A rare slice of ample green space in East Cobb is going to stay that way. Two residential plots of land on Ebenezer Road were purchased by Cobb County on Tuesday, and will become a public park.
The Cobb Board of Commissioners voted 5-0 to acquire the 18.3 acres at 4055 and 4057 Ebenezer Road for a combined price of $1.7 million from the estate of John R. Strother.
It’s the first purchase of land in the East Cobb area with funding from the 2008 Cobb Parks Bond referendum, and the 2017 supplemental resolution adopted by commissioners last year.
The adjacent plots are at the southeast intersection of Ebenezer Road and Canton Road, just south of Noonday Baptist Church. The Strother lands includes a lake and two residences, one in each parcel.
The eastern edge of the property abuts a single-family subdivision. The Ebenezer Road area is a mix of older homes on bigger lots and newer, denser residential development.
Strother, who died in 2015 at the age of 101, was a retired Lockheed-Georgia employee and World War II veteran.
Funding and development of the Ebenezer Road property will be undertaken separately.
“This has been a long time coming,” Northeast Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell said of the Ebenezer Road properties. “We’re getting a beautiful piece of property.”
The only other passive park in development in the area is at Mabry Park, which recently got underway on Wesley Chapel Road. Birrell, who represents District 3, has been a vigorous advocate for that park, which now falls in District 2, represented by Bob Ott.
On Tuesday, commissioners appropriated $6.1 million total for 150 acres, most of it in west and south Cobb.
Only District 2, which includes much of East Cobb, has not had a green space purchase with funding stemming from the referendum.
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The Cobb Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved a $1.3 million contract to construct a roundabout at Post Oak Tritt Road and Hembree Road.
The low bid amount (among eight proposals) was submitted by Glosson Enterprises and the funding comes from the 2016 Cobb government SPLOST.
The commissioners also voted to proceed with condemnation proceedings involving one property owner on Post Oak Tritt Road to obtain right-of-way for the roundabout project while negotiations continue with that resident.
In addition to the roundabout, the project includes enhanced street lighting and sidewalk ramp upgrades, required under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The intersection currently has only one stop sign, at Hembree Road.
Completion of the roundabout project is expected by July 2019, according to Cobb DOT.
Also on Tuesday, commissioners approved spending $197,990 for design and construction administration work for a new building on the Hyde Farm facility on Lower Roswell Road.
Southern A & E, LLC will design the multi-level building that will support continuing agricultural operations, house farm vehicles and help facilitate the use of farm equipment on the 135-acre property, which is being preserved as an educational and recreational resource for the public.
The contract is “one step closer to the idea for Hyde Farm,” District 2 commissioner Bob Ott said before the 5-0 board vote.
The commissioners also voted to spend $191,726 in “closeout” funding for the finishing touches on the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center, which opened in December.
The additional money, which comes from the 2016 SPLOST, will be used for rock removal, expanded security, furnishing, signage and acoustical work.
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With the possibility of significant library cuts leading ongoing Cobb budget talks, District 2 commissioner Bob Ott was adamant on Monday that the East Cobb Library would not be among them.
It’s one of several Cobb library branches slated for closure or consolidation in a staff recommendation for fiscal year 2019, and one that has generated strong community opposition.
At the outset of his town hall meeting at the new Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center, Ott said that “we’re going to dispel some serious misconceptions about the libraries.”
While the meeting included discussions about transit, zonings, county employee pay increases and tax assessments, many in the packed audience of around 300 people came out to plead for the preservation of the East Cobb Library.
The commissioners met last fall on a budget retreat and heard many recommendations for reducing a projected deficit between $30 million and $55 million.
The proposed library cuts of $2.9 million amount to a quarter of the department’s budget. Cobb commission chairman Mike Boyce has proposed a property tax increase of 1.1 mills, but few other major budget proposals have been made public.
That’s what Ott referenced as he held up a thick binder from the retreat at the town hall, held in the Sewell Mill Library’s black box theater:
“Have you heard anything else mentioned?” There are a whole lot of proposals that have come from staff, but [suggestions to cut libraries] gets everybody riled up.”
While the East Cobb Library doesn’t meet the county’s criteria for serving as a regional library due to being less than 20,000 square feet, because of its heavy use, Ott said, “we would all agree it’s a regional library.
“It isn’t going to close,” he said to loud applause.
The East Cobb Library is the third-busiest in the Cobb library system, with more than 250,000 materials checked out in 2017. It’s also the only branch that is in leased space, at the Parkaire Landing Shopping Center.
That rental expense is $263,000 a year, and it’s a factor that Northeast Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell cited when she suggested last year that the branch should close.
That got East Cobb residents in an outcry, and Ott was visibly upset in a town hall meeting he held at the library last summer.
“It’s been based on one commissioner who tried to close it, and she’s not here tonight,” Ott said Monday.
The East Cobb branch relocated from Merchants Walk in 2010, and leasing space at the time was considered more economical than building a county-owned facility, given local real estate prices.
When Ott was asked if it might be possible for the East Cobb Library to eventually get out of a leasing situation, he replied that “it’s a matter of finding the right opportunity.”
Ott opposes tax increases without finding savings in the current budget. Last year, he pressed for the closure of the business office at the East Cobb Government Service Center, a move that funded three new staff positions at the Sewell Mill Library.
He also mentioned the pending relocation of the Lewis A. Ray branch to the West Village development in Smyrna, which is offering 3,000 square feet of library space for $1 a year. That would save half the current operating cost of that branch.
“There are ways of doing this without raising your taxes,” Ott said.
Ott said that while many of his constituents contact him about right-of-ways and keeping medians maintained, his fellow commissioners hear often about keeping buildings open, including libraries.
“I don’t get e-mails about facilities,” he said. “You don’t necessarily want stuff. You want the place to look nice.”
He said that in order to ensure that the East Cobb Library stays open, he needs two other commissioners to vote with him. The budget is expected to be adopted in July.
“Send e-mails, not to me, but to the other commissioners and the chairman,” Ott said. “Let them hear what you think.
“You all know how to turn up the heat. Believe me, I’ve seen it.”
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The Cobb Community Development Department has sent a notice to the owners of the Sprayberry Crossing Shopping Center demanding it address conditions at the decaying retail property that may run afoul of the county’s new “blight tax” provision.
The letter, delivered Thursday to Brannen Goddard, an Atlanta commercial real estate agency representing Sprayberry Crossing Partnership (PDF here), said the owners have 30 days to provide a “reasonable” plan to make improvements to the shopping center, located at the southeast corner of Sandy Plains Road and East Piedmont Road.
Sprayberry Crossing has long been the subject of complaints from nearby residents. Although several small businesses operate there, most of the shopping center is vacant and has been in deteriorating conditions for years.
The community development office conducted an inspection of the property in late January and concluded that Sprayberry Crossing met three of the conditions for designation as a blighted property: having an uninhabitable, unsafe or unsound structure; being conducive to “ill health” to those in close proximity to the property; and being the subject of repeated reports of illegal activity on the premises.
The letter included photographs from the inspection showing boarded-up windows and holes in the structures and a list of 28 reports of criminal incidents dating back to 2014.
In the letter, written by Cobb community development director Dana Johnson, the findings of the inspection include evidence of gang activity near the former bowling alley at the back of the property, no proper storm drainage provisions, vandalized mechanical equipment, utility lines laying across the parking lot and signs of repeated break-ins.
Last July the Cobb Board of Commissioners approved a code amendment called the Community Improvement Tax Incentive Program, which allows for the county to set forth several criteria for determining a blighted property. It can then conduct inspections of run-down businesses and rental properties and prompt repairs. Ultimately, the county could impose a fine of seven times the current millage rate for violators.
Blighted properties that meet compliance after that would be eligible for a millage rate reduction for up to two years.
Joe Glancy, creator of the Sprayberry Crossing Action Facebook group that’s been pushing for a solution, wrote that while the letter from the county represents “a victory for our community and another step in the right direction. . . . I’m sure most of you also know, this is hardly the end.”
The citizens’ group has been frustrated by what it has said is a lack of cooperation from the property owners. Glancy urged his group to “to turn up the heat on the ownership group and county to move this process forward.”
The group has scheduled a community meeting on March 21 at Sprayberry High School.
We’re getting in touch with the property owner and will post a response if and when we get it.
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The new Sewell Mill Library would be a 20-minute drive for a resident who lives close to the East Cobb Library that’s proposed for closure. (East Cobb News file photo)
Tuesday morning was the first opportunity for the public to formally comment on proposed Cobb library closings before the county board of commissioners.
Several East Cobb residents appeared during a general comment session at the board’s business meeting, and some indicated they would support a millage rate increase to keep open the East Cobb Library and other branches recommended for closure by the county library system.
Nearly $3 million in proposed cuts—a quarter of the Cobb County Public Library System budget—were made public last week, and they include closing or consolidating eight of the 17 branches.
“Nobody wants their taxes raised,” said East Cobb resident Peggy Williams, but she added that “most people in this fairly affluent county could afford to pay more taxes.”
Donald Kay of the Hampton Woods neighborhood, who supports a millage rate increase, said the East Cobb Library, located just a few minutes away from his home, “is a font of the community. It’s full of people all the time. It’s a real resource to the community.”
He said that if the East Cobb Library closed, traveling to the new Sewell Mill Library several miles away on Lower Roswell Road would be a 20-minute drive.
Matt Little of East Cobb, who took off work to speak Tuesday morning, said he “could not fathom our local library closing.”
His children have grown up spending plenty of time at the East Cobb Library, as well as playing in the East Side Baseball program at Fullers Park. Little said that the summer reading program at the library is vital, as is the branch’s role as a hub in “a very close community.”
Charles McCrary of East Cobb said that he thinks that a millage rate increase alone isn’t going to solve the county’s budget issues, but “libraries mean more than you might think.
“The way the community comes together in a library is badly needed in today’s polarized society, where people can exchange ideas and have an environment [in which] to do it,” he said.
Marietta resident Peggy Poole noted the library system’s new program that enables Cobb public school students to use their student IDs as library cards, making them “a whole new group of library patrons.”
She said that several rounds of Cobb library cuts begun in 2008, starting with the recession, have taken a toll, and asked commissioners “what is the cost?” of more.
“Please don’t close our libraries,” she said.
Commission chairman Mike Boyce said what’s on the table now is only a proposal, but he wanted “to put it out there early,” five months before the fiscal year 2019 budget is adopted.
He said while it will be a “tough budget, we’ll get there because of more public input early in the process.”
East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott has opposed closing the East Cobb Library but has been in favor of consolidating what he calls “underperforming” libraries. On March 5 he will hold a town hall meeting at the new Sewell Mill Library.
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Cobb Commissioner Bob Ott announced over the weekend he’s holding a town hall meeting March 5 at the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center (2051 Lower Roswell Road).
The meeting lasts from 7-8:30 p.m.
While the format is general in nature—he typically briefs constituents on county issues, and then fields questions from the audience—the upcoming budget process figures to be a major topic.
In particular, proposed library cuts are likely to be a high-interest subject. Ott’s last town hall meeting in August, at the East Cobb Library, came just as his fellow East Cobb commissioner, JoAnn Birrell, proposed shuttering that branch.
The East Cobb Library is on the list of proposed closures for the coming fiscal year 2019 budget, which is slated for adoption in July.
Commission chairman Mike Boyce has said he wants to hold town hall meetings related to the budget in the spring, but hasn’t announced any dates.
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In the wake of steep budget cut proposals, Cobb library branches have set up tables for patrons to have their say, and contact their county commissioners. (East Cobb News photo by Wendy Parker)
I went to the East Cobb Library Saturday, and it was PACKED! With people of all ages, and from all walks of life. Yes, the weather was dreary, and yes, the few weekend hours it’s open certainly had a lot to do with the turnout.
We all know this, given how the East Cobb branch is the second-busiest in the Cobb County Public Library System. I read a few newspapers and magazines, browsed the bookshelves and did some research for this piece.
At times I wondered if all this might go away in a few months, this corner of the Parkaire Landing Shopping Center, given how the East Cobb Library is on a list of proposed closures.
I was afraid of getting too sentimental, since I grew up in East Cobb (and have written previously about my neighborhood branch, the late, great East Marietta Library).
I’ll admit I’m a bleeding heart for libraries, and this week some really bad emotions came flooding back when I saw not just the East Cobb branch on the hit list (as was suggested last year by commissioner JoAnn Birrell), and several others. Nearly half of all the county branches. A quarter of the operating budget may be slashed, and nearly half of the current operating hours.
For the second time in seven years, local elected officials are playing Cobb library politics, and this time I fear the results could be worse. In 2011, then-commission chairman Tim Lee threatened to shut down 13 of the 17 branches.
The county was in the midst of a budget crisis due to the recession, and his ploy worked. No branches were closed, but hours were cut back. Library patrons kicked up a fuss, and property taxes were raised.
As a citizen, I took a dim view of Lee’s tactics. Those of us who ardently support libraries were played, like a cheap fiddle, even though none of our branches were closed. We felt we had won a battle, but looking back, there was a larger war over our emotions that we may have conceded, and possibly for good.
As a ballyard sage famously put it, it’s déjà vu all over again. Lee’s successor, Mike Boyce, has learned very quickly in his first year in office that nobody wants their property taxes raised. He couldn’t get a 0.13-mills rate increase last year to fully fund the 2008 parks bond referendum that was part of his campaign.
For the last month or so, he’s been toting budget boards to speaking events around the county, with pie charts and lists and all kinds of dollar signs, illustrating a projected fiscal year 2019 deficit of at least $30 million.
Cobb commission chairman Mike Boyce at an East Cobb Business Association luncheon in January.
It’s likely to be much higher, and he’s trying to get ahead of the process by repeating this message months ahead of time, preparing Cobb citizens for the worst, what he’s called “the painful truth.” Others think he’s pandering to their emotions to get a tax increase.
At a town hall meeting last month at the East Cobb Senior Center, he told seniors angry about fee increases and the imposition of a membership fee that “we’re all in this together.” Some of them groaned, but he understood the power they wield.
“You all vote,” he said. On the other hand, library patrons “may not all be voters, but if you close their libraries, they will become voters.”
There were some chuckles around the room. This was just a few weeks after the commissioners held their budget retreat, and instructed department heads to look for steep budget cuts.
This week, the library list was the first to be revealed, and nobody is laughing. These proposed cuts have stirred the emotions of library advocates, right on cue. Tuesday’s commissioners meeting will include a public comment session that figures to be the first of many occasions in which they will get an earful from citizens about libraries.
This round of Cobb library politics is complicated by two other major factors that weren’t there in 2011: the Atlanta Braves stadium, and a property tax rollback two years ago.
Boyce and East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott have been making a point recently that the $8.6 million Cobb pays annually for the bond issue to build SunTrust Park may pay off for itself this year.
However, that vote—made in haste in late 2013 following a sham of a process that lacked transparency and accountability—reflects what many, myself included, still believe to be misplaced priorities.
Ott and Birrell, East Cobb’s other commissioner, voted for the millage rollback in 2016 at the behest of Lee, right before Boyce trounced him in a runoff. Those decisions cannot be undone, but they certainly have contributed to Cobb’s financial state today.
The Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center opened in December, two months before drastic budget cuts were proposed by the library system.
We starve libraries in Cobb, and have for years. It’s ridiculous that I can’t go to my new neighborhood branch, the fantastic Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center, before 1 p.m. on a Saturday.
Never on a Sunday is any Cobb library branch open, except the main Switzer branch, but that’s only during the school year.
Braves stadium funding, by the way, is on the “must” list. That item, with a 30-year contract, moved to the head of the line of priorities. Libraries, must settle, as usual, for scraps, if there are any at all to have.
The public library system has a short history in Cobb. Until 1957, libraries were operated only in cities, by municipal governments in Marietta, Powder Springs and Austell. Then the Cobb-Marietta system was born, prodded by Dennis Kemp, a former library board chairman from West Cobb concerned that there were no library services for citizens in unincorporated Cobb.
The county would soon rapidly transform from farmland to suburbia. The first countywide library bond issue was in 1965, and the library system became part of Cobb County government in the 1970s.
I discovered this information in a book about the history of Cobb County by Thomas Allan Scott, a historian at Kennesaw State University. It was published in 2003 by the Cobb Landmarks and Historical Society, and it’s available in every Cobb library branch.
I may not have known this without spending a lot of time in library branches here in East Cobb. Sure, you can buy that book on Amazon, and do a lot of things online, and on your phone, that libraries still haven’t quite grasped. A book I checked out Saturday at the East Cobb Library, “BiblioTech,” argues eloquently that libraries are as vital today as ever, but they need to get their digital act together.
It’s hard to do that if you don’t have the resources, and political support when it matters the most. Sadly, libraries pop up on the Cobb political radar only when they’re threatened.
On the list of proposed library closures revealed this week is the Kemp Memorial Library, named after Dennis Kemp. Another is the Sibley library on South Cobb Drive, named after Frances Weldon Sibley, the first licensed librarian in Cobb County, who started her 30-year-plus tenure in that role in the 1930s.
They were visionaries, well ahead of their time, who believed in the common good of libraries long before they became the third-rail political issue of today.
Whatever you think about tax increases, and the SPLOST process, it’s a shame their names could vanish into history, as well as the East Cobb Library, because elected officials might end up doing more this year than simply playing to your emotions. And mine.
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What East Cobb Library advocates have feared for months has come to pass: Their branch, the second busiest in the Cobb County Public Library System, has been formally recommended for closure due to Cobb County government budget cuts.
Several months after Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell suggested closing the East Cobb Library, the branch is included on a proposed list of eight library closings or consolidations from the library system to the commissioners.
The Cobb library system has set up an “I Love My Library” page on its website with information about the draft budget proposal, submitted by library director Helen Poyer.
The other library branches that would be closed under the proposal include Kemp Memorial in West Cobb, Lewis A. Ray and Windy Hill in Smyrna, Sweetwater Valley in Austell and Sibley in Marietta. In addition, the Acworth and Kennesaw branches would be consolidated.
The proposed budget cuts also include the elimination of all part-time staff positions, and hours would be cut nearly in half, from the current 780 hours a week throughout the system to 424.
The proposed library cuts would total nearly $3 million, or about 25 percent of the system’s current fiscal year operating budget of $12 million.
Cobb County officials say they’re facing a fiscal year 2019 deficit of at least $30 million, and have been directing department heads to recommend cuts in services to balance the budget.
“We need to really fight, now that we’ve seen it in black and white,” said Rachel Slomovitz, who calls the East Cobb Library her “second home” and who has been a vocal library proponent.
The East Cobb Library got a reprieve for fiscal year 2018, but that came just as the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center was set to open on Lower Roswell Road. Commissioners temporarily delayed full funding of that expanded branch—formerly the East Marietta Library—until after the start of the fiscal year 2018 in October.
In December, Slomovitz started an online petition, seeking the support of 1,000 people for raising the millage rate to avoid library budget cuts. Thus far, that petition has more than 750 signatures.
In her petition, Slomovitz estimated that what she called a “minor” millage increase would result in a $25 a year increase in property taxes to fund libraries. Last week, she started a closed Facebook group called “Save Cobb Libraries” to provide information and urge other citizens to contact their elected officials.
The East Cobb Library costs around $770,000 in staffing and for other operations every year, but that doesn’t include an additional $263,000 in annual rental expenses.
The branch opened at the Parkaire Landing Shopping Center in 2010, after operating as the Merchants Walk Library. The cost of moving and relocating the branch was borne by the developers of Merchants Walk when that retail center was redeveloped.
“I always feared that East Cobb would be on the list” because the branch is leased, Slomovitz said, but she added that the situation is an opportunity for citizens to reinforce to commissioners what’s important to them.
She said she noticed that during recent town hall meetings on senior center fees that funding for the Atlanta Braves’ SunTrust Park was included on a “required” list, while libraries are on a “desired” list, along with senior services and parks and recreation.
“Why can’t the libraries be regarded as just as worthy?” Slomovitz said.
In early 2011, then-chairman Tim Lee proposed closing 13 of the 17 branches as the county faced deep budget cuts due to the recession.
It was a ploy to get commissioners to come to the cutting table and it worked, but also generated heated opposition from library patrons who packed the commissioners meeting chambers.
No branches were closed, but library hours were cut from 1,089.5 hours a week to the current 780 hours, and some programs and services were also reduced.
The new proposed closures come less than a month after county officials, including all five commissioners, participated in ribbon-cutting ceremonies at the new Sewell Mill branch, which has been declared “the library of the future.”
Current Cobb commission chairman Mike Boyce has wanted to get an early start on the FY 19 budget, which doesn’t go into effect until October. Budget adoption is in July.
But just as he heard from Cobb seniors about rising costs and a membership fee to use county senior centers, Boyce and commissioners are bracing for an earful from library supporters.
In addition to the Sewell Mill Library, the East Cobb area is served by the Mountain View Regional Library on Sandy Plains Road and Gritters Library, located near Canton Road and Piedmont Road.
The “I Love My Library” page reminds readers that the proposals are not final, and that there will be public comment periods at commission meetings to offer citizens a chance to have their say about the libraries, and the budget. The page also includes scheduled meeting dates over the next few months.
“We’ve saved the libraries before,” said Slomovitz, who admits she’s “scared” by the prospect of the East Cobb Library closing its doors for good. “If we did it once, we can do it again.”
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Northeast Cobb Commissioner JoAnn Birrell voted for a resolution requesting the Georgia General Assembly authorize a November referendum for a Cobb public safety sales tax (East Cobb News file photo).
By a 3-2 vote Tuesday night, a Cobb public safety tax referendum proposal was approved by the Board of Commissioners.
That means their resolution will be submitted to the Georgia legislature, which must authorize a local referendum to take place. Cobb wants the referendum scheduled for November.
The referendum proposal would collect a permanent penny sales tax for public safety costs that county officials say would generate $130 million a year.
Cobb’s six cities would get $34 million of that revenue, and the county would get the remaining $96 million, which would fund all public safety functions except the Cobb Sheriff’s Office.
The sales tax revenue would be used for general operating expenses, including salaries and benefits, as well as capital costs, such as new vehicles and equipment.
The tax would be collected only if Cobb voters approved a referendum.
Cobb currently collects six cents on every dollar in sales taxes.
Voting against the resolution was District 2 commissioner Bob Ott of East Cobb, who wanted the resolution to clarify what would happen with the left-over money in the general fund no longer being used for public safety purposes.
“There’s no discussion here of what happens to the millage in the general fund,” Ott said at a work session on Monday. “This is a tax increase otherwise.”
North Cobb commissioner Bob Weatherford, who is proposing the sales tax, said the board has the flexibility to roll back the property tax millage rate if it chooses.
That wasn’t enough of an assurance for Ott, who supports taking public safety spending out of the general fund but who reiterated his objections right before the vote.
District 3 commissioner JoAnn Birrell of Northeast Cobb supported the resolution, citing the high priority of public safety. “We have to put our money where our mouth is.”
The resolution was opposed by Lance Lamberton of the Cobb Taxpayers Association, who claimed the county doesn’t have a revenue problem but “a spending problem.”
Another sales tax, he said, “will amount to a very large tax increase on our citizens.”
Also sounding off on the vote Tuesday was Tom Cheek, a civic activist who has announced he’s running against Birrell in the Republican primary for District 3 this year.
Cheek wrote on his Facebook page that “by using the false flag of ‘Public Safety’ and the false promise of ‘we will lower your property taxes,’ the BOC took a huge step away from accountability.”
The other opposing vote on the board was Lisa Cupid of South Cobb, who referenced the county’s current budget challenges, with a projected fiscal year 2019 deficit between $30 million and $55 million.
“It’s hard to get our arms around a big gaping hole that’s affecting how everything functions in the county now,” she said.
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Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce speaking to the East Cobb Business Association Tuesday. (East Cobb News photo by Wendy Parker)
In appearing before various constituent groups months ahead of time, Mike Boyce has been increasingly blunt about the Cobb budget deficit, which is expected to be at least $30 million for fiscal year 2019.
Earlier this month, the Cobb commission chairman told a few hundred (mostly) upset seniors at the East Cobb Senior Center about the need for rising fees for county services to the elderly, “because we’re all in this together.”
Earlier this week, Boyce met with members of the East Cobb Business Association and delivered a similar message. In what’s becoming something of a stump speech early in the budget season (the FY 2019 budget doesn’t go into effect until October), Boyce continued to sharpen his tone and implore citizens to be vocal and get engaged with the process.
“We have finally shown the reality of what the shortfall is,” Boyce said in remarks at the ECBA’s monthly luncheon at the Olde Towne Athletic Club.
Bringing pie charts and listings of wants and needs, Boyce reiterated his belief that the current general fund millage rate of 6.76—which yielded revenues of $405 million for the current fiscal year 2018—is not sufficient if Cobb is to remain what he calls “a five-star county.”
After Cobb commissioners used contingency money to close a $20 million gap for FY 2018, there aren’t many more sources to tap. Additional needs call for hiring more police officers, among other increases in spending.
Starting his second year in office, Boyce, an East Cobb resident, has said he “wants to get ahead of the story” in shaping the budget picture as clearly as possible.
“Now is the time we have to pay the bills,” he said.
Last year, he tried to get commissioners to approve a 0.13 mill increase to fund the 2008 Cobb parks bond referendum, but was rejected.
(Information and charts provided by Cobb County government.)
Getting approval for a property tax increase to address the widening budget gap might seem unlikely, but on Monday East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott—who uniformly opposes tax increases—opened the door, at least slightly, to such a possibility.
In an article published for the InsiderAdvantage political newsletter, Ott said he opposed a millage rate increase “without cuts in services that are not mandated or essential to county operations.”
Those include senior programs, parks and libraries, which are on a long list of “desired” services that could face significant reductions for FY 2019.
During last year’s budget deliberations, Northeast Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell suggested closing the East Cobb Library, the second-busiest branch in the Cobb system. That never came to fruition, but East Cobb residents who spoke out against that proposal remain concerned.
She estimates her proposal would cost taxpayers an additional $25 a year to avoid the possibility of up to $3 million in cuts (roughly a quarter of the library system’s entire budget) and closing multiple branches.
Ott further explained in the InsiderAdvantage piece that at a commissioners budget retreat last fall, he and a colleague worked up a budget solution with a $55 million deficit baseline and balanced that with non-essential program cuts, fee increases and a 0.5 millage rate increase.
That 0.5 mills would yield $14 million, by Ott’s calculation. He concluded by writing that after “desired” cuts were made and required spending was approved, and “if the essential list is not completely funded” with the present millage rate, “only then would I consider a tax increase.”
Boyce said he read Ott’s article and found it constructive and useful.
“How we’re going to get [to a resolution] is the next part of the problem,” Boyce told the ECBA attendees. “It’s a painful truth, but we’ve got to start telling the truth.”
Boyce will deliver his State of the County address to the Cobb Chamber of Commerce Monday morning.
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While another winter storm was brewing this week, the Cobb County Public Library System unveiled a new program to increase access for students at all of its branches. The Cobb Library PASS program is available to all Cobb and Marietta students who show their student IDs, and it’s for print and digital materials.
While it’s the kind of resource that comes in handy when schools are closed, as they have been since Wednesday, the Cobb Library PASS program is available year-round, as well as from remote locations and by physically visiting a branch.
PASS stands for Public Library Access for Student Success, and here’s what the library system has sent along to explain how the program works. Basically, a student ID serves as a library card number that can be used just like a card for any other library patron:
PASS links K-12 student identification numbers to the new PASS accounts for online connections to the Cobb public library from the home, classroom or library.
Lisa Cleary, Community Engagement Manager for Cobb libraries, said expanding access to the Cobb library is a major step for improving educational attainment levels in the county, especially for students with limited opportunities to visit libraries in person. All students have access to school media center resources, yet only about one-fourth have Cobb library cards, she added.
Through Library PASS accounts, area public school students may checkout books and eBooks, and explore online resources like research publications on science, history, technology and more.
Officials with the library system and schools spent several months developing PASS and preparing teachers and school staffs for the PASS launch. The collaboration between the public library and schools is bolstered by the relationships the three organizations developed for annual Summer Reading programs and other joint initiatives throughout the year.
Cobb County Schools Library Media Education Supervisor Holly Frilot said the groundwork for Library Pass involved many local meetings, discussions with library institutions in other states, and the involvement of several departments in the three partner organizations.
“We strive every day to improve and enhance the digital and print literacy skills of our students – skills that are crucial for success in school, career, and life,” Frilot said. “The PASS partnership directly speaks to this goal.”
Here’s more about the PASS program at this FAQ page, including PIN numbers, limits on materials to check out and daily computer usage and downloading library system apps.
Further information can be found here for parents.
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As temperatures climbed toward freezing this morning, Cobb County government offices and libraries opened, and road clean-up continued, aided by some very welcome sunshine.
Late last night, Cobb spokesman Ross Cavitt said that around 200 accident calls were reported to county 911 dispatchers within the first 24 hours of the storm, including 15 stranded motorists, 10 hit-and-run incidents and two needing fire extrication from their vehicles.
No serious injuries have been reported, but the roads are still icy and slushy in some places.
Earlier this morning Cobb DOT said there were 50 reports of black ice throughout the county overnight:
Most major roads in good shape but side streets, especially those in shade, remain problematic. Be safe if you are venturing out. Fortunately traffic is light.
If you’re a CobbLinc rider, local and paratransit service began at noon, but XPress bus services are cancelled today.
Temperatures could reach the high 30s or even 40 by mid afternoon, with lows tonight and overnight falling back into the mid-to-low 20s.
Then it’s getting warmer starting Friday, and for most of next week. Friday’s highs could get into the low 50s and by Sunday we could get into the high 60s.
We a few updates about openings, closings, cancellations and postponements from East Cobb businesses, faith communities and other organizations beyond what was posted on the link just above, but we’ll keep adding to this list below during the afternoon.
We’ll also update with news about whether Cobb schools will have classes Friday. They’re closed again today, and today’s school board meetings have been postponed to next Thursday.
We’ll also be catching up with some other news that we’ve been wanting to post here the last couple days—and there’s a lot going on to share in East Cobb—starting later today and tomorrow as well.
Thursday openings
Transfiguration Catholic Church
XenGo Fusion Kitchen & Sushi
The Avenue East Cobb
Ted’s Montana Grill
Johnny’s New York Pizza
Book Exchange
St. Andrew UMC, at 1 p.m.
Once and Again Books
The Art Place-Mountain View, at 1 p.m.
East Cobb and NE Cobb YMCA open until 7 p.m.
Thursday closings/cancellations
Tonight’s Walton PTSA open house and general meeting
All practices/activities for East Marietta Basketball
The Cobb Watershed Stewardship program’s Privet Pull Mob for this afternoon at Noonday Creek Park
Send your weather news and photos and we’ll post it here: editor@eastcobbnews.com.
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With a forecast of more sub-freezing temperatures tonight and overnight, Cobb schools will be closed again on Thursday.
The Cobb County School District said the closure is for students and staff for the second day in a row.
The Cobb Board of Education work session and regular meeting, both scheduled for Thursday, have been postponed to next Thursday, Jan. 25.
A state of emergency declared by Gov. Nathan Deal for 83 counties in Georgia, including Cobb, remains in effect.
Temperatures are expected to dip back into the teens tonight and overnight, as any snow and ice that melted today will refreeze and create black ice.
Weather conditions may not reach above freezing in Cobb until Thursday afternoon. Here’s what Cobb County government posted earlier Wednesday afternoon:
Bill Shelton, Cobb County DOT Road Maintenance Director, says crews are restocking supplies of gravel for what will be a long day and night of treating roads. “I don’t see conditions on the roads changing much overnight,” Shelton said. “Even when the temperature gets above freezing Thursday, shady spots and low-lying areas will not thaw out. So we will keep running routes and treat all those areas to make sure roads are safe.”
Shelton says so far Cobb DOT crews have; – Put down 3400 gallons of brine before the snow started, – Used 300 tons of salt and 1200 tons of gravel since the snow fell, – Eight trucks continuously running routes, with others restocking material.
Morning sessions at Studio 348 for Women cancelled. Afternoon sessions still scheduled;
Thursday Postponements
East Cobb Middle School PTSA meeting and volunteer appreciation scheduled for Thursday will be held Tuesday, Jan. 30, at 6 p.m. in the ECMS Media Center;
Primrose School at East Cobb’s parent information meeting tonight at 6:30, was scheduled for Camps Kitchen & Bar, rescheduled to Sunday, Jan. 28 at 3:30 p.m. at the same venue;
Thursday delayed openings
Cobb County Government, 10 a.m. Thursday; Cobb libraries 11 a.m.;
Johnson Ferry Baptist Church, 10 a.m. Thursday;
East Cobb and Northeast Cobb YMCA, 10 a.m. Thursday (tentative);
St. Ann Catholic Church parish office, 10 a.m. Thursday. No 6:30 a.m. or 9 a.m. Mass services;
Mansouri Family Dental Care, noon-5:30 p.m.;
Olde Towne Athletic Club, opening at noon;
Atlanta Swim Academy, opening at 1 p.m., all morning classes cancelled.
We’ll be continuously updating other closings, cancellations, postponements and road and weather news for the rest of your Wednesday afternoon and evening here.
Send your weather news and photos and we’ll post it here: editor@eastcobbnews.com.
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Many areas of East Cobb got a half-inch to an inch of snow Tuesday; temperatures are not expected to rise above freezing until Thursday.
Here’s your mid-day Wednesday Cobb winter weather update, and we’ll keep adding more information as we get it the rest of the afternoon:
Cobb County government offices will be closed all day today because of the icy road conditions, and with temperatures not expected to rise out of the 20s.
That includes courts, public libraries and all CobbLinc bus service. Late last night county officials had indicated a delayed starting time of 10 a.m., but road conditions have made it hazardous to travel, as ice is packed under snow.
Accidents are taking place in many areas; Marietta Police said this morning that at least 15 accidents have taken place in the city, and that number is expected to climb. There’s no word yet on major accidents in the East Cobb area, but we will update any information that becomes available.
Any roads with melting ice are expected to refreeze tonight, and crews will be back out treating major routes. The Cobb Commute link has updates on roads that have been treated.
Cobb government sent out this message via social media earlier this morning:
Cobb DOT crews spent the night treating roadways and crews continue to work the roads, now on their second run over their countywide routes. But as the snowfall moves out, the number of accidents in the county has increased, with police reporting some hills and bridges impassable.
County officials will get more updates from the DOT crews and make a determination later today when to resume operations.
After Tuesday’s snow, temperatures fell dramatically below freezing. Cobb DOT had work crews out all night and into the morning, but because of icy conditions and sub-freezing temperatures into Thursday afternoon, motorists are advised not to get out on to the roads unless they have to.
As of 11 a.m. Cobb schools have not communicated any new information, including whether there will be classes on Thursday.
As of this writing the temperatures are in the mid teens in East Cobb, with highs projected only in the low to mid-20s. Lows tonight are forecast to fall back into the teens, with highs in the 40s expected on Thursday, but not until the afternoon.
East Cobb News will continue to update this post during the day with the latest information about closures, cancellations, postponements and other weather-related news.
Send your weather news, and photos if you have them, to: editor@eastcobbnews.com and we’ll post them.
What follows below are the latest closings/delayed openings/cancellations/postponements from this morning, not including those we posted last night on the link above:
Closings
Mass and all activities at Holy Family Catholic Church
Dog City Bakery
Haven, The Dog Spot
Tritt Animal Hospital
Rescued Too
Johnny’s New York Pizza
Ronald Sachs Violins
East Cobb and Northeast Cobb YMCA
All activities at Emerson Unitarian Universalist Congregation
LGE Community Credit Union
All Fidelity Bank branches
Kids’ Zone Daycare and Learning Center
Club Pilates East Cobb
Lemon Grass Thai Restaurant
Montrose Animal Hospital
Studio 348 for Women
Book Nook Marietta
Office and activities at St. Andrew UMC
Peace Love and Pizza
All activities at St. Catherine’s Episcopal Church
Gigi’s Cupcakes
Once & Again Books Shallowford
Cat Clinic of Cobb
Book Exchange
Chick-fil-A Lassiter
All activities at Eastminster Presbyterian Church
Offices and all acitivities at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church
Intrigue Salon
Kids Kuts Salon
Atlanta Swim Academy
Three-13 Salon
Righteous Que
Free-Flite Bicycles
Mansouri Family Dental Care
All activities at Eastside Baptist Church
Parisian Nail Salon
Massage Heights East Cobb
Openings
Zaxby’s Lower Roswell Road, 11 a.m.
Muss & Turner East Cobb, noon
Frankie’s Italian restaurant, Roswell Road
Loyal Q, 11 a.m.
Winston’s Food and Spirits
Terrell Mill Animal Hospital, 10 a.m.
Chick-fil-A Woodlawn Square, open until 4 p.m.
Marietta Donuts, open until 5 p.m.
Marietta Fish Market, 4 p.m. depending on road conditions
Chick-fil-A East Lake
The Wing Cafe and Tap House
WellStar East Cobb Health Park
Marietta Ice Center revised schedule for public skating sessions: 1:15-3:15 p.m.; 3:30-6 p.m.; 6:15-8:45 p.m.
Cancellations
East Cobb UMC Wednesday Night Supper
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Shortly before 8:30 tonight, the Cobb County School District announced that Cobb schools will be closed on Wednesday, for students and staff, “due to road and travel conditions.”
Gov. Nathan Deal has declared a state of emergency for 83 counties in Georgia, including Cobb, and non-essential state government offices will be closed Wednesday.
Cobb DOT crews are working in 12-hour shifts, starting at 5 p.m. today, and switching to fresh crews at 5 a.m. Wednesday, to treat major roads with a salt and gravel mix as between a half-inch to an inch of snow is forecast to fall on Cobb, and turn to ice as temperatures reached freezing.
Cobb County government is on a delayed opening Wednesday until 10 a.m., including libraries.
With the wind chill, temperatures in the morning could feel as cold as several degrees below zero. A winter weather advisory is in effect for Cobb and most of north Georgia until 10 a.m. Wednesday and a wind chill advisory is in effect until 7 a.m.
CobbLinc will delay the start of all bus services until 10 a.m.
Snowfall began falling in East Cobb a little after 7 tonight, as temperatures fell to around the freezing mark.
The Walker School also is closed on Wednesday, as are Mt. Bethel Christian Academy, the Wood Acres School, Gracepoint School and Faith Lutheran School.
All campuses of Kennesaw State University are closed on Wednesday, but dining services will continue. All campuses of Chattahoochee Tech also will be closed Wednesday.
The Eastside Christian School open house scheduled for Wednesday has been postponed a week to Jan 24 at 9:30 a.m. All classes are cancelled Wednesday.
The St. Catherine’s Episcopal preschool is closed Wednesday, as is the St. Ann Catholic preschool.
At Transfiguration Catholic Church, preschool, PREP classes and Adult Education classes are cancelled Wednesday, and perpetual adoration will be closed until noon.
The Northeast Cobb Business Association luncheon Wednesday has been cancelled.
The East Cobb YMCA and Northeast Cobb YMCA are delaying opening until 10 a.m.
Olde Towne Athletic Club is opening at noon Wednesday.
More updates will posted here as they become available.
ORIGINAL REPORT, posted 4:55 p.m.:
With public and private schools already having cancelled Tuesday evening events, here’s the latest Cobb winter storm update. We’ll keep posting additional information as we have it, including any news about Cobb schools for Wednesday.
The Cobb County School District has been saying this afternoon that “a decision about school for Wednesday will be made either late tonight or early tomorrow morning.”
Send your news about cancellations/postponements to: editor@eastcobbnews.com and we’ll add it here.
Weather Conditions
From the National Weather Service, precipitation is expected to come through a line from Carrollton to Canton and into northeastern Georgia around 6 p.m. tonight (as shown in map above), and as temperatures plunge dramatically.
Temperatures were in the high 40s in the East Cobb area around 4:30 p.m., but dropping temperatures, along with the wind chill, could make it feel a few degrees below zero overnight and into early Wednesday morning.
Closings/cancellations/postponements
Cobb County government, including libraries, is closing at 6 tonight, and programs and events scheduled for tonight are cancelled or rescheduled. All government offices, agencies and facilities are slated to open on a delayed basis on Wednesday at 10 a.m.;
The East Cobb and Northeast Cobb YMCA branches are cancelling all after school activities, as well as paid programming. The branches plan to stay open until 7:30;
Transfiguration Catholic Church is cancelling all evening parish activities and meetings, PREP classes and adult ed classes, and Perpetual Adoration is closed from 6 tonight to noon Wednesday. Tonight’s 7 p.m. Mass will be held “as long as the weather holds up,” according to a social media post from around 1 p.m.;
St. Ann Catholic has cancelled Wednesday Mass services at 6:30 a.m. and 9 a.m.;
The Walker School is cancelling all after school-activities, including practices and games;
The Wood Acres After School Tree House is closing at 5 p.m.
After-school care at Mt. Bethel Christian Academy is closing at 5 p.m. and North campus athletics are cancelled;
All after-school activities at Eastside Christian Academy will conclude at 5:30, and pickup is required by that time. JV basketball games at Mt. Paran are cancelled;
All campuses of Kennesaw State University are closing at 5 p.m., and all night classes after that are cancelled;
The same goes for all campuses at Chattahoochee Tech, closing at 5 p.m.;
The Walton High School wrestling team’s picture day and senior night event scheduled for Wednesday has been postponed a week, to Jan. 24.
Cobb DOT/Roads
The Cobb DOT road maintenance division has been pretreating roads with brine this morning and is treating roads with salt and gravel mix on designated major routes this afternoon. Between a half-inch and an inch of snow is expected in Cobb. A total of 15 crews will be rolling out by 5 p.m., with another similar number of crews to follow at 5 a.m. Wednesday.
Emergency Information
The Cobb 911 office issued this information around 3 p.m. Tuesday:
Cobb County and much of North Georgia is preparing for the possibility of hazardous weather. Here are some numbers that you might need. Call these numbers instead of 911 if there is not an emergency. Call 911 if you need the fire department, an ambulance or the police. 911 is unable to give time frames on power outages.
Do Not Call 911 unless it is a life-threatening emergency. This would include someone who is utilizing life-sustaining equipment that requires electricity. 911 will not report your outage to any utility company.
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Cobb commission chairman Mike Boyce faced a full house at the East Cobb Senior Center Friday (East Cobb News photos by Wendy Parker)
Before Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce made his case for increasing charges for senior services, including the creation of an annual membership fee, he issued an apology.
Not for the idea of raising fees. As he reiterated several times, often to the derision of some in attendance at a town hall meeting at the East Cobb Senior Center Friday morning, “We’re all in this together” in addressing Cobb’s mounting budget problems.
Rather, Boyce regretted the way the announcement was handled in November, when commissioners voted to impose an annual $60 membership fee to use Cobb senior centers and in some cases charge steep increases in renting rooms for events at those facilities.
Those new charges are set to go into effect on Feb. 1, but because of strong pushback from seniors, Boyce scheduled a series of town hall meetings this month.
The first was at the East Cobb center on Sandy Plains Road, one of the busiest of the five senior centers run by the county, and with a robust schedule of activities and organizations that meet there.
“You’re angry because you feel like we’re shoving this down your throat,” Boyce said to a standing-room only crowd. “That’s why we’re here.”
Many were angry about any increases in general, with some citing living on fixed incomes, and wondering how much the new charges would help solve a budget deficit projected to be $30 million or more for fiscal 2019.
“I’m hoping it’s only $30 million,” Boyce said, rattling off a long list of things that the county isn’t buying these days—including public safety and senior services vehicles—due to the budget crunch.
He deflected criticism that the county’s obligation for SunTrust Park is contributing to the budget woes, which were $20 million for fiscal 2018. Cobb pays $8.4 million annually for its share of the new home of the Atlanta Braves.
When an attendee charged that the county is “Mickey Mousing us around” instead of addressing funding for the stadium, Boyce was adamant:
“The Braves didn’t create this hole. All they did was accelerate the inevitable.”
Of the $405 million fiscal year general fund budget for 2018, around $170 million is earmarked for required services under state law: public safety, courts, roads and water.
A longer list of “essential” services includes code enforcement, finance and budget and planning and zoning. That totals another $146 million.
The longest list of all, “desired” services, has the smallest budget sum of the three: $86 million, and it’s where the budgets for popular programs for parks, libraries and seniors all come from.
Each senior center costs around $250,000 a year to operate, but county officials estimate only 6,100 of Cobb’s 165,000 seniors use them at all.
When a senior asked why the elderly are being asked to share the burden this way, Boyce offered his standard response—”because we’re all in this together”—to a chorus of boos and groans.
“You may not like the answer, but if we don’t fill this [budget] hole, we may have to close places,” he said.
Boyce faced greater opposition to the room rate increases, which in some cases would be 200 or 300 percent higher than what they are now, as well as class fees.
Currently, the Foxtrotters Dance Club pays $120 for its monthly events, and the Marietta Golden K Kiwanis Club pays the same amount for several meetings a year at the East Cobb center.
Those rentals would go up to $200 an event. Class fees would go up from $48 to $112 and $160 for painting classes and from $30 to $50 for yoga and tai chi sessions.
Some worried that their fellow seniors may drop out of coming to the centers, which have become a vital social hub.
One suggestion Boyce said he definitely would take back to the commissioners is a $5 monthly fee, which may be more affordable for some seniors who can’t pay $60 in advance.
After the town hall meeting, East Cobb senior resident Chris Vail said he appreciated Boyce taking the heat, and for apologizing at the outset.
Vail is member of the Golden K Kiwanis, which has met at the East Cobb Senior Center for 22 years. He’s concerned that higher charges for room rental and other club activities would cost the organization $12,000 a year, about the same amount of money the group raises for various children’s charities every year.
“That would put us out of business,” said Vail, a retired police officer from Albany, Ga., and a former Congressional investigator. “There’s a lot of benefit for us to be here.”
He said a user fee for seniors would be fine with him “as long as it is reasonable.” Vail said while he was glad for the chance to be heard, “I only pray that they will listen to us.”
Additional town hall meetings will take place week at the North Cobb, West Cobb, Freeman Poole and Marietta senior centers. The commissioners will discuss the feedback at a work session later this month before scheduling a vote on the new fees.
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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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Elected officials, appointees and Cobb library and parks and recreation staff officially christen the new Sewell Mill facility. (East Cobb News photos by Wendy Parker)
Tuesday’s ribbon-cutting at the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center came a month after the multi-use facility opened on Lower Roswell Road, next to where its predecessor, the East Marietta Library, once stood for nearly 50 years.
Pieces of the old building were distributed to the dozens of guests and dignitaries who crowded the new facility’s black box theater for presentations, and the honorary ribbon-cutting that followed.
As the long history of the venerable East Marietta building was recounted by several speakers, the vision for what’s replacing it was spelled out in excited detail.
With more than 28,000 square feet, the Sewell Mill branch easily dwarfs East Marietta, which opened with 8,600 square feet in 1967.
But it’s the scope of the offerings at the new facility, and its joint association between the Cobb library and parks and recreation departments, that is novel, reflecting what Cobb commissioner Bob Ott described as the “phenomenal” vision of the staffers who saw the project through over several years.
“This truly is the library of the future,” said Julie Walker, the state librarian of Georgia.
In addition to traditional library space, the Sewell Mill branch includes the black box theater, an outdoor amphitheater and cultural “maker” space with digital audio and video recording equipment.
The theater offers regular film screenings and concerts will be a regular part of the schedule. There’s also a teen room and space for writers and filmmakers meet-ups, and classes in digital photography, podcasting, comics, art and music appreciation.
The entire Cobb Board of Commissioners, State Rep. Sharon Cooper, State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, former Cobb County Manager Dave Hankerson and appointees to the Cobb library and recreation boards were present for the event, which also included a special presentation to longtime Cobb Library Foundation board members Carol and Jim Ney.
For their financial support, the Neys were honored by having the Sewell Mill branch’s art gallery named after them, as well as an outdoor patio that adjoins the main reading room.
Jim and Carol Ney honored by Cobb commissioners before the ribbon-cutting.
Cobb commission chairman Mike Boyce and his wife, Judy, also had a study room named in their honor. Boyce said they made a $5,000 donation, but to him, “it was self-evident” to support such a project.
“People are going to have to come see this to appreciate the benefits,” said Boyce. In his ribbon-cutting remarks, he said that “we have gone to great lengths to create a library that I am convinced is revolutionary.”
But its evolution has been a long one, primarily for financial reasons.
The Sewell Mill Library cost $10.6 million to build, with all but $2 million coming out of SPLOST funding (the rest came from state sources). Ott, who was first elected in 2008, said discussions about replacing the East Marietta Library predated his time on the commission.
He recalls hearing his District 2 predecessor, the late Joe Lee Thompson, say to him that a new library was inevitable. “Every year, he told me to be patient,” Ott said. “It’s coming. I don’t know if he thought it would be like this.”
Those plans were put on hold in the wake of the recession. Last fall, as commissioners were haggling over budget details, they temporarily delayed full funding of the Sewell Mill branch, which has additional staff positions.
Those positions were funded and the Sewell Mill library opened on Dec. 4. But as a new year beckons, commissioners are facing a projected $30 million shortfall for fiscal 2019. Soon, department heads will be asked to bring forth proposed budget cuts, and libraries and parks are certain to be among them.
What about those who may regard the Sewell Mill concept as an extravagance?
“Only if you consider your children and grandchildren as an extravagance,” said Boyce, who’s beginning his second year in office.
He noted that while those of an older generation may envision libraries in a more traditional, print-focused way, the multi-platform educational, intellectual and cultural options for younger people need to be accommodated.
“This is not the old library,” Boyce said.
The Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center has the same address (2051 Lower Roswell Road) and the same hours as the former East Marietta Library:
Monday-Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.;
Thursday-Friday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.;
Saturday, 1-6 p.m.;
Closed Sunday.
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The Cobb Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved spending $13,865 for preliminary engineering work and utility relocation in advance of the Post Oak Tritt-Hembree Road intersection project, which could feature the construction of a roundabout.
The $2.2 million project (here’s the brochure) is included in the Cobb Government 2016 SPLOST. Other aspects of the project include additional street lighting and sidewalk improvements.
The intersection has no traffic signals, and only a stop sign on Hembree and a left turn lane from Post Oak Tritt eastbound onto Hembree offer traffic control.
“This has been a long time coming,” Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell said, noting the intersection’s proximity to Pope High School, further north on Hembree Road, where a roundabout was completed just before the start of the current school year.
The Post Oak Tritt-Hembree Road intersection project is expected to get underway this spring, with an expected completion date in mid-2019.
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The last day that East Cobb-area libraries will be open for 2017 is Saturday, and the newest branch will be kicking off a new film series in the final event of the year.
The new Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center (2051 Lower Roswell Road) keeps adding to its film screenings with the showing of “Videodrome,” a 1983 Canadian science fiction film starring James Woods and Deborah Harry (of “Blondie” fame).
Woods plays a television executive who chases down the source of a broadcast signal that shows violence, and who loses touch with reality in what’s dubbed a “techno-surrealist” film.
It’s the first of a “Horror Movie Saturday” series that continues every other week through Feb. 24. Saturday’s flick, and all the others in this series, run from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and you’re free to bring your own food and drink.
Please keep in mind that this series is for adults only (and “Videodrome” certainly is loaded with adult material), and some films are rated R.
All Cobb library branches will be closed Sunday and Monday, and will reopen Tuesday, Jan. 2 at regular hours and with several events scheduled. Among them is an orientation of the new programs and services offered at Sewell Mill from 7-8 p.m., including the chance to register for classes and programs.
The library opened on Dec. 4, with a formal ribbon-cutting taking place Jan. 9.
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