East Cobb Government

Cobb fiscal year 2018 budget approved in close vote

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Cobb fiscal year 2018 budget

After a lengthy public hearing and discussion and the possibility of not approving a budget today, the Cobb fiscal year 2018 budget was adopted by the Board of Commissioners.

The $403.4 million budget is based on the millage rate of 6.76 set by commission in July, and using $19.7 million in contingency funding—”one-time monies” in budget parlance—to balance the budget. More than $1 million for Cobb community charities was not included in the budget, and representatives of many of those organizations were vocal about keeping their funding.

The new budget includes funding for the East Cobb Library, which commissioner JoAnn Birrell had proposed closing, but does not include funding for the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center, which will replace the East Marietta Library and is slated to open this winter.

Like the funding for the charities, funding for the new library is expected to be taken up by the commissioners in the new fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.

What follows is a live-blog format of the public comment period, both from the public and the commissioners, that was updated as the budget proceedings took place.

We’ll have other matters from today’s commission meeting, including the approval of the Cobb 2040 Comprehensive Plan, posted separately.

We’ll also link to the final budget document once it’s made available online. Here’s the original.

1:41 PM: The budget passes 3-2, with Boyce, Birrell and Bob Weatherford voting yes, Ott and Cupid voting no.

1:28 PM: Chairman Mike Boyce is the last member of the board to speak, saying “budgets are never easy.” Regarding the non-profits, he said many provide services that government should be doing, but they do it better. “This isn’t black and white. The bottom line is we can’t give you what we don’t have . . . money because of the millage rate.”

Carving out a budget based on a 6.76 millage rate includes figuring out how “to provide services this county has come to expect.” He said “we’re a five-star county” and that he hopes conversations over the next few months will result in some kind of consensus from the board in the future.

Boyce makes motion to approve budget, with Birrell seconding.

1:15 PM: South Cobb commissioner Lisa Cupid said the budget situation today is “the direct result of the millage rate vote [from earlier this summer] that I did not support.” She also said that the situation is “not only mind-boggling but somewhat shameful,” and cited cuts in assistance to community non-profits, the continued limited hours for libraries and more.

“This is a not a good situation that we’re in today, to not pass a budget” that will “put us in a worse situation. There are real people with real needs that are attached to” what is tied into the budget.

She also referenced how the needs of the Braves are being accommodated, but not those who benefit from community charities. “I’m just troubled by this whole ordeal.” Cupid said she cannot support the budget proposal.

1:08 PM: The public hearing is closed, and the commissioners are making some opening comments during their discussion period. Northeast Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell said: “Is this a perfect budget? No. But is pretty much a flat budget” and she supports it.

East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott said he would like to see some details on how to deal with the one-time money, but “I don’t see it there.”

1:01 PM: Michael Paris of East Cobb, head of the Council for Quality Growth, spoke in support of the proposed budget. “Go forward and make sure we continue to make this county great,” he said.

12:29 PM: Ray Thomas, a South Cobb resident, expressed concern that the budget proposal includes contingency funding despite an improving economy and rising Cobb tax digest. “What happens when things really get tough? . . . This is very disconcerting.” He said the county has two choices: cut back services or find more revenue, and he cited a rise in the millage rate.

12:23 PM: Dan Daniel, a longtime East Cobb resident and volunteer at the East Cobb Library, pleaded with the commissioners to keep that branch open. If it closes, he said, nearby residents would have to go a great distance to patronize the library system.

12:01 PM: The public hearing on the budget is continuing, but we’re taking a break. This very well may be an all-day meeting, given what else is on the agenda, and what looks to be a commission impasse on the budget. Some very impassioned speakers already, and there are more to come.

11:22 AM: The directors of a number of community service organizations, including MUST Ministries, Family Promise of Cobb County and the Cobb Schools Foundation, are speaking on behalf of continuing the county funding they receive. The proposed budget does not include charities funding.

A retired citizen, John Morgan, asks the commissioners to consider “what will your legacy be?” especially as it pertains to Cobb’s homeless, and cites several Bible passages. The crowd applauded as he concluded.

11:05 AM: The first speaker is East Cobb resident Abby Shiffman, the chairwoman of the Cobb library board of trustees, and she’s urging the commission not pass a budget today, especially as it pertains to the library budget. “How can you pass a budget without specifics?” she asked, noting that the library system has suffered “cut after cut after cut” with no increase in funding, including expansion of library hours, since the recession. The notion of closing a library branch (Birrell has proposed closing the East Cobb Library) “without a true hearing is something I cannot understand.”

BTW: Tonight is the Cobb Library Foundation’s gala dinner, “Booked for the Evening,” featuring East Cobb author Jonathan W. Jordan, that’s one of the year’s biggest fundraising events for outside money to support the library system.

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Cobb 2018 budget adoption, 2040 comprehensive plan on Friday agenda

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A postponed meeting from last week that was to include the Cobb 2018 budget adoption and the Cobb 2040 Comprehensive Plan will take place Friday.

Bob Ott, Cobb 2018 budget adoption
District 2 commissioner Bob Ott.

The Cobb Board of Commissioners will meet starting at 10 a.m. in the 2nd floor room of the Cobb BOC building, 100 Cherokee St., in downtown Marietta.

The meeting was rescheduled because county government was shut down due to Tropical Storm Irma. Before commissioners vote on the fiscal year 2018 budget, a final public hearing on the budget will take place.

Cobb commission chairman Mike Boyce has proposed an $890 million budget (PDF here), with $405 million for the general fund, and without a millage rate increase. After losing a battle in July to boost the millage rate to fully fund the 2008 Cobb parks bond referendum, Boyce is proposing to use $21.5 million in contingency funding to balance the budget.

East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott has gone on the record stating he does not support a millage rate increase and called for a budget review to find cost savings (East Cobb News post here).

East Cobb Library
The East Cobb Library opened at Parkaire Landing Shopping Center in 2010.

He’s also been feuding with his fellow East Cobb commissioner, JoAnn Birrell, who has proposed closing the East Cobb Library to help balance the budget. At an August town hall meeting at that same library branch—the second-busiest in the Cobb public library system—Ott said he would propose closing an “underperforming” branch elsewhere in his district but has not publicly elaborated since then (East Cobb News post here).

East Cobb residents spoke out loudly at a previous public hearing before Birrell defended her proposal to close the East Cobb Library. More than 5,000 people have signed an online petition to keep it open.

Addoption of the Cobb 2040 Comprehensive Plan is on Friday’s agenda, which reflects “Cobb’s vision, policies and goals based on the existing plan and community involvement,” according to documents explaining the plan update process.

Hearings, revisions and other work going into the 2040 plan have been ongoing since 2015. The final draft was completed on Sept. 5, with final revisions explained here.

Several East Cobb citizen activists have been critical of the proposed Cobb 2040 report, concerned about the influx of high-density development in the East Cobb area.

The county is required by the state to adopt a plan and submit it for review by the Atlanta Regional Commission.

Also on Friday’s agenda are the following East Cobb-related items:

  • A change order to approve $194,700 in funding to resurface Dickerson Road, located off Lower Roswell Road, where a new subdivision, Crossvine, is being built by Lynwood Development;
  • An appeal by the owner of a proposed bar in northeast Cobb whose application for a liquor license was denied. Naseeb Rana of Kasbah Corp. wants to open an establishment in the Sandy Plains Village shopping center called Paprik’a which would have outdoor seating close to residential homes. Citizens from the Chatsworth and other subdivisions have strongly protested the application, saying the noise and late hours are incompatible with the community. They also said other establishments in the area serving alcohol are all-indoors and that Rana has not been responsive to community concerns;
  • East Cobb resident Ross Cavitt is expected to be appointed Cobb communications director, after more than 20 years as a reporter at WSB-TV (East Cobb News post here.)

Lidl Grocery East Cobb proposal rejected by commissioners

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A long-delayed site plan amendment by Lidl Grocery to convert the Park 12 Cobb theater into a supermarket was voted down Tuesday by the Cobb Board of Commissioners.

At their monthly zoning hearing, the commission voted 4-1 to turn down the application by the German-based grocer to build a store on Gordy Parkway at Shallowford Road, site of the cinema, in a case that received heavy community opposition. Park 12 Cobb, Lidl Grocery

“This use is too intense for this location,” said commissioner JoAnn Birrell, whose District 3 includes the theater location, which is close to three subdivisions and several parks as well as Lassiter High School.

She also cited traffic and crash data analysis in moving to deny the application. The number of accidents in the area—including the busy Shallowford/Sandy Plains intersection—has gone up dramatically in recent years.

Birrell said 42 accidents were recorded there in 2014, 61 in 2015, 82 in 2016 and through May of this year, 26, for a total of 211 accidents.

“Lidl would be better suited in a shopping center [on a major road] than in a standalone location on a two-lane road” that’s the primary point of access for residential communities, she said.

The Cobb zoning staff recommended approval for the grocery plan, which was first presented in May. Lidl attorney Parks Huff maintained that “this is not a difficult decision. This is technically a property rights issue and needs to be approved.”

Commissioner Bob Weatherford was the only vote in favor. While Lidl didn’t need rezoning, chairman Mike Boyce wondered why Lidl continued to insist upon a proposal that had such strong opposition (including an active Facebook group): “This one takes the cake.”

JoAnn Birrell
District 3 commissioner JoAnn Birrell. (East Cobb News file photo)

Huff, who said at the outset of the hearing that the application should be “a very routine matter,” claimed that many of those against Lidl’s plans “want to keep the movie theater as much as anything.”

Some in the audience groaned, but traffic and density issues dominated the discussion. Citizens against the Lidl proposal displayed several accident photos while making their remarks.

“We’re not opposed to this as a commercial property,” said Laura Hickman, who lives in the Highland Park neighborhood off Gordy Parkway. A grocery store, she said, “is too intense for this piece of land.” The Lidl proposal also was opposed by the East Cobb Civic Association.

Huff said the number of parking spaces would be reduced from the current 379 spaces  to 187 for the grocery store, and that landscaping and architectural plans would be an improvement from a movie theater. But East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott said the detriments to the proposal have to considered as well as the benefits.

Lidl Grocery
Opponents of the Lidl Grocery plans presented photos of accidents in the vicinity to make their case. (CobbTV screen shot)

“The traffic pictures speak for themselves,” he said.

Some citizens suggested that Lidl look elsewhere for a new site, perhaps at the old Mountain View Elementary School, which is being proposed for mixed-use redevelopment. An application for that property was to have been on the September zoning agenda but has been continued to October.

Lidl Grocery, Taqueria Tsunami cases on Cobb zoning agenda

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After several months of delays, the Cobb Board of Commissioners will finally get to consider a proposal to convert one of only two East Cobb movie theater complexes into a grocery store.

Taqueria Tsunami East Cobb
A site plan amendment is being proposed to allow for a Taqueria Tsunami restaurant at the old Caribou Coffee location on Johnson Ferry Road. (East Cobb News photo by Wendy Parker)

Lidl Grocery’s application to redevelop the Park 12 Cinema on Gordy Parkway (near Shallowford Road and Sandy Plains Road) highlights a busy BOC zoning meeting that starts at 9 a.m. Tuesday.

The meeting takes place in the second floor board room of the Cobb BOC Building, 100 Cherokee St., in downtown Marietta (here’s an agenda summary).

The Lidl case (agenda information here) was first scheduled to be heard in May, but has drawn significant community opposition. Some nearby residents fear traffic will increase in a busy corridor near Lassiter High School.

Some opponents also have created a Facebook page and begun an online petition drive against Lidl’s proposal, mainly to preserve the cinema. Lidl is a German grocery chain looking to expand into Georgia.

The Lidl case will be heard in the “other business” category. These are for applications that don’t have to go through a full rezoning process. Also on the OB list is a site plan amendment filed on behalf of Fork U Concepts, proprietors of the Marietta-based Taqueria Tsunami restaurants.

The proposal (agenda information here) would remove the drivethru at the now-closed Caribou Coffee location at 1275 Johnson Ferry Road, and to increase parking to 42 spaces with restriping. The old Caribou/Einstein Bros. Bagel location is being eyed by Fork U to expand the Latin-Asian fusion concept to East Cobb.

As East Cobb News has reported, the amendment has been recommended for approval by the East Cobb Civic Association, as well as the Cobb Planning Commission.

The proposed redevelopment of the old Mountain View Elementary School complex on Sandy Plains Road for mixed commercial use also will appear on Tuesday’s agenda, but is likely to be delayed at the request of the applicant.

A redevelopment project at the northwest intersection of Powers Ferry Road at Terrell Mill Road is being continued by the Cobb zoning staff until October.

Full zoning staff analysis of each September agenda item can be found here.

Cobb cleans up after Irma; travel alert issued for Sandy Springs

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Johnson Ferry Road at Princeton Lakes Drive
A northbound view of Johnson Ferry Road at Princeton Lakes Drive, at 11 a.m. Tuesday. (Georgia 511 photo)

Cobb County got plenty of rain and high winds and power outages on Monday as Tropical Storm Irma engulfed metro Atlanta and Georgia, but it could have been a lot worse.

Cobb schools and government remain closed today as the cleanup continues following the passage of the large storm, which has been downgraded to a tropical depression.

Two people died in metro Atlanta and more than 1.5 million customers in Georgia lost power during Irma, whose arrival prompted a statewide declaration of a state of emergency.

Some motorists are out on the roads and some businesses are open today, but local and state officials are warning of downed trees and power lines, debris and standing water.

Compared to other communities in metro Atlanta, Cobb dodged the worst of Irma. As of 11 a.m. Tuesday, Georgia Power reported around 50 power outages in the county remaining (after several thousand initially), compared to several hundred in Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett and Clayton (here’s more).

Georgia Power outage map
In this Georgia Power outage map as of 11 a.m. Tuesday, the red colors indicate power outages between 5k-15k, orange 500-5k and green under 500.

Cobb EMC reported late Monday evening that fewer than 200 customers were without power, but hasn’t updated that figure this morning.

Many of the dozens of roads in Atlanta, Fulton County, DeKalb and elsewhere that closed Monday still hadn’t reopened as of late Tuesday morning. Cobb DOT as yet hasn’t identified any road closures but all major East Cobb thoroughfares are open; we’ll be getting out soon to take a look around.

Also hard-hit in Monday’s storm was Sandy Springs, adjacent to East Cobb, where a man died when a tree fell on his house while he was sleeping.

Several major roads in Sandy Springs remain closed this morning, and Cobb officials urged motorists who may be headed there to seek alternative routes.

Trees were reported down on Johnson Ferry Road in Sandy Springs, not far from the Chattahoochee River and the border with East Cobb. Here’s the advisory sent out by Cobb government this morning:

“The City of Sandy Springs is asking all motorists to stay off the roads on Tuesday. Georgia Power is not able to begin repairs on any down power lines until Tuesday morning.

“Sandy Springs has more than 30 roads impacted by down power lines. Of those, ten roads are major connections for residents throughout the metro area as part of their daily commute including: Spalding Drive, Riverside Drive, Johnson Ferry Road, Powers Ferry Road, Lake Forrest, Northside Drive, High Point Road and Glenridge Road.

“There is no timeline on when to expect roads to reopen. The City has closed its offices on Tuesday and encourages other businesses within the city to do the same.”

And as we noted here yesterday, the Cobb Board of Commissioners meeting scheduled for today, including the final public hearing and adoption of the fiscal year 2018 budget and passage of the Cobb 2040 Comprehensive Plan has been postponed to Sept. 22.

How did you fare during the storm? Let us know! Send your news, including photos if you have them, to: editor@eastcobbnews.com.

We’ll post another update later today after we take a drive around the community.

Vote on Cobb County budget, other commission meetings delayed due to weather

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A final public hearing and vote on the fiscal year 2018 Cobb County government budget was scheduled to take place on Tuesday but is being put on hold because of Tropical Storm Irma.

Cobb government offices are closed Monday and Tuesday (East Cobb News coverage here) due to severe weather.

Shortly after 12 p.m. on Monday, Cobb government announced that Tuesday’s regularly scheduled Cobb Board of Commissioners meeting was being rescheduled for Friday, Sept. 22, at 10 a.m.

Cobb commission chairman Mike Boyce
Cobb commission chairman Mike Boyce.

At that meeting, commissioners will conduct a final public hearing on the budget and vote on final approval. Chairman Mike Boyce is recommending an $890 million spending package, with $405 million coming from the general fund, and no millage rate increases (East Cobb News coverage here and here).

The Sept. 22 meeting also will include a vote on the Cobb 2040 Comprehensive Plan, a road map for suggested future land use and other long-term community growth and development strategies to be submitted to the Atlanta Regional Commission.

The commission’s agenda work session that was to have taken place Monday morning has been rescheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 19, at 3 p.m., following the commission’s monthly zoning hearing (which starts at 9 a.m.)

The commission’s work session also slated for today will take place instead on Monday, Sept. 25, at 1:30 p.m., and will feature additional budget presentations.

All of the board’s meetings will take place in the second floor boardroom of the Cobb BOC Building, 100 Cherokee St., in downtown Marietta.

East Cobb pipeline installation finalized as project nears completion

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East Cobb Pipeline Project
Lower Roswell Road near the Sope Creek Bridge was the last area for the East Cobb Pipeline Project water main to be installed. (East Cobb News photo by Wendy Parker)

The new 54-inch water main along a 6.1-mile stretch of Lower Roswell Road and Terrell Mill Road has been put in place. But the East Cobb Pipeline Project isn’t quite finished.

Post-installation work continues and will conclude with repaving. The $47 million project, which began two years ago, will still involve some traffic disruption in the coming weeks. More about what’s ahead from Cobb Commissioner Bob Ott, who sent out this message on Friday:

Over the next several weeks, the East Cobb Pipeline project will come to a close. Commuters will continue to see crews on site performing final backfill, testing, paving and cleanup activities with single lane closures decreasing in frequency. By the end of this week, the entire pipeline will be filled with water for pressure testing the week of 9/11 while other crews continue to prepare the road for repaving. During the week of  Sept. 18, disinfection of the pipeline will take place, as well as possible paving from Sope Creek to Lindsey Road, depending on weather and progress. After testing and commissioning of the pipeline, final resurfacing will take place by Cobb County Department of Transportation. For questions or concerns, please call the project hotline at 770-514-5301. 

More delays sought for major East Cobb rezoning cases

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When the Cobb Planning Commission meets Thursday morning, two of the most notable cases on the docket may not be heard at all.

That’s because of continued delays in those proposals for major retail, shopping and restaurant developments in East Cobb.

The Planning Commission meeting starts at 9 a.m. in the second floor board room of the Cobb BOC Building, 100 Cherokee St., in downtown Marietta.

One of those East Cobb proposals, to redevelop the northwest corner of Powers Ferry Road at Terrell Mill Road, is definitely being continued to October. That’s Z-012-2017, submitted by SSP Blue Ridge LLC, and calling for a mixed-use complex covering 21 acres, anchored by a Kroger supermarket.

The case has been rescheduled to be heard by the Planning Commission on Oct. 3.

The site of the former Mountain View Elementary School also is being proposed for a new center to include restaurants, shops, banking and grocery options on 13 acres of the east side of Sandy Plains Road, just south of Shallowford Road.

Old Mountain View Elementary School
Plans to redevelop the former Mountain View Elementary School site include seven buildings and 103,100 total square feet. Click to see larger map.

That case, Z-053-2017, is included in the regular agenda to be taken up by the Planning Commission, but it may be continued. The Cobb zoning staff has offered full comments and a recommendation of approval with conditions.

But at last week’s East Cobb Civic Association meeting (previous East Cobb News coverage here), members were notified that the applicant, Brooks Chadwick Capital, LLC, has asked for an extension to continue working with the community.

Another application by SSP Blue Ridge that was on Wednesday’s agenda also has been continued to October. That’s SLUP-008-2017, a special land use permit request near the Powers Ferry-Terrell Mill proposal to build a self-serve storage facility on an acre along Terrell Mill Road (the land is currently zoned for residential use).

Another proposal for a storage facility in the Canton Road corridor is on the Thursday agenda.

Z-050-2017, by Storage Development Group, would allow for a 760-unit facility on 3.39 acres on the west side of Canton Road, north of Sylvan Drive (staff recommends approval with conditions). Rezoning would be from Offices Services (OS) to Neighborhood Retail Commercial (NRC). The applicant also is seeking a land-use permit (LUP-010-2017) for the site (staff recommends approval with conditions).

As was noted here last week, on Sept. 19, at their monthly zoning hearing, the Cobb Board of Commissioners will consider a site plan amendment that would allow for Taqueria Tsunami resturant to be built at the former Caribou Coffee/Einstein Bros. Bagel site on Johnson Ferry Road, below Merchants Walk (previous East Cobb News coverage here).

At that meeting, the commissioners also will consider a continued application by Lidl Grocery (OB-016-2017) to redevelop the Park 12 Cinema on Gordy Parkway that has generated community opposition. The case has been continued since May.

Ott opposes raising millage rate to close $21M Cobb budget gap

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This shouldn’t come as a surprise: Cobb Commissioner Bob Ott is opposed to raising the millage rate to balance the fiscal year 2018 Cobb County budget.

Bob Ott
Commissioner Bob Ott at his East Cobb Library town hall meeting in August. (East Cobb News photo by Wendy Parker)

With commissioners scheduled to adopt a budget next Thursday, Ott sent out a lengthy message right before the Labor Day holiday weekend explaining why he would not support a rise in the property tax millage rate to cover an estimated $21 million shortfall.

Commission chairman Mike Boyce has proposed an $890 million spending package (PDF here) that includes using contingency funding to close the entire deficit gap.

In July, Ott helped foil Boyce’s plan to raise the millage rate to fully fund the $40 million 2008 Cobb Parks referendum (East Cobb News coverage here).

The proposed FY 2018 budget would be balanced by using reserve funding from the following sources:

  • $10.4 million from the reserve for a county employees pay and classification implementation study;
  • $5.7 million from the county Title Ad Valorem Tax Reserve;
  • $5.3 million from the county economic development contingency.

Ott, who’s been vigorously opposed to property tax increases in general, said he can’t support raising the millage rate now, for a full fiscal-year budget, with contingency money available. In his weekly e-mail newsletter that came out on Friday, he said:

“I believe it is wrong to raise the millage rate before the BOC uses the money from these funds to pay-down the deficit. Together, at their height, these funds totaled approximately $22 million being held in reserve on top of the county’s ‘normal’ reserve funds.”

He also hinted at this position at an Aug. 17 town hall meeting at the East Cobb Library, just days after the budget was revealed, telling constituents “it’s your money.”

In his Friday e-mail, Ott urged finding ways to reduce expenses in some county services, including two familiar targets of his, the annual transfer of Cobb water system revenues to the general fund, and transit subsidies:

“I don’t believe the answer to addressing this $21 million deficit is simply an increase in the millage rate. A complete review of the budget and expenses should be done to identify and eliminate wasteful spending. Two areas that I believe illustrate inefficiencies in the budget are the need to transfer $20 million per year from the Water System to the general fund and the roughly $17 million a year subsidy of the county transit system. CobbLinc provides invaluable service to many county residents. However, many buses travel the routes virtually, if not completely, empty.”

Ott’s also been in a budget fight on another front, with fellow East Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell, who is proposing to close the East Cobb Library, citing duplication of services.

After hearing from upset East Cobb residents opposed to shuttering the second-busiest branch in the Cobb library system, Birrell defended her proposal at an Aug. 22 public hearing on the budget. She cited a recent report calling for more police officer hires in Cobb (Birrell has long wanted to create a new police precinct in Northeast Cobb) and said she wants to be good steward of taxpayer money.

At his town hall, Ott said he is considering moving some services at the East Cobb Government Service Center to the East Cobb Library and possibly closing an “underperforming” library elsewhere in his district, but he hasn’t elaborated.

Here’s his full statement from Friday; he said he’ll be detailing more suggestions on budget cuts.

Marietta-Cobb Career Expo is next week; includes readiness workshops

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Details about the Marietta-Cobb Career Expo are being distributed to the public by Cobb County Government:Marietta Cobb Career Expo

Learn how to sharpen up your resume and interview successfully at free readiness workshops and then put those skills into action during the Marietta/Cobb Career Expo. WorkSouce Cobb staff will host Expo Readiness Workshops 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 12, at the Cobb County Civic Center. Topics will include career expo success, resume writing, interviewing, netserving, job search over 40 and resume critique. Registration is required. Register by visiting worksourcecobb.org. For more information, call 770-528-4300.

The Marietta/Cobb Career Expo will be held 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 14, at the Cobb County Civic Center. Employers including Atlanta and North Georgia Building Trades Council, Bank of America, Cana Communications, Carmax, Caraustar, Georgia Tech Police, Hooters, Lockheed Credit Union, Omni Hotel, Verizon, Roswell Police Department and Walden Security will be in attendance looking for qualified candidates. The Civic Center is located at 548 South Marietta Parkway, Marietta. 

Cobb government offices closed on Labor Day

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We know this goes without saying, but Cobb County Government is reminding the public that all of its regular offices are closed on Monday, Sept. 4, for Labor Day, including libraries. County parks will be open, but all offices and libraries will reopen on Tuesday with their normal business hours.

WSB-TV journalist Ross Cavitt recommended for Cobb County communications director

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Ross Cavitt
WSB-TV photo

This just in from Cobb County Government: County Manager Rob Hosack is recommeding the hiring of WSB-TV newsman Ross Cavitt as the new county director of communications.

Cavitt, an East Cobb resident, covers Cobb and northwest Atlanta communities for WSB. “Ross will be a great asset to the county,” Hosack said in a statement. “He is an award-winning journalist and will bring a great amount of knowledge and expertise.”

Here’s more about Cavitt in the county release, which indicates that the Cobb Board of Commissioners is scheduled to approve his hiring on Sept. 12. If confirmed, he will start on Sept. 18 and replace Sheri Kell, who left earlier this year:

Ross Cavitt has more than 30 years in television news, 23 of those at WSB in Atlanta. He has covered some of the biggest stories in north Georgia and has won numerous awards including regional Emmys for “Spot News” and “Live Reporting.” His 2013 coverage of the Adairsville tornado garnered a regional Edward R. Murrow Award. For much of the last decade, Cavitt has been the WSB Bureau Chief in Cobb County where he covered notable stories including the murder cases involving Ross Harris and Lynn Turner.

Here’s more on Cavitt from his official WSB biography.

Lower Roswell Road water main construction work continues tonight

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East Cobb Pipeline Project, Lower Roswell Road
Lower Roswell Road at Indian Hills Court, where pipeline construction is nearing completion. (East Cobb News photo by Wendy Parker)

Around 4:30 p.m. today Cobb DOT announced there will be night construction of the East Cobb Pipeline project tonight along Lower Roswell Road between Ancient Oaks Court  and Indian Hills Trail, just east of the Sope Creek Bridge.

The work is scheduled from 7 p.m. tonight until 5 a.m. Wednesday and traffic will be down to one lane along that 0.8-mile stretch of Lower Roswell.Lower Roswell water main construction

It’s part of the final phase of the water main installation, and when we drove by there earlier this afternoon, you could see the project was tantalizingly close to being done. Less than a hundred feet of water main installation remains, as crews work primarily around the bridge area on Lower Roswell on either side of Sope Creek.

Weekday traffic is reduced to one lane between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., with crews alternating passage, as has been the case since the project began in late 2015.

Temporary paving of this final stretch of Lower Roswell is expected to take place next week, followed by final resurfacing by Cobb DOT. For more information, call the East Cobb Pipeline Project hotline at 770-514-5301.

Bids go out for construction of Mabry Park; opening projected for late 2018

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Mabry Park
The Mabry Park Master Plan calls for an overlook bridge over the pond, with trails leading up to and surrounding the water on all sides.

The Friends of Mabry Park couldn’t wait to break the news this week that construction bids have been issued by Cobb County government for the development of the 26.5-acre tract on Wesley Chapel Road at Sandy Plains Road that’s been the subject of a years-long effort. On the group’s Facebook page was this message on Thursday:

This is truly an exciting time. All the blood, sweat and tears from sooo many in the community is finally paying off!

The construction time line estimate is approximately 12 months. So we’re looking at later in 2018 before we can enjoy the park, but compared to the time it’s taken to get to this point it’s almost like we’ll be cutting a ribbon tomorrow!

Here are the details: The county sent the bids (officially called request for proposals, or RFPs) last Friday, Aug. 18, with advertising for potential contractors continuing through Sept. 8. All bids are due by Sept. 14.

More information below about the process for bidding and awarding a contract comes via commissioner JoAnn Birrell. Her district no longer includes Mabry Park (it’s now in Bob Ott’s District 2) but it’s a project that she has championed for years. Here’s how the Cobb Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs Department is explaining the steps and timetable:

“If there is a responsive and responsible low bidder, the Parks team will send the bid to the Board of Commissioners in early October and request that they award a contract. It will take several weeks to obtain all of the required bonds, insurance, immigration affidavits and related documents for a complete contract. Pending any issues, construction should be underway in early 2018. Mabry Park will be under construction for about a year.

The entrance from Wesley Chapel and the roadway into the park will be the first item that needs to be completed. This will allow construction equipment to access the main park property. Although it depends on how the bids come in, the Parks team is confident that the construction funding will support installation of the roadway and all utilities, parking lot, storm water management and water quality features, restroom/maintenance building, most of the pavilion structures, repairs to the dam, and limited dredging of accumulated sediment in the lake. A variety of other features are included as alternates in the bid documents and will be approved as the budget allows.”

Birrell dug the first few scoops of dirt last year during a groundbreaking ceremony at Mabry Park, but that’s as far as it’s gone. Still, that was a big step following stalled attempts to get the park developed during the recession.

The county purchased the land in 2008 with around $4 million funding from the 2006 Cobb parks bond issue, but hadn’t budgeted anything for development into a park.

The Mabry Park Master Plan (PDF here and map below) was completed in 2011. Even after steep budget cuts during the recession meant no money for the park, or even to build the road into the future park area, the Friends of Mabry Park persisted. The group staged a “Mabry Park Preview” in the fall to give residents something to keep hoping and lobbying for.

Many did, including the Friends group, and advocacy from the Cobb Parks Coalition benefitted the Mabry Park effort. The development project costs an estimated $4.25 million, with the funding coming from the 2016 SPLOST approved by Cobb voters.

Mabry Park Master Plan

Cobb property tax bills for 2017 due by Oct. 16

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Cobb property tax bill

By now most Cobb property tax owners should have received their bills for 2017; most were mailed out in the last week or so. Here’s what the county sent out earlier this week as a reminder:

More than 261,500 bills, representing $729,711,039 in 2017 property taxes, have been mailed. There were 245,942 bills resulting in $674,891,143 for real property and 15,582 bills resulting in $54,819,896 for personal property.
 
The Tax Commissioner’s Office bills and collects property taxes for Cobb County Government, Cobb County Board of Education, Cumberland and Town Center Community Improvement Districts and the Cumberland and Six Flags Special Services Districts. All six of Cobb’s cities bill and collect their own property taxes. State of Georgia property taxes have now been eliminated. The chart below details this year’s property taxes for our billing and collection authorities:
 

County General $       186,988,125
County Bond $           4,237,623
County Fire $         79,471,996
School General $       442,724,334
Cumberland CID $           6,567,316
Town Center CID $           3,228,681
Cumberland SSDII $           5,681,507
Six Flags SSD $               811,457  
TOTAL $       729,711,039

Payments received or U.S. postmarked after Monday, Oct. 16 will incur a 5 percent late penalty, plus monthly interest on the unpaid balance. Payments can be made online at www.cobbtax.org, by automated IVR at 1-866-PAY-COBB or by mail to P.O. Box 100127, Marietta, GA 30061-7027.  In-person payments are accepted at the Property Tax office at 736 Whitlock Ave., Marietta, the East Cobb Government Service Center at 4400 Lower Roswell Road in Marietta and the South Cobb Government Service Center at 4700 Austell Road in Austell. Payment drop boxes are located both inside and outside the Whitlock Avenue location, as well as inside both Government Service Centers.  Payments via check will also be accepted at any Motor Vehicle office.

If you need a detailed explanation about what’s on your bill, the Cobb tax commissioner’s office has created this PDF with a line-by-line description.

Despite protests, Birrell defends proposal to close East Cobb Library

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JoAnn Birrell, Cobb Commissioners
JoAnn Birrell—speaking here to a business group last week—says closing the East Cobb Library would reduce duplication of services. (East Cobb News photo by Wendy Parker)

After several East Cobb residents objected to the possibility of closing the East Cobb Library on Tuesday, the Cobb commissioner making the proposal strongly defended her position, and laid out a detailed set of numbers in making her case.

JoAnn Birrell, who represents Northeast Cobb, said at the end of a long Board of Commissioners meeting that “this has never been a personal agenda” but instead addresses what she terms as an issue of duplication of services.

She said she’s proposing the East Cobb Library closure because of the new Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center that will open before the end of the year, replacing the adjacent East Marietta Library.

The two libraries are located five miles apart on Lower Roswell Road, and carry some expensive operating costs, Birrell said. (That’s also about the same distance between the two East Cobb-area libraries in her district, the Mountain View Regional Library on Sandy Plains Road, and the Gritters branch off Canton Road.)

The East Cobb Library opened in the Parkaire Landing Shopping Center in 2010, after being previously known as the Merchants Walk Library and relocated when that shopping center was redeveloped.

“This is about being a responsible steward of the taxpayers’ money,” Birrell said, reading from a written statement, adding that budget decisions will be made by the board, not one commissioner.

The East Cobb Library closure plans were first made public last Thursday, at a town hall meeting held by East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott, who said Birrell “has been relentless” in proposing the move (East Cobb News coverage here).

Birrell said her proposal “was just one” cost-saving suggestion as the commission was presented last week with a proposed FY 2018 budget of $890 million, including $21.5 million in one-time reserve funding to avoid a property tax increase.

After hearing protests to the closure plan earlier Tuesday at the first formal public hearing on the budget, Birrell said the consolidation of Cobb libraries has been “years in the making,” and referenced the 2011 budget crunch. In the wake of the recession and a steep decline in the Cobb tax digest, then-commission Chairman Tim Lee proposed permanently closing 13 of the 17 county library branches, including East Cobb and East Marietta.

But he backed down after vocal public opposition. While no branches were closed, library hours and staffing levels were reduced.

Most of the funding for the new 8,600-square-foot Sewell Mill library complex, which will include an amphitheater and other cultural arts space, comes from the 2016 Cobb government SPLOST (special local option sales tax) approved by county voters.

Birrell said the new library will have annual staffing and operating costs of roughly $732,000. The East Marietta Library currently costs around $524,000 a year to run, according to her figures.

The East Cobb Library, she said, not only has annual staffing and operating costs estimated at $771,000 a year, but another $263,000 a year, ($21,961 a month) is paid out in lease costs at Parkaire Landing.

For that kind of money, Birrell said, the county “could hire three police officers” as part of a larger recommendation in a recent police chiefs’ report that Cobb add 60 more officers to meet current public safety needs.

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EAST COBB TOWN HALL MEETING: Commissioner Bob Ott talks budget, libraries, pipeline and more

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Cobb commissioner Bob Ott

Just a few days after seeing the proposed fiscal year 2018 Cobb County budget for the first time, commissioner Bob Ott briefed East Cobb constituents on the numbers Thursday night and offered some suggestions that could punctuate budget discussions over the next few weeks.

At a packed town hall meeting in the community room of the East Cobb Library, Ott outlined the $890 million spending plan proposed by commission chairman Mike Boyce, including using $21.5 million in one-time reserve funding.

The Cobb Board of Commissioners will hold the first of two public hearings on the budget on Tuesday before approval on Sept. 12. That’s not much time to absorb a proposed spending package that’s 3.79 percent higher than the FY 2017 budget, and only weeks after a heated battle over the property tax millage rate.

Cobb County Government proposed FY 2018 budget
Click the graphic to view and download the budget proposal. 

The budget document also was released this week [there’s a downloadable PDF here] as Cobb homeowners were mailed their property tax bills for 2017. As Ott reminded them, “the tax bill you just got is to pay for [the last fiscal] year.”

The proposed budget is based on the current millage rate established by commissioners last month. Ott and fellow East Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell prevailed in their refusal to raise the millage rate by 0.13, as Boyce had wanted.

The inclusion of the proposed reserve funding to help balance the budget is a dramatic one. A total of $10.4 million would come from the reserve for a county employees pay and classification implementation study; $5.7 million would come from the Title Ad Valorem Tax Reserve; and the $5.3 million would come from the county economic development contingency.

“The board has to decide what are the critical needs,” Ott said. “The bottom line is, it’s your money.”

Specifically regarding the reserve money, Ott, an ardent opponent of tax increases, repeated himself: “It is my belief that it’s your money,” and that there’s “no reason” for it to remain unspent and raise taxes instead.

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East Marietta Library slated to close in mid-Oct., reopen in mid-Nov. as Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center

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Sewell Mill Library

The Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center under construction on Lower Roswell has an updated projection for its opening: mid-November, according to District 2 commissioner Bob Ott.

The adjacent East Marietta Library that’s been open since 1966 will close in mid-October, as the transition of moving materials into the new facility begins. Here’s more from what Ott’s office issued via email on Friday:

Construction of the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center is moving forward steadily, with only limited interruptions due to rainy days, said Cobb County Library Director Helen Poyer. Progress on the project includes ongoing interior painting, landscaping nearing completion and paving is scheduled for late summer. . . .

The construction project is now ahead of schedule, Poyer said, with officials expecting to re-open library service in new facility around mid-November.
 
“Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center will serve not only the immediate community, but the entire Cobb community,” Poyer said. “The special library and PARKS services will draw citizens from across Cobb County. It will be a destination for people who want to be engaged in traditional library service as well as in technology and the arts.”

Reminder: Ott is having a town hall meeting Thursday at 7 p.m. at the East Cobb Library (Parkaire Landing Shopping Center, 4880 Lower Roswell Road).

East Marietta Library
(East Cobb News photos by Wendy Parker)

East Cobb zoning cases to be heard by Cobb commissioners

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What follows is a summary of the individual East Cobb cases coming before the Cobb Board of Commissioners Tuesday in their monthly zoning hearing. Here’s an overview of what’s on the agenda and the status of other active cases, including what’s being continued, withdrawn, etc.

Four of the six East Cobb cases are on the consent agenda, which is considered at the start of the meeting.

Two high-profile East Cobb cases listed near the top of the longer agenda summary have been continued to September, and we have mentioned them before: SSP Blue Ridge LLC’s application for a major mixed-use development at Powers Ferry and Terrell Mill Road (Z-12) and Lidl Grocery’s application (OB-016) to turn the Park 12 cinema on Gordy Parkway into a grocery store. Cobb County Government logo

In the case of the latter, Lidl attorney Parks Huff is asking for more time to conduct a traffic study requested by Cobb DOT and that includes school-related traffic counts.

A case that you may see on zoning documents but that was withdrawn without prejudice after the Aug. 3 Planning Commission meeting is the Z-40 application by Saleh Uddin to rezone 0.94 acres on the east side of Terrell Mill Road north of Brookview Road from R-40 to R-20 for two single-family homes.

Here’s what will come before the BOC Tuesday morning, starting at 9 a.m., with links to the individual packet items with the case number:

  • Z-41: JOM Holdings, LLC, seeks rezoning from PSC to CRC for a specialized contractor’s office at 811 Lecroy Drive, near Robinson Road (consent item; staff recommends deletion to NRC with conditions);
  • Z-46: CSP Development, LLC, seeks rezoning from R-30 to R-15 of 8.92 acres at 4494 Wesley Chapel Road, on the south side of Sandy Plains Road (consent item; staff recommends approval with some stipulations);
  • OB-030: Poag Shopping Centers, LLC, seeks a site plan amendment for The Avenue at East Cobb Shopping Center (4475 Roswell Road), for hardscape and landscaping improvements (consent item; staff recommends approval with minor conditions);
  • OB-034: Narden Kaldani seeks a special exception for reduction of lot size at R-20 zoned site at 2650 Roswell Road, east of Hood Road, from 20,000 square feet to 16,401 square feet (consent item);
  • LUP-13: Esther J. Kim and Sung Min Brian Ryu seek a special land use permit for R-20 zoned site at 3746 Wesley Chapel Road, south of Beacon Street, to allow seven chickens. The applicants intend to house the hens in a coop that’s at least 30 feet from all property lines, and are filing due to a code enforcement complaint. The nearby Wesley Hills Homeowners Association has consented to the application, but the staff is recommending denial;
  • OB-028: S & B Investments, Inc., is seeking a site plan and stipulation amendment to build a drivethru window for the Starbucks Coffee location at 31-A Johnson Ferry Road, in front of Paper Mill VIllage, and that would be located on the Paper Mill Road side of the building.

The zoning hearing can be seen on CobbTV (Comcast Channel 23) or streamed live on the Cobb government website

Bells Ferry-Piedmont Road intersection project on Cobb commission agenda

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Bells Ferry Road

The congested Bells Ferry Road intersection at Piedmont Road and Barrett Parkway is scheduled for a proposed improvement project that would include left- and right-hand turn lanes.

The Cobb Board of Commissioners on Tuesday will consider at $2 million funding request to make the changes, which include the following additions:

  • northbound and southbound dual left turn lanes on Bells Ferry Road;
  • a northbound right turn lane on Bells Ferry Road;
  • a westbound right turn lane on Piedmont Road.

The project was approved in the 2005 Cobb SPLOST transportation list, and the low bidder is Acworth-based Glosson Enterprises. The timetable for completion is projected to be a year.

Another East Cobb-related road project on Tuesday’s agenda (here’s the full book) includes approving a $63,700 contract for Excellere Construction to build a sidewalk on the east side of Providence Road, between Providence Corner Drive and Pine Road.

The commission meeting starts at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the 2nd floor meeting room of the Cobb BOC Building, 100 Cherokee St., in downtown Marietta.