely, who also lived in Marietta.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Kone’s honor to Unity North Atlanta and the Marine Corps League National Headquarters.

 

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East Cobb residential real estate sales, Dec. 12-16, 2022

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Hampton Oaks, East Cobb real estate sales
Hampton Oaks

The following deeds for residential East Cobb real estate sales were filed Dec. 12-16, 2022 with the Cobb Superior Court Clerk’s Office Real Estate Department.

The addresses include ZIP Codes; subdivision names and high school districts are in parenthesis:

Dec. 12

4735 Blisston Street, 30066 (Everleigh, Lassiter): Ellen Schorsch to Osama Khouka and Dawn Tuckey; $675,000

3766 Shallow Court, 30066 (Heatherwood, Lassiter): Launchpad Real Estate Investments LLC to GB2 Properties LLC; $389,000

1634 Hampton Oaks Bend, 30066 (Hampton Oaks, Sprayberry): Gary Jones to Nickolas Lefkaditis; $525,000

3861 Vinyard Trace, 30062 (Arthurs Vinyard, Pope): Daniel Holzberger to Rachel and Chayse Grizzell; $725,000

2233 Sumter Lake Drive, 30062 (Sumter Lake, Pope): Estate of Juanita McClendon to Nicholas Vachel and Elodie Barbin; $420,000

621 Oakhurst Drive, 30066 (Oakhurst, Sprayberry): Wanda Lanning to Conrado Mercado; $315,000

1475 Bentcreek Drive, 30062 (Woodstream, Sprayberry): Charles Heinrich, trustee to Romulo Simbana; $380,000

1519 Cedar Bluff Trail, 30067 (Cedar Bluff, Wheeler): Heather Tarley to Primesoft America Inc.; $170,000

3363 Greenfield Drive, 30068 (Indian Hills, Wheeler): Lysbeth Todd to Mostafa Molladjafar and Elaheh Sagharchi; $450,000

Dec. 13

2400 Salem Drive, 30062 (Christophers Corner, Sprayberry): Samantha Harris to Austin Dady; $372,500

2335 Milstead Circle, 30066 (Landsdowne, Sprayberry): Henri Oakes to Colin McHale; $450,000

1182 Congress Court, 30068 (Princeton Walk, Walton: Barbara Hoff to Jianping Liu and Jichong An; $640,000

22 Cecil Drive, 30068 (Kathleen Place, Wheeler): Renata Sitzmann to Kwame and Jill James; $510,000

105 Millbrook Trace, 30068 (Millbrook Farms, Wheeler): Chase Deits, executor to Henry and Jaclyn Foah; $440,000

 Dec. 14

1888 Falcon Wood Way, 30066 (Falcon Wood, Kell): Allen Walk to Jared and Maria Barrale; $400,000

3913 Chapel Heights Drive, 30062 (Chapel Heights, Lassiter): Jeff Hedden Builders CP LLC; Jay Emmanuel and Tanya Nesbitt; $1.189 million

154 Kathryn Drive, 30066 (Brookhaven, Sprayberry): Elizabeth Hrisak to John and Rachel Valderrama; $339,900

4013 Oak Forest Circle, 30062 (Oakhill Manor, Walton): Ran Properties LLC to Transcend Design and Build LLC; $565,000

1884 Dior Drive, 30062 (Hasty Acres, Sprayberry): Linet Moltavan to Sofia Galvan; $400,000

1062 Azalea Circle, 30062 (Eastwood Forrest, Sprayberry): Surge REI LLC to Chancellor Owens and Kari Hiner; $359,000

3395 Indian Hills Drive, 30068 (Indian Hills, Walton): David and Emily Gay to John Markham; $690.000

2734 Suwanee Way, 30067 (Bentley Ridge, Wheeler): Richard Wright to Jennifer Pawlak; $192,500

3156 Hunterdon Court, 30067 (Somerset, Wheeler): Richmond Blackstone, executor to RE Property Holdings LLC; $325,000; RE Property Holdings LLC to Empire Properties LLC; $365,000

Dec. 15

733 Olde Towne Lane, 30068 (Hamptons of Olde Towne, Walton): Michael Stanchie IV and Angela Shane to Mi Kung Yun; $425,000

3411 Camelot Drive, 30062 (Camelot, Pope): DGS Residential Properties LLC to Kenneth and Valerie Robertson; $660,000

1290 Murdock Road, 30062 (Roswell Downs, Walton): The Seraphim Family Revocable Living Trust to Cora and John Cascone; $504,000

1295 Hilton Drive, 30062 (Sewell Springs, Walton): Pingqing Briggs to Xiao Lin; $470,000

1245 Stonecroft Way, 30062 (Stonecroft, Walton): Satish and Juhi Shah, trustees to Lee and Kimberly Macenczak; $1.6 million

3117 Dogwood Valley Court, 30068 (Mitsy Forest, Walton): Catherine Mallanda, executor to Mena Milad and Haba Nasr; $500,000

461 Meadowbrook Drive, 30067 (Meadow Brook, Wheeler): Curio Motorcars LLC to Rent Mi Car LLC; $263,168

2400 Crockett Drive, 30067 (Red Oak Park, Wheeler): Matthew Duckworth to D & D Real Estate Investments; $265,000

Dec. 16

2542 Bluff Stone Trace, 30066 (Carlile Acres, Lassiter): Michael Castro to Yuan Zhang; $285,000

3531 Stone Drive, 30062 (Lassiter): Ronald and Russell Thorburn, executors to Kevin and Sarah Lewelling; $495,000

3891 Bluffview Point, 30062 (Creekside Bluffs. Lassiter): Christian Bratton to Caitlin and Bryce France; $469,500

3740 Roselle Way, 30062 (Rosemary Place, Lassiter): Vandna Bhrany to Karthick Krishnasamy and Vedantha Ramanujam; $1.112 million

3515 Nettle Lane, 30075 (Hedgerow, Lassiter): Cody Smith and Melanie Webb to Mark Beese and Samantha Keeler; $565,000

3771 Manor House Drive, 30062 (Manor House, Pope): Angela Fowler to Caleb Sides and Alexandra Harrison; $535,000

3219 Rangers Gate Drive, 30062 (Pine Springs, Pope): Craig Aitken, executor to Opendoor Property Trust; $370,900

2564 Weeping Oak Trace, 30062 (Pope): Adam Mellen to Ryan and Samantha Morgan; $1.275 million

1390 Heritage Glen Drive, 30068 (Heritage Glen, Walton): Michael Monticup to Yao Shi and Lin Han; $480,000

885 Mitsy Ridge Drive, 30068 (Mitsy Forest, Walton): Lisa and William Guilford to Jonathan and Kara Ledoux and Steve and Regina DeMasi; $520,000

696 Fairfield Drive, 30068 (Indian Hills, Walton): Mesa Verde Assets LLC to Maria Callava and Adriana Estrella; $614,900

632 Indian Hills Parkway, 30068 (Indian Hills, Walton): Dorri Investments LLC to Jonell and Michael Westerman; $1.523 million

2747 Sunny Lane, 30067 (Red Oak Park, Wheeler): Denise Abshire, trustee to James and Sarah Stafford; $555,000

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