Christmas is still another week or so away but Keep Cobb Beautiful is getting out word now about the return of its Bring One for the Chipper recycling program that will take place on Jan. 5.
Live undecorated Christmas trees will be accepted from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. on that day at the following locations in the East Cobb area :
Home Depot, 4101 Roswell Road
Home Depot, 3605 Sandy Plains Road
Noonday Creek Park 489 Hawkins Store Road
Fullers Park, 3499 Robinson Road
All decorations, mesh and strings must be removed prior to dropping off.
Here’s more information information that’s being sent out via KCB:
The chipper program involves the entire community and countless volunteers. Since its inception, the program has recycled an estimated 5.9 million Christmas trees statewide.
The mulch from these trees has been used for playgrounds, local government beautification projects and individual yards.
You can support the chipper program by bringing your live undecorated Christmas tree to a designated drop off site or volunteering with your local coordinator to collect trees.
As a Keep Georgia Beautiful Foundation affiliate, Keep Cobb Beautiful works with sponsors to organize the recycling event for Cobb County. These sponsors include Home Depot, Davey Tree Expert Company, TAG Grinding Services Inc. and Cobb County PARKS.
Numerous local sponsors and volunteers also make contributions and provide in-kind services.
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The all-volunteer organization then interviews candidates in the fall before training classes take place from January through early April of 2019.
Here’s more about what applicants, and selected trainees, can expect:
The training is designed to meet the needs of the home gardener. Class topics include vegetable and fruit gardening, plant disease identification, insect control, ornamental shrubs, tree care, turfgrass management, annuals, perennials, pest identification, pest control, and Xeriscaping.
After completion of the training, fifty hours of volunteer service are required within the first year (thirty answering the horticulture hot-line at the extension office and twenty hours working in community garden projects). In subsequent years, twenty-five volunteer hours are required to remain an active Master Gardener.
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A Cobb greenways and trails master plan that would include extensions of the existing Johnson Ferry Trail and Noonday Creek Trail in East Cobb was approved last week by the Cobb Board of Commissioners.
The master plan, developed by Cobb DOT after more than a year of open houses and public feedback sessions, is the first for the county, and features the following components:
increasing connectivity between existing trails;
having trails in all six Cobb cities;
having 92 percent of all existing county parks within a mile of a trail;
having 57 percent of Cobb’s total population also within a mile of a trail.
The master plan also calls for eight “priority trail” projects, including the Johnson Ferry and Noonday Creek trails.
The Noonday Creek extension would cover 3.6 miles almost to the Cherokee County line, at an estimated cost between $11.1 million and $12.2 million.
The approval of the Cobb greenways and trails master plan does not include any additional funding for any projects that may be developed. Those matters would be taken up separately.
The commissioners also were briefed last week about the recommendations for a new Cobb parks master plan for 2018-2028, but there wasn’t a vote taken.
The proposed “investment” over that 10-year period, by a design firm hired to do a master plan study, comes to $239.8 million. The majority of the recommended spending, around $158 million, would be for new facilities and green space development. Another $80 million would be for maintenance of existing facilities.
the creation of an administrative services division;
the creation of a park maintenance plan;
the adoption of a comprehensive revenue policy;
enhanced branding and marketing to help generate revenues;
establishing a rental system for pavilion use;
increasing user fees;
expanded programming for fee generation;
assessing a per-participant maintenance fee;
increase staffing of Cobb Police Park Ranger staff.
Approval of the master plan was put on hold due to questions from commissioners. Approval makes it a “working document” for the county, but funding and spending issues are done in a separate process.
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On Saturday the public was invited by the Cobb Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs for an Ebenezer Road park preview to show off the newest parcels of green space purchased by the county.
Also at the event were District 3 Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell and Cobb commission chairman Mike Boyce.
The 18.3 acres at 4055 and 4057 Ebenezer Road were acquired earlier this year for a total of $1.7 million as part of the 2008 Cobb Parks Bond referendum, which was finally funded by county commissioners last year.
The land was held in the estate of John Strother, who died in 2015 at the age of 101.
The land, which will ultimately be developed into a passive park, was owned by the Strother family in side-by-side parcels and residences on Ebenezer Road near the intersection of Canton Road and Noonday Baptist Church.
The jewel of the property is a lake, and some visitors brought their dogs to make the trek around and enjoy a sunny weekend morning.
The funding approved by commissioners last year was for a total of $27.4 million. Voters approved $40 million in the 2008 referendum, but no bonds were issued due to the recession.
In 2016, an organization called the Cobb Parks Coalition pressed for the bonds to be issued, and now says the 2017 vote to provide partial funding is “a positive game-changer.”
Birrell said that all of the park bond funding has to be spent within three years to acquire green space.
A year since approval, Cobb commissioners have spent nearly $17 million of that money. On Tuesday they’re poised to spend another $8.3 million to purchase 22 acres of the Tritt property next to East Cobb Park, and preserve it as green space.
Another 7.7 acres will be donated, and the Friends for the East Cobb Park is donating $102,000 as part of the deal.
The Ebenezer Road properties are the first to be acquired with the bond money in Birrell’s district, which includes Northeast Cobb and part of the Kennesaw area.
The Tritt property, the subject of a denied rezoning request for a senior living city and related lawsuit, would be the first land acquisition in commissioner Bob Ott’s District 2, which includes most of East Cobb.
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Cobb PARKS is alerting us today that there’s still space available to attend the Hyde Farm Nature camp later this month.
It’s for rising third- through fifth-graders and takes place from June 18-22. The camp is an hour each day, from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m., and the total cost per child for the week is $65.
Registration information is available on the poster below.
Hyde Farm also has some other day camps this summer in connection with The Art Place-Mountain View and the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center.
The Hyde and Seek Artventure camps are for kids age 7-12. In addition to outdoor art sessions, campers will explore the Hyde Farm facility, hike to the Chattahoochee River and take in one of East Cobb’s most picturesque natural settings.
Those sessions cost $100 per child are from July 23-27 and are limited to 30 students each. One camp meets in the mornings, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and the other in the afternoons, from 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Parents must provide daily transportation to and from Hyde Farm (675 Hyde Farm Road).
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A panoramic view of Highland Lake, the centerpiece of the Loch Highland neighborhood. (East Cobb News photos by Wendy Parker)
When the Cobb Community Development Agency scheduled a series of public open houses in the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford area for this spring, residents of the East Cobb community of Loch Highland knew they had a good opportunity to be heard about a long-standing issue they claim hasn’t been adequately addressed by the county.
On Monday, at the second of three “JOSH” sessions to gain input on a range of community development issues, several Loch Highland residents turned out to provide feedback, and make their case for dealing with stormwater problems.
Located between Mabry Road and Wesley Chapel Road, and near the top of the “JOSH” study area (see map inset below, and full-size map here), Loch Highland provides one of the more scenic community environments in East Cobb. Opened in the 1970s and featuring wood-framed homes to blend in with natural surroundings, Loch Highland was designed to feel like a resort while being convenient for commuting and everyday suburban life.
For years Loch Highland homeowners have taken it upon themselves, and at their own expense, to clean out the two scenic lakes that often get filled with silt and other sediments from rain and storms.
Even with a slender dam and spillway that connects both lakes under Loch Highland Pass, the main road in the neighborhood, the lakes often flood during heavy rains. There were lengthy negotiations during the 1980s between Cobb and Loch Highland residents over how to pay for damage to the dam caused during a period of heavy development.
The Loch Highland neighborhood and lakes are circled in red, and are located at the north end of the “JOSH” study area.
“We probably have the largest catchment area in this part of the county,” said Dave Taylor, a long-time Loch Highland resident.
What he and some of his neighbors have been suggesting for years is what they emphasized at Monday’s meeting at Chestnut Ridge Christian Church: The establishment of a stormwater utility fee that would be earmarked for keeping the lakes clean.
“Half of our [homeowners association] dues go to the maintenance of the lakes,” Taylor said. He added that while the lake is healthy, upstream development threatens that health.
More than that, homeowners in Loch Highland, which number around 400, wonder how much more it will cost them, with no financial relief in sight.
Jim Wallace, who’s lived in Loch Highland for more than 40 years, estimates that neighbors have spent nearly $1 million on lake cleanup since the year 2000.
He’s upset that water that runs downstream from public roads and lands have become the sole burden of private property owners.
“If you see an unmowed median in a road, [county] commissioners will hear about it,” Wallace said. “But not when it’s a lake.” Even on private property, “it serves a public purpose.”
That public purpose in Loch Highland, with the dam and spillway bolstering one of the largest retention ponds in Cobb County, is to prevent further stormwater runoff from affecting other communities.
The Loch Highland community website has an information page about the stormwater issues, including an explanation of how a stormwater utility fee would work. That fee would be included in water bills and would cost around $3.50 a month for a home of around 2,800 square feet. The actual rate would be calculated on the amount of impervious surfaces for each home.
When asked if that’s just a complicated way of proposing a tax, Taylor denied that, pointing out that the collected fee revenue would go only to stormwater maintenance functions.
Cobb has 130 dams and more than 15,000 retention ponds, and more than 20 percent of its land is located in a flood plain.
While the JOSH meetings cover many topics, from land use and transportation to parks and other amenities, stormwater management was bound to be a subject of interest. The study area is bordered on the east by Willeo Creek and includes a number of other lakes and ponds.
Cobb Planning Commissioner Thea Powell, a former Cobb commissioner and East Cobb Civic Association leader who lives in nearby Chimney Lake, said another factor that has frustrated citizens about stormwater concerns is that “everything that affects us is outside the study area.”
She noted that the “JOSH” open houses are a rare occasion in which feedback on stormwater issues has been encouraged.
David Breaden, at left, of the Cobb Stormwater Management office, looks over a county topographical map with a citizen at Monday’s “JOSH” open house.
“The fact that the county is looking at this is good,” Powell said.
Jason Gaines, planning division director for the Cobb Community Development Agency, acknowledged that stormwater issues were one of the main areas of input his office is seeking in the JOSH process, which was established at the behest of District 2 Cobb commissioner Bob Ott.
Gaines said a more formal presentation summarizing the first two meetings will take place at the final meeting on May 8, also at the Chestnut Ridge Christian Church (2663 Johnson Ferry Road), from 7-9 p.m.
The master plan concept that is developed from the JOSH meetings will be incorporated into the Cobb 2040 Comprehensive Plan.
Citizens can offer feedback online, and view documents, maps and other information related to the study area, by visiting the JOSH website.
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A special tree was planted at Skip Wells Park in Northeast Cobb on Friday to celebrate Georgia Arbor Day. While the federal holiday began in 1872, Arbor Day in Georgia was first proclaimed in 1890, and there’s been an official state designation since 1941.
From L-R: Donovan of U.S. Rep. Karen Handel’s office; Ga. State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick; Georgia Forestry Commission arborist Joe Burgess; Richard Trapanese, grandfather of Skip Wells; and Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell.
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Thanks to a $50,000 grant, selected Cobb County residents will soon be able to recycle some plastic items that now get sent to landfills.
The Hefty EnergyBag program will allow Keep Cobb Beautiful, an agency of Cobb County government, to divert currently non-recyclable plastics—including a variety of basic household items—for recycling.
The grant, awarded by Keep America Beautiful and Dow Packaging and Specialty Plastics, was announced last week, and implementation details are still to come, including a timeline for the start of the program. Cobb County and Boise, Idaho were selected as local governments to receive the grant funding.
KCB will purchase orange Hefty EnergyBags that will be distributed to households participating in the pilot project. Plastics that are now commonly thrown out with general trash—such as chip bags, juice pouches, frozen vegetable bags, pet food bags, candy wrappers and utensils—will be collected in the bags and set aside for curbside pickup with regular trash bags.
Instead of being sent to a landfill, however, the orange bags will be delivered to a WestRock materials facility in Marietta, and recycled plastic items will be converted into renewable energy resources. Other participants in the Cobb program include the hauling company American Disposal and other local groups to be announced later.
The Hefty EnergyBag program was launched by Dow in 2014 and the first full-scale program got underway in Omaha in 2016.
“Keep Cobb Beautiful Inc. is excited about this innovative program and is looking forward to bringing plastic recovery options and technology to Cobb County residents,” Kimberly White, executive director for Keep Cobb Beautiful, said in a statement.
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Christmas is over, but you’ve still got time to enjoy your tree before Keep Cobb Beautiful’s annual free recycling event.
The date for “Bring One for the Chipper” is next Saturday, Jan. 6, and there’s one East Cobb location change from previous years.
Sewell Park is not a drop-off point due to the construction of the new library and road entrance that’s still being finished.
But four other locations in East Cobb return as venues. Two of them are Cobb public parks:
Fullers Park, 3499 Robinson Road;
Noonday Creek Park, 489 Hawkins Store Road.
The other locations are the Home Depot stores at Providence Square Shopping Center, 4101 Roswell Road, and at Highland Plaza, 3605 Sandy Plains Road.
The times to drop off trees at all locations are between 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Chipper program includes free mulch; only trees with all decorations removed will be accepted.
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The Hyde brothers were the last in a long line of family farmers in what was rural East Cobb County. The Hyde property, located at the end of the road named for them, Hyde Road, runs off Lower Roswell Road. It is now owned by Cobb County government who have allocated a piece of land and have partnered with the Cobb Master Gardeners to create the brand new Hyde Farm Community Garden. The space is completely fenced with irrigation available and will be comprised of 40 garden plots measuring 4 ft. by 8 ft. each.
“It will be a fantastic space for our community! We believe community gardens really connect people to their food, their land and each other,” says Master Gardener Randy Threatte.
Plots will be filled with excellent planting soil from SuperSo Soil3 and will be ready for planting winter crops and herbs around Thanksgiving. Plots are available to rent at a cost of $50/year for a 12-month growing season from March 1 through February 28. The first gardeners renting will get an added advantage of an additional free 3 months as the first rental year will run from November 2017 through February 2019. Two handicap accessible raised beds are available as well as two beds with priority to veterans. Reservations may be made on a first come first serve basis by contacting Master Gardener Randy Threatte at 404-431-3112 or threatte@bellsouth.net. Educational gardening and seed starting classes will also be held at the property – free and open to the public.
Solar panels on the roof of Montrose Animal Hospital were installed in July. (East Cobb News photos by Wendy Parker)
Dr. James Davis was admittedly an unlikely advocate of solar energy when he began researching the topic. Since 2011, Davis has been the owner of the Montrose Animal Hospital, an East Cobb veterinary clinic, and was looking for cost savings, as many business owners do.
While the benefits of solar energy have been touted by environmentalists, Davis, who says he personally believes in nuclear energy, kept an open mind.
He noticed that as the cost for purchasing solar panels was coming down, the energy savings were going up, as far as he could discern from government estimates that he found during his research.
“I’m not exactly a save the planet guy,” Davis said, “but if I can save a little money and the planet at the same time, then I’m all on board.”
Dr. James Davis of the Montrose Animal Hospital keeps track of energy production from the rooftop solar panels with an app on his mobile phone.
In July, his clinic on Woodlawn Drive was equipped with solar panels on the roof that produce enough electricity to seriously cut into energy use. He said the panels already are reducing the clinic’s electricity bill, which had averaged around $1,700 a month, by around 45 percent.
He said about 20 percent of Montrose’s electric bill is for lighting, and the solar panels could reduce that to four percent.
“I’ve done a lot of analysis, and it makes more sense for businesses” to adopt solar solutions, he said. In addition to federal tax credits he said that another advantage to having the panels “is zero maintenance.”
But deciding to make the switch is still a sizable investment, and one with a longer term payoff. After making a down payment, Davis secured a loan for the panels, similar to buying a home, purchasing them from Creative Solar USA in Kennesaw.
“The costs are coming down, they’re more affordable,” he said. “We could make the payments.”
The solar panels at the 7,000-square-foot Montrose clinic are projected to have a break-even effect in about six-and-a-half years. Davis said he also tracks other local businesses that have solar equipment, and said he’s found “surprisingly few” in the East Cobb area.
The clinic’s solar production momentarily dropped to zero during the eclipse.
Davis, who also operates the Shiloh Veterinary Clinic in Kennesaw, follows solar production figures on a mobile phone app included his purchase of the panels. He familiarized himself with its features just in time to track the energy drop that came on the solar eclipse on Aug. 21.
The Montrose staff celebrated the event with a barbecue in the clinic’s back yard. Davis looked at his app, and noticed solar production was “basically was at zero” as the eclipse passed over Georgia on a bright, sunny afternoon.
Another tool Davis uses is Google’s Project Sunroof, which estimates available sunlight for a particular location.
As his new solar investment continues to evolve, tracking data like that will be helpful, not only because solar production generally falls in the winter months, but also because he’s considering buying panels for his other clinic.
The McFarlane Nature Park features a 1940s-era country home and nature garden that’s open to the public. (East Cobb News photos and slideshow by Wendy Parker)
At the end of a short gravel road off Paper Mill Road is a slice of Southern rural life that’s been preserved close to what its longtime owner had in mind. In addition to a rustic farm home and wide open green spaces, the McFarlane Nature Park also includes a nature garden that was featured on Sunday as part of the first East Cobb Garden Tour. Four nearby private homes also were part of the tour.
The dining room of the 1941 home, designed by Henry Toombs, architect of the Little White House in Warm Springs. Florence and William McFarlane bought the house in 1958. John Stewart has been caretaker at McFarlane for 22 years. Valerie Stewart, John’s wife and also a caretaker, points out the wall and ceiling panels that were part of the home’s original construction.A guest room on the ground floor. The home has two chimneys and four fireplaces, including one with materials from the Sope Creek quarry.
The McFarlanes rode horses and raised lineage dogs on their property, which at one time stretched to 1,500 acres. When Florence McFarlane died in 1990, she stated in her will a desire to keep the remaining 11.5 acres of her property for a natural preserve and green space, instead of suburban development.
After court rulings, the non-profit Cobb Land Trust became the lease owner of the McFarlane property in 1992, and the nearby Chattahoochee Plantation Community Association donated funding for repairs and renovations that were needed. Restoring McFarlane was the first project for the Cobb Land Trust, which preserves land and property with historical and cultural value.
Before the McFarlanes lived here, the land was part of a larger agricultural spread owned by Hughes Spalding Sr., a noted Atlanta attorney.
Flowers and plants on the McFarlane property are tended to by volunteers from Cobb Master Gardeners, which has a spring flower show here in the spring. Continued support also comes from the Chattahoochee Plantation Women’s Club and there have been Art in the Park fundraisers since 2013.
Garden paths are common throughout the McFarlane property, which also has a pavilion and picnic tables. The paths have been built and maintained by local boys as part of their Eagle Scout commitments. East Cobb resident Ed Cahill painting in the nature garden.
