The spring season of Music in the Park at East Cobb Park kicks off Sunday with a concert by Surrender Hill, a duo of Robin Dean Salmon and Afton Seekins featuring folk, country and Americana songs.
The concert takes place at the concert stage from 4-6 p.m. and is free to the public. Attendees may bring lawn chairs, blankets and food and drink.
Music in the Park is presented by the Friends for the East Cobb Park volunteers and is sponsored by Wellstar Health Park, the Rotary Club of East Cobb, Frameworks Gallery and Site One Landscape and Supply.
Music in the Park continues on April 14 with the local duo The Woody’s, on May 19 with the Dark Star Brothers and on June 2 with Jeannie Caryn.
A fall series of concerts will be announced later.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
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!
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!
Cobb Police identified the suspect as Aedan Smith, 17, who was booked into the Cobb County Adult Detention Center Wednesday night.
Sgt. Eric Smith, a Cobb P0lice spokesman, said the victim, Earl Nichols, 18, is in critical condition at Wellstar Kennestone Hospital.
Police said Nichols was found with several puncture wounds, likely from a knife, when Cobb Police were called to the scene by Cobb school district police.
Police said that based on witness interviews, they identified Smith as the suspect, and that the two boys had had a physical altercation.
Aedan Smith was charged with aggravated assault and possessing a weapon on a school campus.
According to Cobb Sheriff’s Office booking reports, he was being held on $10,000 bond, but the Cobb Magistrate Court Clerk’s office said Thursday morning that bond has been revoked.
ORIGINAL REPORT:
A student stabbed another student at Sprayberry High School Wednesday morning, prompting a code red alert.
The suspected assailant was later arrested, the Cobb school district said.
A message went out to the school community said that the assailant fled the scene and the victim was being treated for injuries, but didn’t provide more details.
“Earlier today, a student used a knife to injure another student. The victim has been treated for their injuries,” a Cobb County School District spokeswoman said in a statement.
“The campus is secure, and thanks to the quick response of police the suspect is custody. Learn how we keep Cobb schools safe by visiting www.cobbshield.com and learn about Cobb’s shield of protection in this podcast.”
Wednesday’s attack at Sprayberry is the second at a Cobb high school in recent weeks.
On Feb. 1, two former McEachern High School students were shot in the school’s parking lot during an altercation and four suspects—all of them teens—have been arrested.
The situation prompted two community town halls in that area by Cobb school board member Tre’ Hutchins.
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!
The townhome proposal (outlined in yellow) called for much higher density than surrounding homes.
A proposed 74-unit townhome development in a single-family residential area of Northeast Cobb was unanimously rejected Tuesday by the Cobb Board of Commissioners.
They didn’t deliberate long to deny a request by Ashwani Kumar Kaura to rezone 13 acres on Lindsey Way off Alabama Road from from single-family residential (R-20) to fee-simple townhome (FST).
The Cobb Planning Commission also recommended denial earlier this month. Four residents of nearby neighborhoods spoke in opposition.
Tom Ganschow, who lives next to the Kaura property on Fitts Drive in the Bernham Woods subdivision, said his many in his neighborhood signed a petition in opposition.
“We feel we’ve been deceived in our neighborhood because we never saw signs posted in our area” about the rezoning request.
He mentioned a news report (ours from March 2) and said that otherwise, “we’d still be in the dark.”
The homes there were built mostly in the 1970s and 1980s, and said there’s “no consideration for the homeowners and the character of Northeast Cobb.”
He said putting up some R-20 homes would be the best option, and that the applicant’s request for variances “ought to be a red flag.”
Kaura’s son represented his father, who has had medical issues out of state, and admitted that after traveling from Arizona Monday “I am not prepared today.”
The property has been in the family for more than 40 years, he said, and stated a desire to have it developed.
Commissioner JoAnn Birrell, who represents the area, quickly made a motion to deny the request, noting the 105 signatures on the petition.
“This isn’t really appropriate for the area,” she said. The only townhomes she recalls nearby were along Shallowford Road a decade or so ago, and located near a shopping center.
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!
Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell—who has expressed opposition to the measure—and Cobb Water System director Judy Jones presided at the Tim D. Lee Center.
Some of the several dozen or so citizens who attended occasionally interrupted. A question-and-answer period was at times difficult to keep under control.
Amid cries of “rain tax” and concerns over a service fee being imposed when Cobb voters will be asked to approve a 30-year transit tax in November, the sense of anger was evident.
“You’re coming for our money!” shouted East Cobb resident Hill Wright, who’s been a vocal critic of the stormwater fee and is part of a group opposing it called CobbTaxRevolt.com.
He added that “they”—meaning county commissioners—”want us to pay, instead of them prioritizing their spending.”
Hill Wright
A few others apologized to Jones, telling them she wasn’t the person they’re upset with.
Jones patiently explained that stormwater charges are included on water and sewer bills, and for the need to bill them separately so that the aging system can be upgraded and properly maintained.
The fee has been suggested since damaging floods in 2021 that affected many homeowners in East Cobb, some of whom were saddled paying for expensive repairs.
“The way we’re charging now, residential customers are paying more than commercial customers,” she said. “I’m trying to fix that. But I have to have more money to do that. The way we do it now is not equitable.”
Cobb commissioners will be asked next Tuesday to do that, and to approve a dedicated fee that Jones said could range from $2 to $12 a month for most residential customers. Roughly two-thirds of residential customers would pay $4 or less a month, according to her presentation.
The proposed code amendments include basing that charge on the amount of impervious surfaces, which she said would mean commercial customers typically would be charged more.
Stormwater services are handled by the water department to the tune of $8.4 million a year, a figure Jones said isn’t enough to do what’s needed.
“It takes money to do this work,” she noted, adding that her own department doesn’t have dedicated stormwater repair crews. They’re contracted out, but some private companies on occasion decline the work.
The Cobb Water System for years has transferred some of its revenues to the county general fund—currently 6 percent, around $15 million.
Birrell said she cannot support a fee as long as that continues, and East Cobb resident Larry Savage blamed her colleagues.
“The Board of Commissioners refused to fund this thing because they had other priorities, and that has to change,” he said.
He was followed by East Cobb civic activist Debbie Fisher, who said that “we’re being taxed enough already.”
She rattled off other factors, such as increased density, for growing stormwater problems, mentioning the new MarketPlace Terrell Mill multi-use development on Powers Ferry Road, as well as county spending on outside consultants, among other expenses.
“And yet, you want us to pay more,” she said, calling it “the big steal.”
Looking at Jones, Fisher—a Republican appointee to the Cobb Elections Board—mentioned the three Democratic commissioners by name, saying they’re “the people who should be up there taking the shots.”
Other town halls on the stormwater fee are being held this week in elsewhere in Cobb before the commissioners’ vote next Tuesday. That also includes a final public hearing on the issue.
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!
A Cobb judge this week sentenced a man to life without parole for shooting his friend to death at an apartment complex off Delk Road in 2020.
Kehari Yarber
The Cobb District Attorney’s Office said that Kehari Yarber, 26, was found guilty of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm in commission of a felony by a Cobb Superior Court jury last week.
Judge Robert D. Leonard sentenced him to life without the possibility of parole plus an additional five years to be served consecutively.
The DA’s office said in a release that police were called to an area between the Stratford Ridge complex and the Atrium at Bentley complex on Oct. 31, 2020, and found a male body in the woods.
The release said that Blake Porter, 20, was pronounced dead on the scene, and that detectives found surveillance footage showing him walking in that area with another male on the evening of Oct. 30.
According to the release, there was a muzzle flash that appeared on the video, followed by a second muzzle flash some seconds later.
The DA’s office didn’t indicate a possible motive for the shooting, but said in the release that family members described Yarber as a close friend of Porter, with some calling him his “twin.”
The DA’s office said Yarber was identified as the other man from footage at a nearby Shell station and confirmed by images from friends and social media. The release said Yarber completed a transaction at the gas station before leaving.
According to the release, Yarber was arrested in ClaytonCounty on Dec. 15, 2020.
“I am grateful for the dedication of law enforcement and the thorough work of our prosecutors in securing justice for Blake Porter and his loved ones. Our office will continue to pursue justice for victims and hold those who commit such senseless acts of violence accountable,” Cobb DA Flynn D. Broady Jr. said in the release.
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!
Cobb County Government said Tuesday that for the next week, traffic will be affected on Roswell Road at East Cobb Drive as emergency sewer repairs are made
Crews will begin work Wednesday and continue weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. through next Tuesday, government spokesman Ross Cavitt said.
Two lanes—one in either direction on Roswell Road—and the shoulder at the intersection will be closed. In addition, Cavitt said East Cobb Drive will be restricted to right turn only onto Roswell Road (see map above).
No work will be scheduled over the weekend, Cavitt said.
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!
The SAM Foundation–which stands for Suicide Awareness Means Hope—is holding Sowing Seeds of Hope walk Sunday at Wheeler High School to raise funds and awareness for its work.
The event takes place from 2-4 at the Wheeler track (375 Holt Road) and proceeds will go toward mental health awareness, support those affected by suicide, foster community understanding and help break the silence and stigma of mental health issues.
There will be food, activities, vendors and more.
The SAM Foundation is a non-profit that was started by the sisters of a young Alabama man named Sam Johnson who died by suicide in 2002.
For more information, and to register, click here or use the QR code on the image at the right.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
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!
A family testimonial can provide a life-altering experience.
When starting a new business, Laura Yeatts of East Cobb said her sister-in-law’s health transformation “was kind of my why.”
She and her family moved from Virginia two years ago, and in November opened a Fit Body Boot Camp franchise on East Cobb Drive.
Her brother’s sister enrolled in another Fit Body Boot Camp, “and completely changed her life around.”
What Yeatts saw was a need to reach out to “people who need a gym that isn’t intimidating.”
Her studio, which opened in November, provides 30-minute workouts that each member can tailor for their own needs, with instructors. Elements include cardio, weights, stations, ropes and bikes, chopped up into smaller time blocks.
The class sizes typically range between 5-15 people and the studio is open Monday-Saturday.
“Every day is different,” Yeatts said. “The coaches mix it up constantly,” and each session includes stretching and recovery.”
She and her husband are co-owners but have corporate jobs, and says that “the coaches run the show.”
Thus far she’s signed up around 50 members, and is getting involved with local PTA and sports team sponsors.
Membership costs vary, and an unlimited package is $40 a week, with typically 3-5 classes.
“It’s good to have a fitness-minded community,” she said. “If I can change one person’s life, it’s all worth it.”
Fit Body Boot Camp
1344 East Cobb Drive
770-818-6080
Walk With a Doc
Dr. Dolapo Babaloa shows a nutritional chart that’s a vital guide to her approach to treating obesity issues.
When Dr. Dolapo Babalola opened a wellness clinic in East Cobb last summer, it was with the aim of reaching out to the community beyond her own facility.
Babalola, who practiced at Grady Memorial Hospital for 15 years, focuses on helping patients with obesity issues with a holistic approach.
Her clinic, Living At Your Best Wellness, uses what’s called the Direct Primary Care model via flat monthly membership fees.
During her time in a larger health network, she witnessed the frustration of patients “who couldn’t see their doctor when they want them.”
Her practice is what she calls a one-stop for those seeking to improve their wellness where “we see the whole person.
“It’s not just diet and exercise,” Babalola says from her office on Johnson Ferry Place. “We’re trained in nutrition, sleep and other factors as well.”
One of the questions she says she asks her patients is very simple: “What’s your day like? What is your evening like?”
While they get initial physiological exams, understanding their everyday habits is at the heart of this approach to better health.
She said one client came in at 349 pounds, and has lost 80, “because accountability matters.” Those between-office-visits consultations include phone and text conversations.
“Dr. Babs”—who has lived in East Cobb for 13 years with children at Walton, Dodgen and East Side schools—meets with patients and anyone else once a month in her “Walk With A Doc” event at East Cobb Park.
It’s the second Saturday of each month starting at 9 a.m., and includes stretching followed by 30 minutes of walking at any pace.
“Walking for mental health is good,” she says. “You feel more energized and you get to start somewhere.”
Living At Your Finest Wellness
1230 Johnson Ferry Place, Building A-20
678-403-2399
Music Studio Atlanta Open House
The East Cobb location of Music Studio Atlanta (2100 Roswell Road, Suite 1128), is having an Open House through Saturday as part of “Teach Music Week.”
Participants will get chances to win discounts on music lessons and meet the staff. The event is 3-7 through Friday and 10-4 Saturday.
Send us your biz news!
We’d love to hear from local businesses about what’s going on in the local business scene: Openings, ribbon-cuttings, closings, anniversaries, new management, etc.
We also take tips from the public about these items as well, so if you see something, let us know,
E-mail us: editor@eastcobbnews.com with your information, questions, photos, announcements, etc.
Advertise with us!
East Cobb News is the only daily news resource covering this community, and we’re growing! Reach our highly engaged audience with dynamic, targeted and measurable digital advertising with repeated exposure that’s unmatched in this market!
We sell display and newsletter ads and sponsored posts, as well as exclusive campaigns for specialty content, including East Cobb Biz Scene.
For more information, e-mail us: advertising@eastcobbnews.com.
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!
It’s been feeling and looking like spring in Cobb, but winter’s not quite finished.
The first official day of spring is Tuesday, but a freeze watch will be in effect from midnight Tuesday to 10 a.m. Tuesday as low overnight temperatures could drop to the high 20s.
A cold front will be moving through North Georgia (freeze watch area shown in turqouise) that will linger into Wednesday.
High temperatures will be only in the mid-50s Monday and Tuesday, but warmer weather will return by Wednesday, with highs in the high 60s and low 70s expected for at least another week.
Lows during that time will rise to the high 40s and low 50s, and sunny weather is in store for most of the rest of the week.
More details, and an extended forecast from the National Weather Service, can be found by clicking here.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
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!
The following East Cobb residential real estate sales were compiled from agency reports. They include the subdivision name, high school attendance zone and sales price:
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!
A Republican candidate who qualified to run for the District 2 seat on the Cobb Board of Commissioners has been disqualified.
The Cobb Board of Elections voted 4-1 on Friday, along partisan lines, to have Alicia Adams removed from the May 21 ballot.
During a special-called meeting of the board, East Cobb resident Mindy Seger, an ally of outgoing District 2 Democratic commissioner Jerica Richardson, said in her formal challenge that Adams didn’t live in District 2.
The Cobb Elections Board is honoring “home rule” maps approved by commission Democrats instead of maps approved by the Georgia legislature as a legal dispute over those lines continues.
The former maps include some of East Cobb in District 2, while the latter placed most of East Cobb in District 3, represented by Republican commissioner JoAnn Birrell.
Cobb Superior Court Judge Ann Harris ruled last month that the home rule maps violate the Georgia Constitution, but the county is appealing, and the Georgia Court of Appeals scheduled to hear oral arguments April 17.
In the meantime, the Elections Board announced it would be following the home rule maps.
In her challenge, Seger said that under those maps, Adams—a member of the Cobb Republican Women’s Club—actually lives in District 3, at a residence with a Kennesaw address.
“There is no factual dispute,” Seger said. “She’s either in the district or she isn’t.”
Chuck Boring, an attorney for Adams, said she qualified according to a map that was deemed by Harris and an opinion of the Georgia Attorney General’s office to be the “lawful Constitutional map.
“The Board of Commissioners has substituted their opinion . . . . and because of that I don’t think it’s appropriate.”
Cobb GOP chair Salleigh Grubbs called the issue “a hot mess express” and said she’s been asking for clarification on which maps were to be used, adding that the election board’s decision to use the home rule maps came “at the 11th hour.”
After an executive session, the elections board cast its vote, with the four Democratic appointees voting in favor of disqualifying Adams.
Debbie Fisher of East Cobb, the only Republican appointee, voted against the motion to disqualify.
The decision leaves Pam Reardon of East Cobb, also a Republican activist, as the only GOP candidate to qualify.
Five Democrats qualified. They include Kevin Redmon of East Cobb, a former Richardson community advisor; former Cobb school board member Jaha Howard; and former State Rep. Erick Allen, who as Cobb legislative delegation chairman drew the home rule maps.
During qualifying, former Marietta City Council member Reggie Copeland and Don Barth, a resident of East Marietta, attempted to qualify as Democrats in District 2 but were told they did not live within the home rule map boundaries and were turned away.
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!
A motorcyclist was killed Wednesday after his bike collided with a Porsche on Holly Springs Road, near the Davis Road roundabout, Cobb Police said.
Officer Aaron Wilson said in a release that Trevion Oglesby, 27, of Marietta, was pronounced dead after being taken to Wellstar Kennestone Hospital.
Police said Oglesby was riding northbound on Holly Springs south of the roundabout on a 2017 Honda CBR500R at 7:40 a.m. Wednesday when he tried to avoid a vehicle in front of him that had slowed down to turn right into a construction site.
Wilson said Oglesby lost control of the motorcycle and it veered into the southbound lane, where Edward Dunphy, 47, of Roswell, was driving a 2017 Porsche 911.
According to police, Dunphy pulled into a driveway to avoid a collision but the motorcycle struck the front left side of the Porsche.
Wilson said Dunphy was not injured and that anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Cobb Police at 770-499-3987.
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!
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!
The polls have closed and the votes are being counted in Tuesday’s Georgia presidential primaries.
All of the major challengers to Democratic President Joe Biden and Republican former President Donald Trump have suspended or ended their campaigns, but some of those candidates’ names were on the ballot.
The Georgia Secretary of State’s office is compiling the results, and you can find the statewide results by clicking here; if you’re looking for Cobb County results, you can click here.
Later in the week, we’ll break down how East Cobb precincts voted.
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!
Cobb citizens spoke out on Tuesday against a proposed stormwater fee they said unfairly burdens homeowners and is being rushed with limited time for public input.
During a public hearing following presentation of proposed code amendments, a number of East Cobb residents turned out to oppose a proposed fee based on impervious surfaces, generally ranging from $2 to $12 for residential customers, and typically more for commercial customers.
Some called the charge, added to their water and sewer bill and that would go into effect in August, a “rain tax,” although proponents of the measure have been calling it a fee.
The fee has been suggested since damaging floods in 2021 that affected many homeowners in East Cobb, some of whom were saddled paying for expensive repairs.
Cobb Water and Sewer pays for stormwater maintenance to the tune of $8 million a year, but says it lacks staffing and resources to handle demands on an aging and growing stormwater system.
“The county is going forward with this burdensome rain tax without committing these future funds properly,” East Cobb resident Jan Barton said during the public hearing. “We have an aging infrastructure that the county is requiring homeowners to remedy.
‘”This is wrong on so many levels.”
One of the code amendments would transfer responsibility for maintaining retention ponds in new subdivisions to that development’s homeowners association, and away from the county.
Richard Grome of the East Cobb Civic Association said that some homeowners will be paying twice if they live in a subdivision where they already are paying for private stormwater measures.
He said the proposed solution to stormwater upkeep seems “rather dictatorial and heavy-handed in its language” and asked that some of the code amendments be held for further study.
That was a sentiment echoed by others.
“I think you’re rushing through this very, very fast,” Marietta resident Don Barth said. “The little time we have to get involved is not enough.”
Hill Wright of East Cobb, who organized citizens over the flood damage in 2021, spoke at the hearing. He also sent out a release later saying that “while Cobb County is collecting its rain tax from residents, Cobb County will mandate homeowner associations collect money from the same homeowners to maintain the stormwater infrastructure in their neighborhood. Not Fair.”
Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid said during the hearing that citizens are already being charged for stormwater expenses through their water bills, “based on how much you drink, instead of how much your property may be contributing to stormwater.”
She said the new fee would be a “more equitable way to charge.”
Cobb Commissioner JoAnn Birrell will holding a town hall on the stormwater issue Thursday from 6-7:30 p.m. at the Tim D. Lee Senior Center (3332 Sandy Plains Road).
She and commissioner Keli Gambrill have said they oppose a new fee, calling it a tax, and Birrell objects to new charges as long as the water department transfers some of its revenues (around 6 percent) to the county’s general fund.
Commissioners will hold another public hearing and a vote on the code amendments March 26.
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!
Cobb Police said a man who is suspected of stabbing another man to death on Monday has turned himself in.
Officer Aaron Wilson said in a release that Randy Graham, 50, of Smyrna, is charged with attacking Herman Robinson, 40, of Marietta, with a knife in the 2600 block of Windy Hill Road at 3:25 p.m. Monday.
Police said Graham fled the scene, and when police arrived, they found Robinson with multiple stab wounds. He was taken to Wellstar Kennestone Hospital but died there, Wilson said.
Police said Graham contacted 911 several hours later and turned himself in. According to the Cobb Sheriff’s Office, he was booked in the Cobb Adult Detention Center early Tuesday morning.
Police said Robinson’s next of kin have been notified.
Graham is charged with murder, possession of a knife while committing a crime, and aggravated assault and is being held without bond.
Police said the investigation continues, and anyone with information contact Cobb Police at 770-499-3945.
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!
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
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!
There’s not much suspense attached to Tuesday’s Georgia presidential primaries, but the polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. for those casting election-day votes.
All of the major challengers to Democratic President Joe Biden and Republican former President Donald Trump have suspended or ended their campaigns, but some of those candidates’ names will still be on the ballot.
Cobb Elections said that advance voting for the primary has been very light, with fewer than 30,000 votes cast.
But the results figure to be heavily watched as a harbinger for the general election to come in November, especially since Georgia is among the key swing states in the nation, and given the results from 2020.
Biden won by less than 12,000 votes after multiple recounts, but Trump and his supporters have claimed those results were rigged.
That ultimately led to indictments of Trump and 18 others by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis on charges of racketeering, conspiracy and other charges.
How Tuesday’s voting plays out will be especially watched in metro Atlanta, and in suburbs like Cobb which once were Republican strongholds but have been trending Democratic in recent election cycles.
The Cobb Board of Elections announced several precinct changes that will be in effect for the presidential primaries, and three of them are in East Cobb:
Addison: From Legacy Church (1040 Blackwell Road), to Kulture Event Center (2933 Canton Road, Suite 290)
East Piedmont 01: From Elizabeth Baptist Church (315 Kurtz Road), to Shady Grove Baptist Church (1654 Bells Ferry Road)
Roswell 01: East Cobb Church of Christ (5240 Roswell Road), to Catholic Church of St. Ann (4905 Roswell Road)
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!
The following East Cobb residential real estate sales were compiled from agency reports. They include the subdivision name, high school attendance zone and sales price:
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!
Cobb residential and commercial water and sewer customers would be assessed an additional fee for stormwater management under a code amendment proposal to go before the Cobb Board of Commissioners this month.
Cobb Water System director Judy Jones.
The proposed code amendment would change a dedicated fee based on the amount of impervious surface of a property. Cobb currently doesn’t charge for that, but has funded stormwater maintenance through water and sewer revenues.
The county has admitted it lacks staffing and resources to adequately handle demands on the system, which include older and failing pipes and maintenance of several hundred detention ponds.
Those concerns were accelerated following floods in East Cobb and elsewhere in the county in 2021, and prompted commissioners to explore the possibility of stormwater fees.
The first hearing on the proposed stormwater fee is Tuesday at 9 a.m., with a second hearing and a scheduled vote on March 26 at 7 p.m.
Commissioner JoAnn Birrell of District 3 in East Cobb is holding a public meeting next Thursday, March 14, at the Tim D. Lee Senior Center (3332 Sandy Plains Road) from 6-7:30 p.m., along with Cobb Water and Sewer director Judy Jones.
The proposed code amendment (you can read it here) doesn’t specify a rate structure for the stormwater fees, which would be collected from what’s referred to as an “enterprise fund.”
The Cobb water system currently spends $8.4 million a year on stormwater costs, including capital improvement projects. In November, Jones presented nine options for expanded services that would increase that total to $19 million annually if they were all approved, by collecting $5.01 a month in stormwater fees from individual customers.
Birrell has previously expressed opposition to the stormwater fee, which she considers a tax.
The proposal has been criticized by East Cobb resident Larry Savage, a former candidate for Cobb Commission Chairmain, who makes the same argument.
In an e-mailed message to media and others sent out last week, Savage said while the intent of moving stormwater costs to the water department was to free up the county’s general fund, the current proposal is a tax that that is unlawful because all taxation in Georgia is under the legislature.
“The idea now is to turn stormwater into a cash cow by charging EVERY PROPERTY OWNER a tax based on the area of land covered by impervious surface,” Savage wrote. “Note that I referred to it as a tax. Under the leadership of Chairwoman Cupid, the BoC agreed to call this a ‘fee’ instead of a ‘tax.’ Anyone who would do this clearly believes the people of Cobb County are stupid.”
The full agenda for Tuesday’s meeting can be viewed by clicking here; the meeting begins at 9 a.m. in the second floor board room of the Cobb government building (100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta).
You also can watch on the county’s website and YouTube channels and on Cobb TV 23 on Comcast Cable.
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!
He was followed by East Cobb civic activist Debbie Fisher, who said that “we’re being taxed enough already.”
Membership costs vary, and an unlimited package is $40 a week, with typically 3-5 classes.
