East Cobb Government Archives

Cobb County government issues service reopening schedule

May 18, 2020 4:40 PM by Wendy Parker

Cobb libraries Thanksgiving week events — *A phased reopening of Cobb library branches will begin in June with limited services. (ECN file)*

Cobb County government on Monday offered a few more details about the reopening of facilities and services that have been shut since mid-March due to COVID-19.

As we noted elsewhere, the public will be able to attend Tuesday’s Cobb Board of Commissioners zoning hearing at the county office building in Marietta with social distancing guidelines in place.

This follows the full reopening of outdoor parks last week, except for playgrounds and restroom facilities. The county is “awaiting further public health guidance” in reopening those amenities, and when to allow organized sports.

Also among the new pieces of information announced today is that county summer camp programs are suspended until further notice, due to Gov. Brian Kemp’s restrictions issued last week.

Aquatic centers remain closed, and the county said today it’s targeting the first week of June for limited access at some of those facilities. They weren’t specified.

The same goes for public libraries. Next week staff will begin safety training and preparing for reopening.

Curbside services will begin at seven libraries in June, but those branches also were not specified. After the June 9 primary elections, at which some branches will serve as polling stations, those same seven library branches will have “a phased-in reopening” with limited services.

“Limited services in all remaining libraries will start in early summer,” according to the county’s message, which encouraged citizens to visit the library system’s website for further details.

Safety training and other reopening plans will take place at county senior centers during June, with “select activities” starting after the July 4 holiday.

Cobb commission candidate spotlight: Andy Smith, District 2

May 16, 2020 9:09 AM by Wendy Parker

Andy Smith, Cobb commission candidate

Serving two years on the Cobb Planning Commission underscored for Andy Smith what he has been stressing as his “overriding priority” in his campaign for the Cobb Board of Commissioners:

“To preserve Cobb County as the place where we all chose to settle,” he said. “The only way to do that is to plan for growth.”

That’s a delicate issue anywhere, and especially in District 2, which includes most of East Cobb and the Cumberland-Vinings area.

Smith, who lives in East Cobb and is co-owner of Smith Todd & Co., a construction management company, is one of three Republicans running in the June 9 primary to succeed retiring commissioner Bob Ott.

The winner will face Democrat Jerica Richardson in the November general election.

(Here’s Smith’s campaign website.)

Smith was Ott’s appointee to the planning board as well as the Neighborhood Safety Commission (he resigned from the former when he launched his campaign).

Smith also attended the same high school as Ott in New Jersey, but neither knew the other had resettled in the same part of metro Atlanta until Smith had a case before the Cobb variance board when Ott served on that.

(Ott, who is completing his third term, has not made an endorsement in the race.)

Smith headed south to attend Georgia Tech, getting a degree in architecture, and settled in East Cobb 23 years ago.

At the same time, East Cobb continued to become a magnet for those like him, attracted by the quality of schools and the single-family residential character of the community.

The result is that there isn’t much land left, as high-density zoning cases and related development issues have begun to alter what’s been regarded as a classic suburban enclave.

“If we don’t protect the existing residential neighborhoods, we’ve already lost the fight,” Smith said.

The tricky part is doing that while acknowledging the need to plan for the future, especially around forecasts by the Atlanta Regional Commission of Cobb County surpassing a population of one million by the year 2030.

“We need a commissioner with experience in planning and zoning,” Smith said. “Zoning done right provides a significant benefit.”

Smith said he thinks high-density development needs to be restricted to the Regional Activity Center zoning category.

He realizes that “some people object to high-density in all cases, but some people like that, and want it in areas that are walkable.

“As long as we keep that development where it’s planned to go, then we’ll be fine.”

Senior housing also has generated growing conversation in Cobb, for density and school reasons (senior homeowners 65 and over are exempt from paying school taxes).

Smith noted that in District 2 there many senior residential units that are rentals (including a portion of a mixed-use development under construction on Powers Ferry Road on the site of the former Restaurant Row.

The two other Republicans running in the primary, Fitz Johnson and Kevin Nicholas, have said they are adamantly against East Cobb Cityhood.

Smith said he’s undecided on the issue.

Cityhood leaders had not fully revised the proposed city map and were still considering potential services when they chose not to pursue legislation this year.

“It’s my responsibility to keep an open mind until all the facts are in,” Smith said, acknowledging the cityhood issue has been an emotional one that has generated intense opposition.

“My focus will be to do the job to eliminate the need for cities. Everybody wants Cobb County to remain the place it was when they settled here. It’s going to evolve but we want to have control of how it evolves.”

That task figures to be more challenging as county leaders grapple with the economic fallout from the COVID-19 outbreak.

Smith said he admires Cobb officials “for implementing standards that the state has asked for” but said the important issues facing the county remain the same.

Also among them is enhancing salary and benefit packages for public safety personnel. Smith supports the concept of a step-and-grade system that has begun to be implemented, but noted a “compression issue” has emerged in which officers and firefighters with more seniority are at times being eclipsed along that scale by those with less time in the county system.

Smith said that regardless of how such a plan is finalized, “it’s important to let officers know it’s a plan that they can count on.

“It’s not going to be cheap, but it needs to be fair.”

As for the county’s SPLOST (Special Local Option Sales Tax) program, Smith said he supports the current process of seeking extensive community feedback before finalizing a project list, but “we need to make sure they are true needs and not just wants.”

Smith is heavily involved in activities at Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church, and community organizations that include Habitat for Humanity. He’s also been involved as a youth sports coach.

Cobb non-profits to get $1M in funding for food distribution

May 12, 2020 3:06 PM by Wendy Parker

Cobb non-profits food funding

The Cobb Board of Commissioners will be using some of its federal stimulus funding to reimburse county non-profits that have been providing emergency food to those in need.

By a 4-1 vote, the board on Tuesday approved a request made by the Cobb Community Foundation, which represents a number of agencies that have been distributing food in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.

The request was delayed last month after community leaders, including pastors and business organizations, said food shortages were severe since the outbreak in mid-March.

On Tuesday, Commissioners met and voted in a teleconference meeting with a public comment period that included speakers both for and against the measure, which would reimburse organizations that have been providing food back to April 1.

Mitch Rhoden, a former Cobb Chamber of Commerce president, supported the request, saying this was an extraordinary time.

Lance Lamberton of the Cobb Taxpayers Association was among those who disagreed, saying it’s not the purpose of government, and that elected officials shouldn’t be deciding which non-profits get funded and which don’t.

Commissioner Keli Gambrill, who expressed concerns about how to determine those needing food, voted against the memorandum of understanding, which will be administered by W. Frank Newton Inc., a consulting firm hired by the county to oversee how it spends the $132 million in CARES Act stimulus funding.

“We keep hearing a lot about non-profits,” East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott said. “This is about food and there are things in the memorandum of understanding that dictate it has to be about food.”

Commissioner Lisa Cupid had asked for the reimbursement period to go back to mid-March, but she couldn’t get a colleague to support her.

Commissioner JoAnn Birrell of Northeast Cobb said that “we’ve seen the community step up . . .. the need for food has probably tripled. I am in support of this.”

A measure that would have authorized temporary hazard pay for some county employees during the COVID-19 crisis was pulled from Tuesday’s meeting agenda.

Randy Crider, Cobb public safety director — *Randy Crider*

Some “essential” workers would have been eligible for an extra $500 a month between April 6 through June 12, when the current Georgia public health emergency is due to expire.

But the amount of money being sought has not been specified.

Also on Tuesday, commissioners voted 5-0 to confirm the appointment of Randy Crider as Cobb Public Safety Director.

Crider has been the interim director since August 2019 after Mike Register suddenly retired after six months on the job, citing family reasons.

Crider, who has 38 years as a firefighter and administrator, has been Cobb’s fire chief since 2014. His appointment is effective immediately.

Cobb commissioners to consider $1M request from non-profits

May 8, 2020 12:13 PMMay 8, 2020 8:09 AM by Wendy Parker

*Cobb Commission Chairman Candidate Larry Savage*

Next Tuesday a group of non-profit organizations will ask the Cobb Board of Commissioners for $1 million to assist their efforts to provide food for those in need in the county during the COVID-19 crisis.

The commissioners will hold a regular meeting next Tuesday that includes a request from the leaders of the Cobb Community Foundation, Northwest Atlanta United Way and the Cobb Collaborative for the funding.

That could come from the $132 million in federal stimulus funding the county government will be receiving in the next few weeks that’s earmarked to replace direct revenues lost to the COVID-19 response.

In a letter sent to supporters Wednesday, CCF executive director Shari Martin said that while “nothing is guaranteed, we believe that this issue has the support of a majority of the Board, largely due to your expressions of support and communications with the Chairman and Commissioners.”

Those groups and others, including some Cobb clergy, pressed for the funding when commissioners met on April 28, but a vote was delayed.

There’s nothing else on Tuesday’s agenda related to the stimulus funding that’s provided by the CARES Act, but two candidates for the Cobb Board of Commissioners are publicly making an informal request elsewhere.

Larry Savage, an East Cobb resident, thinks some of the $132 million should be used to help the Cobb County School District plug what’s expected to a major hole in its finances stemming from the COVID-19 economic fallout.

In a letter to the editor delivered Thursday to The Marietta Daily Journal, Savage—a Republican challenging current chairman Mike Boyce—said the school district could use CARES Act funding for teaching aids and technology used for online learning while in-person classrooms are shut down.

So does Andy Smith, also of East Cobb, a former member of the Cobb Planning Commission who’s running to succeed retiring District 2 commissioner Bob Ott.

Gov. Brian Kemp has ordered state government departments to prepare for 14 percent across-the-board cuts.

The CCSD, whose fiscal year 2021 begins in July, currently operates with a $1.1 billion budget. The CCSD is expected to receive $14 million-$16 million in federal relief funding through the Georgia Department of Education, but a 14 percent cut could be in the range of $70 million to $80 million.

The district has not yet formulated a 2021 budget proposal because the legislative session was suspended due to the virus. Cobb schools gets nearly half of its budget from the state.

“It would be disgraceful for Cobb County government to use this money on frivolous projects, even if they are technically permissible, if there are more valuable ways to deploy the funds in the school district and help relieve the funding crisis the CCSD will face,” Savage wrote in his letter, ending it with “Cobb County School District is one thing we all share that must be protected at all costs.”

Smith also wrote a letter to the MDJ, saying that the $14-$16 million Cobb schools will be getting “will not close this widening gap.

Smith wrote that while he isn’t opposed to Cobb businesses and organizations receiving relief funding from the county, “what I am proposing is that we take care of our future first and provide as the top priority funding to our Cobb County Schools to assist them in offsetting the additional costs they have incurred and will incur educating the County’s students during this crisis.”

The full commissioners’ meeting agenda can be found here. The meeting begins at 9 a.m. Tuesday and will be done via online teleconferencing.

There will be a public comment period near the beginning and citizens can sign up at the Cobb County government website starting at noon Friday.

All Cobb outdoor parks to reopen Monday; playgrounds closed

May 8, 2020 1:12 PMMay 6, 2020 4:48 PM by Wendy Parker

*East Cobb Park has been locked up since late March. (ECN file)*

This just in from Cobb County government:

Cobb PARKS will reopen their outdoor facilities on Monday, May 11th. Trails and passive parks have already been open to the public, so this will reopen the remainder of our outdoor parks. Due to continuing health concerns surrounding the coronavirus, the following restrictions will remain in place:

Playgrounds and restrooms at park facilities will remain closed.
No organized athletic activities will be allowed.
Park Rangers and PARKS personnel will monitor the parks to ensure park patrons maintain proper social distancing. Flagrant violations could result in the closure of part or all of that facility.
Indoor facilities, such as aquatic centers and arts centers, will remain closed.

The county initially kept parks open shortly after Commission Chairman Mike Boyce declared a state of emergency. But he ordered parks closed on March 23 after being advised to do so by public health officials in the “interest of public health and to encourage social distancing.”

The entrances to East Cobb Park and other outdoor parks, including Mabry Park in East Cobb, have been locked up ever since.

On April 23, the county reopened some trails, like the Noonday Creek Trail and the Silver Comet Trail, and a few passive parks, including Ebenezer Downs and Hyde Farm in East Cobb.

Cobb PARKS issued further details of the reopenings on Friday:

1. No organized activities will be allowed. This includes team practices, games, get-togethers, etc.
2. All field lights will remain off and park concession stands closed.
3. On diamond fields, dugouts will be locked.
4. All restrooms will remain locked.
5. Playgrounds will remain closed. Part-time PARKS staff will be stationed at these playgrounds from dawn until dusk to ensure that no one violates the closures.
6. Our staff in the parks will also be monitoring other areas of the parks and will be notifying public safety should organized activities be observed.

The decision to reopen the parks comes as some businesses and other public activities are gradually being allowed to reopen in Georgia.

As of noon Wednesday, there were 30,706 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Georgia, with 1,311 deaths, 5,770 hospitalizations and 1,348 intensive-care admissions.

In Cobb County, there are 1,996 confirmed cases of the virus and 102 deaths, with 506 hospitalizations.

When the parks reopen on Monday, beautiful spring weather will be in store, with sunny skies and high temperatures into the 70s and 80s for most of the week.

Gov. Kemp lifting shelter-in place order for most Georgians

May 1, 2020 8:23 PMApril 30, 2020 3:21 PM by Wendy Parker

Kemp lifting shelter-in-place order

The shelter-in-place order Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp extended once already will be expiring right before midnight Friday.

As the clock strikes midnight, and as April gives way to the month of May, most Georgians will be free to roam about their communities a bit more.

In a statement issued Thursday afternoon, Kemp said he’s still urging citizens to stay at home as much as possible and to observe social distancing practices and wear masks when they go out.

Here’s a summary of his new order, which details provisions for businesses that are open, who must remain in shelter-in-place and criteria for currently closed businesses to reopen by May 13.

He thanked citizens for heeding advice to stay home, “affording us time to bolster our health care infrastructure and flatten the curve.

“We were successful in these efforts, but the fight is far from over,” Kemp said.

As of noon Thursday, Georgia had reported 26,155 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 Coronavirus, with 1,120 deaths and 5,156 hospitalizations. Of the latter, there were 1.171 intensive care admissions.

In Cobb County there are 1,599 cases and 91 deaths, with 464 hospitalizations.

Georgia has a population of 10.6 million people but has conducted only 149,000 tests for the virus.

In addition, those businesses allowed to reopen over the last week must continue to follow proscribed safety and sanitation regulations, including social distancing guidelines, through May 13.

That’s when statewide a public health emergency was due to expire. However, Kemp on Thursday said he would extend that order through June 12.

Under that order, elderly citizens (aged 65 and older) and “medically fragile Georgians” must continue to follow shelter-in-place rules.

Kemp said extending the public health emergency is also being done to continue testing for the virus, begin contact tracing and provide for adequate emergency response operations.

Senior living, nursing-home and long-term care facilities will be ordered to follow “enhanced infection control protocols” through June 12.

“My decisions are based on data and advice from health officials,” Kemp said. “I will do what is necessary to protect the lives and livelihoods of our people.”

Kemp’s actions to allow some personal touch businesses and restaurants to reopen in the last week has generated plenty of controversy.

On Thursday, Dr. Karen Landman, an Atlanta-based writer and epidemiologist, wrote in an op-ed piece in The New York Times that Georgia’s reopening, the first by a state in the country, has been mishandled.

She accused the governor of using selected data to guide his decision and said overall numbers are still too high.

“It’s not just about having favorable data, or even enough testing,” she wrote. “It’s about having the right infrastructure to assess it and ensure sustained decreases in cases.”

At The Atlantic, Lassiter High School graduate Amanda Mull made similar points in an article published Wednesday with the headline “Georgia’s Experiment With Human Sacrifice.”

Mull, who now lives in Brooklyn, talked to health experts and small business owners in the state, including Sabra Dupree of Kids Kuts Salon in East Cobb, and concluded that “Georgia’s brash reopening puts much of the state’s working class in an impossible bind: risk death at work, or risk ruining yourself financially at home.”

Cobb pastors urge commissioners to fund emergency food aid

April 29, 2020 2:12 PMApril 28, 2020 3:20 PM by Wendy Parker

Cobb non-profit funding delayed — *Rev. Ike Reighard*

A request from Cobb non-profits for $1 million in county funding for emergency food aid during the Coronavirus crisis got an extra push Tuesday from pastors.

Several members of the clergy told members of the Cobb Board of Commissioners that food needs for those thrown into chaos and in many cases out of work in the last few weeks is greater than ever.

The Cobb Community Foundation has made the $1 million request on behalf of various non-profits around the county, and lined up a variety of speakers to plead for the assistance.

At a work session on Monday, Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce said he would delay the request after objections from Commissioner Keli Gambrill over how to determine those needs.

At Tuesday’s first regular board meeting in nearly a month—partially via teleconference—Boyce also said the delay was necessary for the county attorney to draw up a document stating how the food would be distributed if commissioners approve.

Some speakers were phoning in and others were present.

“We’re seeing people who don’t know how to ask for food because they’ve never done it before,” said Rev. Roger Vest of First United Methodist Church of Powder Springs.

“They are looking simply to survive.”

His church is among those in the South Cobb area that’s been seeing a major increase in the number of people seeking food, whether it’s at churches or via other non-profits.

Dr. Ike Reighard, pastor at Piedmont Church in Northeast Cobb and the CEO of MUST Ministries, said his non-profit’s Food Rapid Response Program has provided more than 227,000 meals since it was formed six weeks ago.

In addition, more than 16,000 people have been fed already this year, compared to more than around 10,000 in all of 2019.

“That’s how rapid the growth has been for people who need food,” he said.

MUST will be conducting its 25th summer lunch program for students in Cobb and Cherokee counties, feeding around 5,000 children a day, a project Reighard estimates will cost around $750,000.

Rev. John Hull, senior pastor of Eastside Baptist Church in East Cobb, told commissioners that at the Mosaic Church in Marietta, an Eastside ministry located on Austell Road, more than 500 boxes of food are being picked up every week, as are “hundreds of snack lunches” for students.

But the needs for food will continue to increase as the summer months approach. Some of the issues he’s facing, Hull added, are about preparing and serving warm meals for those in need, providing meals for seniors with special dietary needs and getting food to those who can’t get to grocery stores or other distribution points.

“We are going to be in this for the long haul,” Hull said.

He also referenced the work of the Noonday Association, which comprises nearly 130 churches in Cobb and metro Atlanta that provide general assistance to those in need.

Howard Koepka of the Noonday Association said the amount of food his non-profit is providing “three to four times” what it had been before the crisis.

Excess food provided by grocery stores is no longer being provided due to supply chain disruptions and stores not having some food available since the crisis.

He also said donations made to the non-profit also are down.

Cobb Chamber of Commerce CEO Sharon Mason also phoned in to urge the commissioners to provide the funding. Even after the worst of the crisis is over, she said, “Cobb’s most vulnerable populations will continue to be hit hard.”

Boyce said there will be a special-called meeting to take up the funding request, but he did not give a date, saying only it will be “sometime in the very near future.”

He said he wants to have “something to take to the board in a format that they can vote on.”

Cobb County to reopen some passive parks, trails this weekend

April 24, 2020 9:15 PMApril 22, 2020 12:58 PM by Wendy Parker

Ebenezer Road park, Cobb parks master plan — *Ebenezer Downs Park on Ebenezer Road in Northeast Cobb.*

Cobb residents will have some more elbow room to get outdoors and recreate as soon as Saturday.

County government spokesman Ross Cavitt said Wednesday that selected passive parks and trails will be reopened, including the Noonday Creek Trail and Ebenezer Downs Park and Hyde Farm in East Cobb.

What won’t be open are East Cobb Park, Mabry Park and other parks with playground facilities, as well as parks with sporting fields.

“The passive parks allow for more social distancing under public health guidelines,” Cavitt said. “Based on Public Health guidance, those who use these facilities and trails will be required to adhere to social distancing guidelines and wear masks.”

Here’s a full list of what’s reopening:

TRAILS

Silver Comet Trail
Noonday Creek Trail
Bob Callen Trail

PASSIVE PARKS

Allatoona Creek Park, 5690 Old Stilesboro Road, Acworth
Camp McDonald, 2726 Watts Drive, Kennesaw
Ebenezer Downs Park, 4057 Ebenezer Road, Marietta
Furr Family Park, Old Westside Road, Austell
Green Meadows Preserve, 3780 Dallas Highway, Marietta
Heritage Park, 60 Fontaine Road, Mableton
Hyde Farm, 721 Hyde Road, Marietta
Kemp Family Park, 4331 Burnt Hickory Road, Acworth
Old Clarkdale Park, 5195 Clark Street, Austell
Price Park, 4715 Stilesboro Road, Acworth
Schmidt Park, 451 Anderson Road, Marietta
Shoupade property, 4770 Oakdale Road, Smyrna
Stout Park, 5315 Brownsville Road, Powder Springs
Trolley Line Park, 4700 North Church Lane, Smyrna

Cobb non-profit groups seek $1M from county for food needs

April 21, 2020 2:19 PMApril 21, 2020 9:48 AM by Wendy Parker

Cobb Community Foundation response fund

Three non-profits that assist Cobb residents with essential living services are asking the Cobb Board of Commissioners to provide $1 million in funding to help them deliver emergency food supplies to those who need them.

The Cobb Community Foundation, the United Way of Metro Atlanta Northwest Region and the Cobb Collaborative will make the request at the commissioners’ meeting next Tuesday, April 28.

Here’s the message the non-profits have been sharing:

An unprecedented response to the COVID-19 crisis on the part of non-profits and faith-based organizations is focused on the most significant need of those in poverty… food.

Both of Cobb’s school systems quickly pivoted to ensure thousands of school children who rely on school nutritious meals are still able to access food. Also, Cobb County non-profit and faith-based organizations quickly began collaborating to efficiently deploy resources to the most vulnerable in our community, including children and families. However, the facts are staggering.

An estimated 16,500 families were served at non-profit food distribution sites in March, up from an average of 6,500 in January and February.

In the last 2 weeks of March alone, roughly 460 tons of food were distributed, nearly three times the average for a typical two-week period.

Because of job loss among Cobb’s already most vulnerable populations, it is estimated that the hunger will go on long after COVID-19 is under control.

Despite the heroic efforts, many organizations are overwhelmed by the unrelenting demand and the uncertainty of an end date.

Food has become scarcer, requiring many non-profits to purchase historically donated food in addition to incurring the additional expenses associated with distribution. Some have even incurred debt to provide the food needed.

Funding will provide immediate support for individuals in need.

The commissioners will be holding a work session at 9 a.m. and regular meeting at 1:30 next Tuesday, and it will be held in a virtual setting. No agenda is available yet, but when there is it will be posted here.

Cobb Census response rate broken down by public library district

April 7, 2020 3:28 PMApril 7, 2020 9:03 AM by Wendy Parker

Cobb Census response map

Cobb County government is urging 2020 Census participation during this shelter-in-place time by sending out a response map according to public library districts.

Those living in the East Cobb and Mountain View library districts had the highest response at 59.6 and 58.5 percent, respectively, and the West Cobb and Kemp zones are the others with more than 50 percent responses.

There’s much more searchable and sortable response rate data here; you can look at county and city figures, as well as by Congressional District and Census tracts.

Overall, according to a message the county sent out Monday, Cobb’s response rate is 46 percent, as of Saturday, April 4. That’s just above the national average of 45.7 percent and above the Georgia statewide rate of 43.2 percent.

The 6th Congressional District has a 50.9 percent response rate and in the map below there are a few Census tracts in East Cobb (indicated in dark blue) that have response rates of 70 percent or higher. Click here for a larger map:

6th GA CD Census Response Rate Map

Here’s more from the county’s message about what Census information is used for:

We want to ensure Cobb County has a thorough and accurate 2020 Census count, so the appropriate funds and resources are available to our community. The results of the 2020 Census will help determine how hundreds of billions of dollars in funding flow into communities every year for the next decade. The data impacts Head Start programs, school lunches, plans for highways, affordable housing and support for firefighters and families in need. It also determines our representation in government.

The U.S. Census Bureau has been encouraging online participation all along, well before the Coronavirus outbreak. Details and completion forms are available by clicking here.

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!

Ga. shelter-in-place underway; Cobb emergency extended

April 3, 2020 5:32 PMApril 2, 2020 6:46 PM by Wendy Parker

Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce on Thursday extended an emergency declaration he ordered last week until April 24, ordered certain non-essential businesses to close and clarified the county’s “shelter in place” provisions.

Mike Boyce

Grocery stores and other essential businesses also must follow further guidelines to observe social distancing measures to help prevent the spread of Coronavirus.

Effective immediately, the following types of businesses must close:

Gyms, fitness and recreation centers;
Hair salons;
Barber shops;
Nail salons;
Waxing salons;
Tanning salons;
Spas;
Tattoo parlors;
Massage-therapy establishments and massage services;
All other nonessential businesses in which “social distancing” minimums of six feet between persons cannot be maintained at all times.

Many of those kinds of businesses in East Cobb—commonly called “personal touch” businesses—closed before Boyce’s emergency declaration last week, which initially was scheduled to last until April 15.

But in his order Thursday, (you can read it in its entirety here), Boyce said more businesses that stay open need to do more to help combat the contagious virus and more time needs to transpire for social distancing and other guidelines to have an effect.

Cobb’s confirmed Coronavirus case count now stands at 320, with 17 deaths, and both of those numbers are among the highest in Georgia.

In his order, Boyce also expanded the emergency declaration to require families and individuals to shelter in place at their homes, except to purchase food and to take care of the health and safety of those in their households.

They can leave to work at businesses that are deemed essential during the emergency, to go outside for exercise while maintaining social distancing guidelines, and to visit immediate family members to help with child care or elderly care.

“I want to make absolutely sure that all of our measures help slow the spread of the virus,” Boyce said in a statement released by the county late Thursday afternoon. “Our healthcare system in the county still has capacity, still has available ventilators, so it is important rather than filling those beds and using those ventilators we take all necessary measures to not use up those resources.”

*Dr. Janet Memark, director of Cobb and Douglas Public Health*

Essential retail businesses that stay open, including grocery stores, will have to post signage and provide public-address updates outlining and reminding customers of social distancing mandates.

Those include maintaining a distance of least six feet between people, discouraging those who are sick from coming to the stores, and coughing into a tissue instead of the open air.

Stores must also regularly disinfect common areas and provide cleaning and disinfecting products in employee areas.

Those businesses also are being encouraged to provide “contactless” points of interaction and purchase, including placing plexiglass around cashier stations (this is happening at Publix stores) and discouraging customers from bringing reusable bags.

Grocers also are being told not to offer product samples and to prevent customers from using self-service items that are food-related.

The other essential retail stores defined in the order include that “support repair or construction work for businesses and homes, and businesses that sell products to support persons working from home, including computers, audio, electronics, IT and telecommunications equipment.”

At a commissioners’ work session Tuesday, Cobb and Douglas Public Health officials urged that county parks remain closed. They were closed before the emergency declaration, and Boyce announced on Friday they would remain so at the direction of the county manager.

Some state parks also have closed, and most federal parks are closed, including the Chattahoochee National Recreation Area.

Also on Thursday, Gov. Brian Kemp provided details of a statewide shelter-in-place to take effect at 6 a.m. Friday. Georgia’s caseload and death count has risen dramatically in the last week, to 5,348 and 163 respectively, with nearly 20 percent of confirmed cases involving hospitalization.

(You can read it here).

Both Boyce and Kemp had been reluctant to shut down businesses, and the governor had come under increasing pressure, with only a few states not already having shelter-in-place orders.

The order he signed Thursday restricts all business and other activities to 10 people or less, observing social distancing measures. Families and individuals must also shelter-in-place except for essential travel and business or immediate family reasons.

Those businesses or operations not deemed to be part of the “critical infrastructure” will be limited to what the order calls “minimum basic operations,” also following social distancing and hygiene and sanitation practices.

Other “personal touch” businesses also must close, including bowling alleys, cinemas and live performance theaters.

The statewide order continues through April 13.

No extension for Cobb April 1 homestead exemption deadline

March 31, 2020 7:07 AM by Wendy Parker

While deadlines have been extended for such things as income tax filings, the Cobb Tax Commissioner’s office is getting out word that the April 1 deadline for applying for a homestead exemption remains the same.

No fooling.

April 1 is Wednesday, and although the tax commissioners offices are closed due to a limited operations status in Cobb County, you can apply in the following ways:

Applying online for basic Homestead Exemption (only)
Downloading an application to apply for any and all Homestead Exemption types such as Age 62, State Senior, Veterans, etc.
Visiting one of our drop box locations to pick-up and complete a blank form
Visiting our East tag office to pick-up a blank form (available at the front door)

If you want to drop your application in the mail or at drop box locations around the county, here’s where and how to do that:

Mailing Address:

Cobb County Tax Commissioner
PO Box 100127
Marietta, GA 30061

Drop Box Locations:

WEST PARK GOV’T CENTER
736 Whitlock Ave
Marietta, GA 30068
Blank applications available at this location

SOUTH COBB GOV’T CENTER
4700 Austell Rd
Austell, GA 30106
Blank applications available at this location

If you need to conduct other business with the Tax Commissioner’s office (including car tag renewals and property tax transactions, staff is addressing calls, e-mails and social media communications. For online options:

Motor vehicle services can be completed at cobbtax.org/vehicles.
For property tax transactions, visit cobbtax.org/taxes. Processing fees may apply.

You can also get new car tag decals instantly at the following kiosks in Cobb County:

South Cobb Government Service Center
4700 Austell Road, Austell (6 a.m. – midnight, daily)
East Cobb Government Service Center
4400 Lower Roswell Road, Marietta (6 a.m. – midnight, daily)
Inside Kroger stores (check kroger.com for the most current store hours)
- 3240 South Cobb Drive SE, Smyrna
- 1000 Whitlock Ave NW, Marietta
- 3162 Johnson Ferry Road, Marietta
- 4400 Brownsville Road, Powder Springs

There are 24/7 drop boxes for all transaction types at:

West Park Government Center, 736 Whitlock Avenue, Marietta
South Cobb Government Service Center, 4700 Austell Road, Austell

A few more ways to get in touch, and when to do so:

The Tax Commissioner’s Customer Care team will continue providing assistance via phone and email, 8 a.m-5 p.m. on weekdays.
Property tax: For general inquiries, contact 770-528-8600 or tax@cobbtax.org. For payments, call 1-866-PAY-COBB (1-866-729-2622)
Motor vehicle: tags@cobbta.org or 770-528-8600
Mail: P.O. Box 100127, Marietta, GA 30061

Cobb commissioners to hold special COVID-19 meeting Wednesday

March 30, 2020 6:01 PM by Wendy Parker

Cobb County government is getting out word this afternoon that the Board of Commissioners will be holding another special called meeting Wednesday for an update on the county’s response to COVID-19.

The meeting is at 2 p.m. in the second-floor board room of the Cobb government administration building (100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta), but the public is encouraged to watch via the following outlets:

YouTube: http://bit.ly/2FnEdhJ
Facebook: http://bit.ly/2SdD3Zx
Cobb Website: http://bit.ly/2FmINwz

Last week commissioners meet in a special called meeting (above, observing social distancing guidelines) at which Chairman Mike Boyce outlined his intent to declare a state of emergency.

He did so later in the day, through April 15.

Monday’s message about the Wednesday meeting wasn’t any more specific than a general update, and nothing further has been posted yet to the commission’s meeting agenda page.

Cobb also is adding information to its COVID-19 community hub with new links that include a survey about grocery store inventory, and a similar survey for public input on restaurant delivery and pickup experiences.

Georgia Coronavirus cases top 2,000; 144 confirmed in Cobb

March 27, 2020 12:26 PM by Wendy Parker

Cobb Commissioners Coronavirus meeting

The number of positive Coronavirus cases in Georgia surpassed the 2,000 mark on Friday, or nearly one in five people who have been tested for COVID-19.

According to the Georgia Department of Public Health, as of noon Friday 2,001 people have tested positive, with 566 hospitalized. There have been 64 deaths in the state attributed to COVID-19.

The number of cases Thursday night was over 1,600. Currently 9,865 people have been tested across the state.

In a town hall meeting Thursday night, Gov. Brian Kemp the state is working with data that’s two weeks old, so the caseload is expected to continue to surge.

During the town hall, which was aired on radio and television outlets across Georgia, Kemp defended his decision not to impose a statewide lockdown, as has been the case in other states.

He has issued a shelter-in-place order for vulnerable populations, especially the elderly, and stressed that they should stay home. He referenced his own mother.

While there are high population areas and cities—especially Albany—where high numbers of cases are being reported, Kemp said “I have to balance that” with rural counties who don’t have any at all.

He said that “we’ve targeted areas that we need to target.”

In Friday’s update, 24 counties reported their first positive cases. In all, 103 of Georgia’s 159 counties now have positive test results.

Fulton County leads the way with 307, followed by Dougherty (where Albany is located) with 193, then DeKalb (181) and Cobb. Most of the other counties with the most cases are in metro Atlanta, as well as Athens, Gainesville and Rome:

Gwinnett	102
Bartow	98
Carroll	55
Cherokee	46
Clayton	46
Henry	40
Lee	35
Clarke	32
Douglas	27
Hall	24
Floyd	20

Friday’s update doesn’t have a county-by-county breakdown of deaths. Earlier this week, Dr. Janet Memark, director of Cobb and Douglas Public Health, told Cobb commissioners there had been five deaths in Cobb County.

Cobb County declares state of emergency through April 15

March 25, 2020 12:29 PMMarch 24, 2020 7:45 PM by Wendy Parker

Cobb state of emergency — *Cobb commissioners practice social distancing while discussing an emergency declaration Tuesday.*

Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce on Tuesday declared a state of emergency in the county, limiting hours for non-essential businesses, barring restaurants from dining room service and ordering citizens to “shelter in place” for the next three weeks.

His executive order in response to the Coronavirus pandemic (you can read it here) takes effect at noon on Wednesday and continues through noon on April 15.

That means that public gatherings — inside and outdoors — of more than 10 people are prohibited anywhere in the unincorporated part of Cobb.

The hours for non-essential businesses are restricted from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Restaurants can offer only takeout delivery or curbside pickup services.

Restaurants that are licensed to sell alcoholic beverages can sell them unopened to takeout or curbside customers during the hours they’re allowed to do so on their pouring licenses.

Businesses that are open must maintain social distancing guidelines of having a minimum of six feet of distance between people while they’re in the establishment.

(A list of essential and non-essential businesses as well as the emergency declaration are being posted on the county website.)

The order does not include a curfew or mandatory quarantine, which Boyce has said he does not want to impose.

“We’ve done our best to have informal social distancing,” Boyce said during a special Cobb Board of Commissioners meeting Tuesday morning. “And as we saw this weekend it’s simply not working.”

Boyce said the declaration could be advised, depending on recommendations from public health officials monitoring the spread of the virus.

“If we need to consider closing all non-essential businesses and tighten other provisions we will do that to protect the residents of this County,” he said in a statement issued by the county.

As of 7 p.m. Tuesday, Cobb had 90 confirmed Coronavirus cases and five of Georgia’s 38 deaths. Statewide, the number of cases has grown to 1,092. Of those confirmed cases, nearly 33 percent have been hospitalized, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health.

Cobb public health officials urged commissioners Tuesday to order a shelter-in-place to slow the spread of the virus in Cobb, which has had one of the highest totals of Coronavirus cases in Georgia, since there’s no vaccine or medication.

They also said medical and health-care capacity needs to be alleviated as the number of cases has grown.

The full declaration also will be posted on the county’s website; once we have it we’ll also link to it here.

Georgia Coronavirus cases top 1,000, Cobb with 86; 32 deaths statewide

March 24, 2020 5:54 PMMarch 24, 2020 12:40 PM by Wendy Parker

Cobb Commissioners Coronavirus meeting

The number of confirmed Coronavirus cases in Georgia continues to rise dramatically. As of noon Tuesday, there were 1,026 positive test results across the state, after more than 800 were reported Monday night.

According to the Georgia Department of Public Health, the death toll also has risen, to 32 on Tuesday, up from 25 on Monday.

Cobb County had 86 confirmed Coronavirus cases as of noon Tuesday, and at least five deaths.

The latter figure is according to Dr. Janet Memark, director of Cobb and Douglas Public Health, in a briefing before Cobb commissioners Tuesday morning.

They held a special meeting to discuss a state of emergency declaration. Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce has drafted an order that he was expected to formalize Tuesday afternoon.

Boyce didn’t need to get a vote from his colleagues, but wanted them to have a public discussion of the matter.

Memark is calling on Boyce to issue a shelter-in-place order that’s similar to what is in effect in the city of Atlanta.

Under shelter-in-place, most businesses would close, except those deemed essential, and citizens would be ordered to stay at home, except to shop for necessities.

On Monday, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp issued a shelter-in-place for certain at-risk populations and ordered bars and nightclubs closed. But he declined to issue a broader shelter-in-place statewide.

Boyce’s draft order was distributed to commissioners before Tuesday’s meeting but was not made public beforehand.

Kemp limits public gatherings; closes bars and nightclubs

March 23, 2020 6:05 PM by Wendy Parker

Kemp executive order

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Monday ordered a number of restrictions on public activity across the state, but did not mandate a full “shelter in place” for the overall population that some of his counterparts have enacted.

In a briefing late Monday afternoon, Kemp said he was issuing an executive order limiting public gatherings to 10 or fewer people (unless they meet social distancing guidelines), ordering bars and nightclubs to be closed, and requiring medically fragile people to be quarantined for 14 days.

His latest executive order to combat Coronavirus, or COVID-19, begins at noon Tuesday and continues until noon on April 6.

The “shelter in place” order is for people who live in long-term care homes, those who are being treated for cancer, those with compromised immune systems and individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19.

The new measures, he said, are “intended to ensure the health and safety of Georgians across the state,” he said, reading from prepared remarks. “This fight is not over, but we are in this fight together.”

Kemp also announced that the state income tax filing deadline would be pushed back to July 15 to coincide with the delayed deadline to file federal returns.

No broad ‘shelter in place’

A number of states and localities across the country have imposed “shelter in place” mandates that close all non-essential businesses, and allow citizens to go out only to buy food or in the case of an emergency.

Last week, Kemp said he didn’t want to that, or to order a broad mandate to quarantine or impose curfew.

On Monday, Democratic leaders in the Georgia House sent a letter urging him to issue a 14-day statewide shelter in place order (you can read it here), a request also made by Republican House Speaker David Ralston.

In his Monday briefing, Kemp didn’t refer to those requests.

In his new order, establishments or events with more than 10 people will be allowed only if they practice social distancing requirements of having at least six feet of space between individuals (supermarkets are not included in the order).

His order also gives the Georgia Department of Public Health the power to shut down any businesses, organizations or gathering places—including churches and other houses of worship—that don’t comply with the new restrictions.

“We are all part of the solution,” Kemp said. “If your friends, neighbors or local organizations are not complying, call them out. Or report them to us.”

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 reverses course, closes parks due to Coronavirus

March 23, 2020 4:07 PMMarch 23, 2020 3:20 PM by Wendy Parker

Cobb parks closed Coronavirus

After saying over the weekend that public parks would stay open to give citizens a place to escape cabin fever due to Coronavirus, Cobb County government is closing them down.

The closures—which include all outdoor and indoor parks and recreational facilities—are effective immediately and until further notice. They’re being done in the “interest of public health and to encourage social distancing,” according to a message issued Monday afternoon.

Cobb government spokesman Ross Cavitt told East Cobb News that park crews were starting the process Monday afternoon, and that “it may take the rest of today and much of tomorrow to post signage” and take other measures to keep the parks closed.

A number of nearby jurisdictions have been closing parks in recent days, including Dunwoody, Sandy Springs and Kennesaw.

The National Park Service also has closed the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, which straddles the river in East Cobb and Sandy Springs.

On Saturday, East Cobb Park (photo above) was as busy as a typical early spring weekend day, with people walking (many with dogs), playing in open areas and on playgrounds.

On Friday, Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce explained keeping parks open by saying that citizens “want to go somewhere, at least for a little while, where they can have some comfort.”

There was a posting to that effect on Cobb government’s Facebook page over the weekend, although it engendered some critical comments about the wisdom of keeping parks open. That posting has been removed.

The number of confirmed Coronavirus in Cobb rose to 79 on Monday, up from 55 over the weekend, and 772 cases have been confirmed in Georgia. Thus far, 25 people in Georgia have died from the virus, including one at Kennestone Hospital.

Cobb commissioners will meet tomorrow morning in a special called meeting over the Coronavirus situation, and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp will be providing a briefing at 5 p.m. Monday, and it can be seen live on the governor’s Facebook page or at the Georgia Public Broadcasting site.

Cobb commissioners to hold special Coronavirus meeting Tuesday

March 23, 2020 12:31 PM by Wendy Parker

Cobb government spokesman Ross Cavitt send out word late Monday morning that the Cobb Board of Commissioners will hold a special Coronavirus meeting Tuesday.

That begins at 10:30 a.m. and will include an update on the county’s response to the pandemic and the delivery of services.

The meeting takes place in the BOC meeting room in the Cobb government building (100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta), but the public is being asked to tune in at cobbcounty.org or the county’s YouTube and Facebook pages.

Cobb County Commission Chairman Mike Boyce said in a release issued by Cavitt that “the Board will hear from the Director of the Cobb and Douglas Public Health Department to help us decide how to respond to this unheralded public health crisis.”

The county also has established a hotline designed to answer county-specific questions The number is 770-590-5790 for county operations; if you need health-related answers the state COVID-19 hotline number is 844-442-2681.

Cobb has been on “limited operations status” since Wednesday.

On Friday, Boyce said he was reluctant to shut down businesses or impose curfew or quarantine.

Some of those measures are being undertaken in Smyrna, Kennesaw, Sandy Springs, Roswell and the city of Atlanta.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp also does not want to do that, although other local governments in the state have ordered shutdowns that have been in place in other states and locales.

At noon Monday, the Georgia Department of Public Health reported 722 confirmed cases of Coronavirus, or COVID-19 in the state, 79 of them in Cobb County. That trails only Fulton County, which has 145 cases.

The death toll in Georgia from the virus has climbed to 25, and 5.069 people have been tested.

Kemp will be providing a briefing at 5 p.m. Monday, and it can be seen live on the governor’s Facebook page or at the Georgia Public Broadcasting site.

Upcoming Cobb government meetings postponed until May

March 21, 2020 10:55 AMMarch 21, 2020 8:50 AM by Wendy Parker

Meetings for the Cobb Board of Commissioners and appointed bodies on planning and zoning matters that were to have taken place through March and in April have been postponed or cancelled.

Here’s what the county put out late this week:

Board of Commissioners work session, 1:30 p.m., Monday, March 23: CANCELED
Board of Commissioners regular meeting, 7 p.m., Tuesday, March 24: CANCELED
Planning Commission zoning hearing, 9 a.m., Tuesday, April 7: POSTPONED UNTIL May 5
Board of Commissioners regular meeting, 9 a.m., Tuesday, April 14
Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA), 1 p.m., Wednesday, April 15: POSTPONED UNTIL May 13
Board of Commissioners zoning hearing, 9 a.m., Tuesday, April 21: POSTPONED UNTIL May 19.

Agenda items will move forward to the next scheduled meeting date.

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