The Cobb County Water System is currently transitioning to a new online customer account service system. ALL online services, including billing and payment systems, will be unavailable from Monday afternoon, April 29 through Monday, May 6. During this time, we will have no access to customer accounts. For more information, visit cobbcounty.org/water/customer-service/request-service.
You can still make a cash or check payment in person at 660 South Cobb Drive, Marietta. This payment will not be applied to the account until the new system is available. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Attention high school students interested in getting more involved in their community — The Atlanta Regional Commission offers an exciting opportunity just for you. The Model Atlanta Regional Commission (MARC) is a youth leadership program designed to explore the planning challenges facing our region. Through engaging activities and discussions with peers who share your interests, you’ll delve into topics like transportation, sustainability, and community development.
MARC is open to rising 10th and 11th graders who live or go to school in the 11-county Atlanta region (Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry, and Rockdale counties, as well as the city of Atlanta).
Apply now before the May 3 deadline. This program is completely free, but spots are limited, so don’t miss out on this fantastic opportunity.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
The Cobb Board of Commissioners on Tuesday voted unanimously to name the county government’s main office building on the Marietta Square in honor of late Cobb County Manager David Hankerson.
Commissioners also issued a proclamation to Hankerson’s family during their Tuesday business meeting, and the Atlanta Braves contributed an honorary jersey with his name, and signed by the team.
Hankerson was the Cobb County Manager for 24 years. During his tenure, Cobb continued its designation with AAA national bond ratings, completed the construction of the East-West Connector and opened the new Atlanta Braves stadium and The Battery Atlanta.
Hankerson also started the Public Safety Make-A-Wish 5K and was instrumental in developing the county’s Safety Village.
“David truly loved Cobb County,” Hankerson’s widow, Janet Hankerson said. “Knowing David, he is looking down upon us with a big smile on his face acknowledging this proclamation.”
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Cobb Library Director Helen Poyer (holding check) with staff. Cobb government photos.
Submitted information and photos:
It was the best of times; It was more of the best of times as the Cobb Library System celebrated being named the 2023 Georgia Library of the Year by the Georgia Public Library Service. In honor of the award, the Board of Commissioners proclaimed April 11, 2024, as Cobb County Public Library Day.
There was even more to celebrate because it’s also National Library Week. We celebrate that Cobb’s libraries provide more services than ever before. They are resource centers, education centers, creative centers and community centers where everyone can come and interact.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Cobb commissioners on Tuesday will consider a request to relocate an 1840s-era cabin off Post Oak Tritt Road to the Hyde Farm facility in East Cobb.
An agenda item states that the badly deteriorating Power-Jackson Cabin would be moved to Hyde Farm off Lower Roswell Road near the Chattahoochee River, where it would be restored as part of a continuing 19th century working farm.
Cobb PARKS said it’s recommending that Leatherwood Inc., a Tennessee-based company that restored 13 structures at Hyde Farm in 2014, perform the restoration of the Power-Jackson Cabin.
The cost to do so would be $321,000 in 2011 SPLOST funds earmarked for Hyde Park restoration projects. Commissioners would have to vote separately to approve that contract.
“As a collaborative community effort, moving the cabin to and restoring the cabin at Hyde Farm honors the history of Cobb County by saving this valuable historic asset,” the agenda item states.
Cobb Landmarks, a Marietta-based historic preservation non-profit, has raised more than $65,000 to pay for relocation expenses for the Power-Jackson Cabin.
Hyde Farm, which includes 136 acres and 42 acres run by the county, is where another Power family cabin exists. Last year, commissioners approved a resolution for the county to submit an application for Hyde Farm to be included on the National Register of Historic Places.
A property near Hyde Farm, the George Abner Power House, which also dates to the 1840s, is owned by Cobb Landmarks and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.
The Power-Jackson Cabin, possibly built before 1840 by farmer William Power, is located on 13 undeveloped acres on Post Oak Tritt Road near McPherson Road that was part of a recent zoning case.
Landowner Kenneth B. Clary sought rezoning for a single-family subdivision, but issues over the cabin and possible Power family burials complicated the issue.
Clary later withdrew the rezoning request, and his family agreed to allow Cobb Landmarks to remove the cabin.
Last week Cobb Landmarks said it’s working with University of West Georgia to perform dendrochronology (the study of tree rings) on the logs, which could help determine when the trees were cut down to construct the cabin.
“This is part of our ongoing effort to better understand and preserve the cabin,” Cobb Landmarks said.
The full agenda for Tuesday’s meeting can be viewed by clicking here; the meeting begins at 9 a.m. in the second floor board room of the Cobb government building (100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta).
You also can watch on the county’s website and YouTube channels and on Cobb TV 23 on Comcast Cable.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
The Cobb Water System sent out the following message Monday morning:
We’re currently transitioning to a new online customer account service system. ALL online services, including billing and payment systems, will be unavailable from Monday afternoon, 04/01/2024 through Thursday, 04/04/2024. During this time, we will have no access to customer accounts.
You can still make cash or check payments in person at 660 South Cobb Drive, Marietta. We apologize for the inconvenience. Thank you for your patience.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Days after the Cobb Board of Commissioners voted to delay imposing a stormwater fee, the chairman of the Cobb Board of Education blasted the proposed changes, saying they would they would be “grossly unfair” to taxpaying school parents.
Randy Scamihorn
Republican Randy Scamihorn said in “Just the Facts,” his occasional column, that the fee would “add to the monthly bills of hardworking parents and, again, apparently, schools across our county.”
The Cobb Water Sytem’s proposal would switch how customers are charged for stormwater services.
Currently, the charges are based on the amount of water consumption. The county wants to charge according to the amount of impervious surfaces of a building and property.
While homeowners have been most vocal in protesting what they call a “rain tax,” the impervious surface change would mean that commercial and institutional customers would be paying a larger share than they do now.
That prompted protests from the Cobb Chamber of Commerce last week.
Scamihorn wrote that “for our families who already live on a tight budget, this additional ‘fee’ on their already strained finances is grossly unfair.
“I’ve raised the impact this fee would have on our schools a number of times with district leaders,” Scamihorn wrote.
“Unfortunately, our staff does not have enough information from the Commissioners to know how much money would be taken from classrooms, but they know it would mean fewer dollars for teachers and students. We also know our schools could have been made legally exempt, but they weren’t.”
The Cobb County School District posted the message on social media channels and sent out a separate e-mail with Scamihorn’s remarks Friday.
Cobb government spokesman Ross Cavitt told East Cobb News Friday that as far as he knows, any specifics of the financial impact to the Cobb County School District haven’t been discussed, including a fee exemption.
Cavitt added it “that it is an irresponsible use of taxpayer dollars to allow an elected official to express a personal opinion through taxpayer-funded communications channels.”
After a contentious, hours-long hearing on Tuesday, Cobb commissioners voted to delay taking up a stormwater vote, and called for more public hearings to take place in August.
Among the issues is the uncertainty over how much more commercial and institutional customers would be charged for stormwater services.
Cobb Water System Director Judy Jones has indicated in various presentations that a majority of residential customers would pay between $2 to $4 a month for a dedicated stormwater utility fee and the commercial and institutional customers would pay up to $21 a month.
Those institutional customers include churches, schools and other non-profit organizations.
“After consulting with our legal team, we believe this bizarre ‘stormwater fee’ will be imposed upon schools, as well as the thousands of acres on which your schools are built,” Scamihorn wrote.
“The reality is that every school dollar taken for stormwater management is a dollar taken away from our children’s futures. . . . I know I speak for the majority of the Board when I point out that the latest proposal being brought forward by Cobb Commission Chair Lisa Cupid is fraught with problems for our schools and our parents.
“I’m not telling you how to vote; I’m telling you what is and isn’t good for our schools and Cobb’s children.”
On the Cobb school district’s Facebook page, some citizens pushed back against Scamihorn’s comments.
Laura Judge of East Cobb, a Democratic candidate for the Post 5 school board seat, noted that talks with commissioners about the stormwater fee have been “bipartisan, heated and long. That’s why one of my hopes as a future board member is to work with the other layers of government. Not start a blog bashing them.”
“I hope that as a possible member I can say that if our board chair is concerned, now the commission vote has been delayed, he’ll reach out to our commissioners and the school community to set up an education townhall about this rainfall fee.”
Another commenter found it ironic that Scamihorn was complaining of “yet another threat to dollars that belong in the classroom” when he signed off on spending $50 million for special events center for the school district, amid an “ongoing staffing and maintenance budget burden. . . . What a joke, Mr. Scamihorn. What an absolute joke.”
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
“What we have is a really great start,” Commissioner Jerica Richardson said in pushing for a delay on a stormwater fee vote.
After hours of often contentious public comment from citizens and business leaders and a lengthy discussion among themselves, the Cobb Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday to delay action on a stormwater fee in the county.
The clock was approaching midnight when the 5-0 was cast, as commissioners decided to hear more from the public as county officials make revisions and develop other materials for implementation.
The vote included two more public hearings in August, with tentative action scheduled for Aug. 27.
Despite pleas from Chairwoman Lisa Cupid to address the matter now, she later made a motion to table following District 2 Commissioner Jerica Richardson’s insistence that stakeholders sessions be conducted to go over what she called “a big issue . . . but it’s complex.”
She’s been at the center of efforts to address stormwater issues in the wake of September 2021 floods that damaged the homes and properties of many East Cobb residents, some of whom were left to pay for repairs themselves.
Richardson said it’s important for the county to be proactive, rather than reactive, to stormwater issues. “It’s only going to get worse if we don’t do something,” she said.
But, she added, “what we have is a really great start.”
The stormwater proposal would change how residential and commercial customers are billed—currently based on water usage—to the amount of impervious surface on a property.
The dedicated stormwater fee would be used to upgrade aging pipes and clear an extensive backlog of orders. Cobb Water System Director Judy Jones said the $8.4 million annual budget for stormwater services isn’t enough to do that, and to hire crews to do the work.
The typical stormwater fee would range from $2 to $12 a month for most residential customers, in addition to their existing water and sewer charges. Roughly two-thirds of residential customers would pay $4 or less a month, according to her presentation.
Commercial and institutional customers could pay up to $21 a month.
Since an initial public hearing two weeks ago, commissioners have been getting an earful from citizens, including at several town halls across the county.
On Tuesday, they renewed their calls at least for a delayed vote, saying what the county has presented isn’t adequate. Others threatened to take action with their votes in the upcoming primaries.
On occasion there was heckling and interruptions, and Cupid issued numerous warnings. At one point, she called for a recess and threatened those making outbursts with being removed from the meeting room.
“Table this, and better educate the citizens,” South Cobb resident Dani Wilson said. “May 21 [primary day] can’t get here fast enough.”
Becky Klein
East Cobb resident Becky Klein, whose property was heavily damaged by the 2021 floods, said she had to make $100,000 in repairs to her home and property after a stormwater pipe in her yard that fed into Sope Creek failed, creating a sinkhole and crushing a culvert.
Klein said the county declared it wasn’t responsible and that a stormwater plat of her property was incorrectly omitted from the county’s records.
“I do not agree that the county can pick and choose which pipes to maintain,” she said. “Please table this; voting yes would cause further hardship for this.”
Other complaint referenced taxing and spending matters by the county that included last year’s budget without a millage rate rollback; a referendum in November for a 30-year transit tax; and commission redistricting maps that are currently before the Georgia Supreme Court.
“This isn’t a Republican or Democratic issue, it’s not a black-white issue, or a male-female issue,” said Sheila Edwards of South Cobb, who is challenging Cupid in the Democratic primary. “It’s a common-sense issue.”
More recently, the Cobb Chamber of Commerce asked for a delay in a vote on a stormwater fee and for the Cobb Water System “to provide data and information on the impact of the stormwater fee on commercial property owners.”
The Chamber said in the letter it was not consulted beforehand by the county, and noted that commercial property owners are required to maintain their own stormwater facilities, unlike many homeowners.
“We fear that the current proposal will discourage private commercial development, harming our community’s ability to attract jobs and investment,” the letter said. “We also fear that a stormwater utility will drive up the cost for redevelopment making it even more difficult to spur redevelopment in areas of Cobb County such as South Cobb and our major commercial centers.”
During a discussion period, Commissioner JoAnn Birrell of District 3 in East Cobb said “this isn’t ready for a vote tonight. It needs some more work.”
She’s been opposed to a stormwater fee as long as the county diverts a fraction of water system revenues—currently 6 percent, or $15 million—to the general fund.
Jones said of that $15 million, only around $500,000 are from stormwater revenues.
Cupid said the stormwater proposal isn’t a “panacea,” but repeated a claim she’s made often, dating to. her time as a district commissioner in South Cobb.
“The argument will be that it’s not the right time,” she said. “This has been on the table for almost two decades and we’ve seen stormwater issues continue to get worse. It further places the burden on our future.”
When Richardson initially called for a delay, Cupid told her “we’ve been discussing this for two years.”
Richardson replied, “I understand . . . but I’m passionate about this. We have to make sure that [citizen input] is incorporated into what we’re voting on.”
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Cobb County Government offices will be closed Friday, March 29. The Good Friday holiday allows our staff members additional time to spend with their friends, family and loved ones for the holiday weekend. Cobb Libraries will also be closed Sunday, March 31, for Easter.
Information and many services remain available 24 hours a day online at cobbcounty.org.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell—who has expressed opposition to the measure—and Cobb Water System director Judy Jones presided at the Tim D. Lee Center.
Some of the several dozen or so citizens who attended occasionally interrupted. A question-and-answer period was at times difficult to keep under control.
Amid cries of “rain tax” and concerns over a service fee being imposed when Cobb voters will be asked to approve a 30-year transit tax in November, the sense of anger was evident.
“You’re coming for our money!” shouted East Cobb resident Hill Wright, who’s been a vocal critic of the stormwater fee and is part of a group opposing it called CobbTaxRevolt.com.
He added that “they”—meaning county commissioners—”want us to pay, instead of them prioritizing their spending.”
Hill Wright
A few others apologized to Jones, telling them she wasn’t the person they’re upset with.
Jones patiently explained that stormwater charges are included on water and sewer bills, and for the need to bill them separately so that the aging system can be upgraded and properly maintained.
The fee has been suggested since damaging floods in 2021 that affected many homeowners in East Cobb, some of whom were saddled paying for expensive repairs.
“The way we’re charging now, residential customers are paying more than commercial customers,” she said. “I’m trying to fix that. But I have to have more money to do that. The way we do it now is not equitable.”
Cobb commissioners will be asked next Tuesday to do that, and to approve a dedicated fee that Jones said could range from $2 to $12 a month for most residential customers. Roughly two-thirds of residential customers would pay $4 or less a month, according to her presentation.
The proposed code amendments include basing that charge on the amount of impervious surfaces, which she said would mean commercial customers typically would be charged more.
Stormwater services are handled by the water department to the tune of $8.4 million a year, a figure Jones said isn’t enough to do what’s needed.
“It takes money to do this work,” she noted, adding that her own department doesn’t have dedicated stormwater repair crews. They’re contracted out, but some private companies on occasion decline the work.
The Cobb Water System for years has transferred some of its revenues to the county general fund—currently 6 percent, around $15 million.
Birrell said she cannot support a fee as long as that continues, and East Cobb resident Larry Savage blamed her colleagues.
“The Board of Commissioners refused to fund this thing because they had other priorities, and that has to change,” he said.
He was followed by East Cobb civic activist Debbie Fisher, who said that “we’re being taxed enough already.”
She rattled off other factors, such as increased density, for growing stormwater problems, mentioning the new MarketPlace Terrell Mill multi-use development on Powers Ferry Road, as well as county spending on outside consultants, among other expenses.
“And yet, you want us to pay more,” she said, calling it “the big steal.”
Looking at Jones, Fisher—a Republican appointee to the Cobb Elections Board—mentioned the three Democratic commissioners by name, saying they’re “the people who should be up there taking the shots.”
Other town halls on the stormwater fee are being held this week in elsewhere in Cobb before the commissioners’ vote next Tuesday. That also includes a final public hearing on the issue.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Cobb citizens spoke out on Tuesday against a proposed stormwater fee they said unfairly burdens homeowners and is being rushed with limited time for public input.
During a public hearing following presentation of proposed code amendments, a number of East Cobb residents turned out to oppose a proposed fee based on impervious surfaces, generally ranging from $2 to $12 for residential customers, and typically more for commercial customers.
Some called the charge, added to their water and sewer bill and that would go into effect in August, a “rain tax,” although proponents of the measure have been calling it a fee.
The fee has been suggested since damaging floods in 2021 that affected many homeowners in East Cobb, some of whom were saddled paying for expensive repairs.
Cobb Water and Sewer pays for stormwater maintenance to the tune of $8 million a year, but says it lacks staffing and resources to handle demands on an aging and growing stormwater system.
“The county is going forward with this burdensome rain tax without committing these future funds properly,” East Cobb resident Jan Barton said during the public hearing. “We have an aging infrastructure that the county is requiring homeowners to remedy.
‘”This is wrong on so many levels.”
One of the code amendments would transfer responsibility for maintaining retention ponds in new subdivisions to that development’s homeowners association, and away from the county.
Richard Grome of the East Cobb Civic Association said that some homeowners will be paying twice if they live in a subdivision where they already are paying for private stormwater measures.
He said the proposed solution to stormwater upkeep seems “rather dictatorial and heavy-handed in its language” and asked that some of the code amendments be held for further study.
That was a sentiment echoed by others.
“I think you’re rushing through this very, very fast,” Marietta resident Don Barth said. “The little time we have to get involved is not enough.”
Hill Wright of East Cobb, who organized citizens over the flood damage in 2021, spoke at the hearing. He also sent out a release later saying that “while Cobb County is collecting its rain tax from residents, Cobb County will mandate homeowner associations collect money from the same homeowners to maintain the stormwater infrastructure in their neighborhood. Not Fair.”
Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid said during the hearing that citizens are already being charged for stormwater expenses through their water bills, “based on how much you drink, instead of how much your property may be contributing to stormwater.”
She said the new fee would be a “more equitable way to charge.”
Cobb Commissioner JoAnn Birrell will holding a town hall on the stormwater issue Thursday from 6-7:30 p.m. at the Tim D. Lee Senior Center (3332 Sandy Plains Road).
She and commissioner Keli Gambrill have said they oppose a new fee, calling it a tax, and Birrell objects to new charges as long as the water department transfers some of its revenues (around 6 percent) to the county’s general fund.
Commissioners will hold another public hearing and a vote on the code amendments March 26.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Cobb residential and commercial water and sewer customers would be assessed an additional fee for stormwater management under a code amendment proposal to go before the Cobb Board of Commissioners this month.
Cobb Water System director Judy Jones.
The proposed code amendment would change a dedicated fee based on the amount of impervious surface of a property. Cobb currently doesn’t charge for that, but has funded stormwater maintenance through water and sewer revenues.
The county has admitted it lacks staffing and resources to adequately handle demands on the system, which include older and failing pipes and maintenance of several hundred detention ponds.
Those concerns were accelerated following floods in East Cobb and elsewhere in the county in 2021, and prompted commissioners to explore the possibility of stormwater fees.
The first hearing on the proposed stormwater fee is Tuesday at 9 a.m., with a second hearing and a scheduled vote on March 26 at 7 p.m.
Commissioner JoAnn Birrell of District 3 in East Cobb is holding a public meeting next Thursday, March 14, at the Tim D. Lee Senior Center (3332 Sandy Plains Road) from 6-7:30 p.m., along with Cobb Water and Sewer director Judy Jones.
The proposed code amendment (you can read it here) doesn’t specify a rate structure for the stormwater fees, which would be collected from what’s referred to as an “enterprise fund.”
The Cobb water system currently spends $8.4 million a year on stormwater costs, including capital improvement projects. In November, Jones presented nine options for expanded services that would increase that total to $19 million annually if they were all approved, by collecting $5.01 a month in stormwater fees from individual customers.
Birrell has previously expressed opposition to the stormwater fee, which she considers a tax.
The proposal has been criticized by East Cobb resident Larry Savage, a former candidate for Cobb Commission Chairmain, who makes the same argument.
In an e-mailed message to media and others sent out last week, Savage said while the intent of moving stormwater costs to the water department was to free up the county’s general fund, the current proposal is a tax that that is unlawful because all taxation in Georgia is under the legislature.
“The idea now is to turn stormwater into a cash cow by charging EVERY PROPERTY OWNER a tax based on the area of land covered by impervious surface,” Savage wrote. “Note that I referred to it as a tax. Under the leadership of Chairwoman Cupid, the BoC agreed to call this a ‘fee’ instead of a ‘tax.’ Anyone who would do this clearly believes the people of Cobb County are stupid.”
The full agenda for Tuesday’s meeting can be viewed by clicking here; the meeting begins at 9 a.m. in the second floor board room of the Cobb government building (100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta).
You also can watch on the county’s website and YouTube channels and on Cobb TV 23 on Comcast Cable.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
AARP Foundation Tax-Aide volunteers will provide free tax preparation assistance at three Cobb County Public Libraries. Service is provided by appointment only.
For the do-it-yourself tax preparer, Cobb County libraries are making available federal 2023 1040 tax forms and instruction booklets to area residents while supplies last. Libraries also will offer free printing of federal and state forms, up to 10 pages. This service does not include instruction books.
The locations include Mondays and Thursdays at 10 a.m. at the Mountain View Regional Library and Tuesdays at 10:15 a.m. at East Cobb Library.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
The Old Ebenezer Cemetery is located in a wooded area near Shaw Park.
Submitted information:
Cobb County has submitted a grant application to the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund for assistance with four of Cobb’s historic African American cemeteries.
In 2023, the Cobb County Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) worked to identify and research historic African American Cemeteries in Cobb. The four African American cemeteries included in the grant proposal are Sardis Missionary Baptist Church Cemetery, Old Ebenezer Cemetery, Noonday Extension Cemetery, and Little Bethel Baptist Church Cemetery.
Bev Jackson, Chairwoman of Cobb’s Historic Preservation Commission, says the county’s African American cemeteries’ needs are immediate and long-term. They need assistance with maintenance, boundary delineation, identification of unknown graves, recognition, etc.
“We see this as just the beginning of our plan to address the needs and concerns of our historic African American cemeteries in Cobb,” Jackson said.
The grant would pay for a consultant to perform archaeology surveys for the four cemeteries and to write a maintenance manual for African American cemeteries in Cobb. The surveys will help define the cemetery boundaries and identify locations of unknown graves. The maintenance manual will be provided to property owners, cemetery preservation specialists, and volunteers to provide specific directions on restoring and maintaining our historic African American cemeteries properly.
Volunteers are always needed to assist with the maintenance of Cobb County Cemeteries; to get involved to help restore and maintain our historic African American cemeteries, contact the Cobb County Historic Preservation Planner, Mandy Elliott, at mandy.elliott@cobbcounty.org.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Cobb DOT is seeking condemnations for portions of commercial property on Lower Roswell Road near Johnson Ferry Road.
Efforts by Cobb DOT to acquire right-of-way to begin long-planned improvements along Lower Roswell Road have hit a snag with some commercial property owners.
The department said it’s still negotiating, but will ask the Cobb Board of Commissioners on Tuesday to approve condemnation proceedings for six parcels of land at Parkaire Landing Shopping Center and across the road near the intersection of Johnson Ferry Road.
Those include properties housing a Bank of America branch, a McDonald’s, a medical building and a small strip retail building, as well as a Taco Bell.
In an agenda item (you can read it here), Cobb DOT said the condemnations are needed “to ensure project deadlines are met,” but didn’t indicate when those deadlines might be. The condemnations would be enacted “in the event negotiations are unsuccessful.”
The condemnations would include property for permanent rights-of-way as well as temporary construction easements.
It’s been more than a decade since Cobb DOT proposed traffic improvements at a busy intersection it says has a high number of vehicle crashes.
The project, with an estimated cost of $9 million from the Cobb 2011 SPLOST, would add turn lanes, install a multi-use trail and make other improvements along Lower Roswell between Woodlawn Drive and Davidson Road.
The agenda item states that there is funding available for permanent right-of-way acquisitions for the six parcels, but doesn’t indicate a cost.
Until a few years ago, there wasn’t much public skepticism of the plan, although the county has been talking with business owners concerned about a proposed raised median affecting their businesses.
Cobb DOT maintains that the proposed raised median—which would prevent left turns out of Parkaire Landing onto Lower Roswell Road—would substantially reduce crashes (from a 2021 project fact sheet that hasn’t been publicly updated).
After some residents expressed opposition in 2022, Cobb DOT held a town hall meeting about the project at the East Cobb Library. Many of the objections were over the creation of bike and pedestrian lanes.
Additional public feedback prompted Cobb DOT to announce in late 2022 it would redesign the project, including removal of a planned bike path and expanding a multi-use trail to accommodate pedestrians and cyclists.
That redesign hasn’t been unveiled.
The specific parcels being sought for condemnation resolutions Tuesday include the following:
Parcel 22 (4811 Lower Roswell Road; Papa John’s Pizza, My Emergency Dental, 101 Bagel Café) 5,097 square feet of right-of-way
Parcel 28 (4939 Lower Roswell Road, Parkaire Medical Center): 1,226 square feet of right-of-way
The commission meeting begins at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the second floor board room of the Cobb government building (100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta), and the full agenda can be found by clicking here.
You also can watch on the county’s website and YouTube channels and on Cobb TV 23 on Comcast Cable.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
After his retirement, David Hankerson told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “I never hated to come to work for Cobb; I couldn’t wait. I was always here early, always here late.”
Those who worked with and for him know that is almost an understatement.
Hankerson came to work for Cobb in 1984 and was named County Manager in early 1993. He held that position for 24 years and shepherded county government as it moved from a mixed suburban/rural area to a rapidly growing metropolitan county.
David Hankerson died Thursday after a long illness. He was 77.
Current County Manager Dr. Jackie McMorris says Hankerson brought her to Cobb County in 2013.
“But for Mr. Hankerson, I would not be where I am today,” Dr. McMorris said. “I believe the core values he has instilled in Cobb still resonate to this day, which include integrity, honesty, work hard, show up, and be ready when you show up. He was a giant in Cobb, and his legacy will live on in all of us.”
Chairwoman Lisa Cupid said Hankerson provided needed guidance when she became a district commissioner.
“David was a giant in our county and unmatched in his leadership and service to commissioners, employees, and civic and business leaders,” Chairwoman Cupid said. “I could not have accomplished all I did as a District Commissioner without his support. My prayers go out to David’s family and the Cobb Community during this very difficult time.”
“Today, we lost a gentle giant and exemplary leader of this county,” said District 3 Commissioner JoAnn K. Birrell. “David Hankerson will be remembered fondly for his management style, integrity, and leadership. He was a great mentor, husband, father, son, and friend. Thoughts and prayers are with his family. RIP Mr. H.”
David Hankerson acquired a Bachelor of Science in Agronomy from Fort Valley State College and a Juris Doctorate from the Woodrow Wilson College of Law. He served in the U.S. Army from 1967 to 1970 in the Signal Corps, headquartered in Seoul, Korea. Upon his return to Georgia, he was a District Conservationist for the United States Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service.
He came to Cobb County Government in 1984 and served as manager of the Community Development Department. He was appointed Cobb County Manager on February 1, 1993.
His last appearance before the Board of Commissioners came in September 2022 to celebrate the county’s 25th year of receiving a triple AAA rating. Hankerson said that had become a priority when he became county manager, and the county achieved that goal just a few years later.
“Triple AAA is about financing, but it’s more than just financing,” Hankerson said. “It’s about leadership, about community relations, and business relationships. We were very proud of that triple AAA rating.”
Hankerson was a Leadership Cobb Alumnus, a graduate of the Regional Leadership Institute, a member of the Association County Commissioners of Georgia General Government and Natural Resources and Environmental Policy Committees, a graduate of the Institute for Georgia Environmental Leadership Class, National Security Forum Alumni and a member of the Marietta Kiwanis Club.
He served on numerous civic and professional boards. In 2006, Governor Perdue appointed him to the Environmental Advisory Council. In 2008, he became a member of the ICMA Client Advisory Forum, and in 2009, he was invited to serve on The Walker School Board of Directors and The Strand Board of Directors.
He received numerous awards, including one of five distinguished Georgians to receive an Excellence in Public Service Award for 2004, and in 2005, the Blacks United for Youth/Cobb presented him with the Justice Robert Benham Award for outstanding leadership, service, and total commitment for the equality of all citizens. In 2008, the Senior Citizen Council of Cobb County presented Hankerson with the Community Leader of the Year award. In May 2009, he received the Delta Upsilon Boule Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity Founder’s Day Excellence in Government Award.
In July 2009, the Board of Commissioners named the Safety Village Education Building in his honor. 2010 awards include the Marietta Daily Journal Citizen of the Year, 100 Black Men of North Metro Image Award, and the Cobb NAACP Hugh Grogan Political Action Award.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Cobb County Public Library (CCPL) has been recognized as Library of the Year for its commitment to serving its community by partnering with numerous organizations within its county and statewide, and for efforts to expand access to materials and essential services to its community.
The library serves a population of over 750,000 across 15 branches and is dedicated to being a resource center in the community by providing equal access to information, materials, and services.
“The Cobb County Public Library prides itself with providing excellent, responsive service to enrich people’s lives, support lifelong learning, build and enhance our communities,” said Georgia State Senator Michael Rhett. “The library meets the needs of patrons across school systems, the county, and beyond by providing high quality services for early and adult learning literacy, hotspot and internet access, digital skills training, continuing education, health and wellness offerings, and cultural awareness in 15 branch locations.”
Cobb County Public Library received nomination letters from local elected officials, partnering organizations, school systems, and patrons who highlighted the library’s efforts across the community.
“This library has always been a safe haven and refuge from some of the confusing things about growing up,” said Jesse Quinton, Cobb County Public Library patron of over 15 years. “The library, staff, and other patrons have always been very respectful and helpful of my desire to learn, and I’ve grown here in ways that I might not have been able to if I wasn’t provided this resource.”
“We have a diverse, creative, knowledgeable, innovative, and experienced team that goes above and beyond to make a difference in the lives of the people we serve,” said Helen Poyer, director of Cobb County Public Library. “Staff are resilient and adapt well to the changing technologies, information needs, and community dynamics. They are public servants who are committed to and passionate about the role they play in promoting literacy at all levels and to all people. It is a joy, a privilege, and an honor to work with such an amazing team.”
The Cobb County Public Library has developed programs and services that enhance its role as a community hub and resource center, partnering with organizations that contribute to its goals.
A few of the library’s many unique local initiatives include:
Books By Mail: A free service that provides library materials to Cobb County residents who are unable to visit the library because of a physical disability, long-term illness, or lack of transportation. Items are delivered through the U.S. Postal Service, and the library provides pre-paid return postage at no cost to patrons.
“Books By Mail is a critical solution for not only our elderly patrons, but also chronically ill and physically challenged residents,” said Rachel Gray, Cobb County Public Library board trustee. “Cobb Library, in so many ways, can truly say it serves all residents, and that is possible because of our talented staff and their dedication to services like this.”
The Cobb County Board of Commissioners approved the service in February 2023, and the program is supported by the county’s federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) fund.
Falls Prevention Awareness Initiative: The library partners with a wide range of organizations to provide senior wellness programs, health screenings, and education for the community about the effects of injuries caused by falls.
Cobb County Public Library launched the Falls Prevention Awareness Initiative in 2015. A few of the library’s earliest collaborators include the Georgia Department of Public Health Injury Prevention Program, Cobb Senior Services, and the Shepherd Center, one of the country’s top hospitals for rehabilitation.
Staff have been trained to offer evidence-based fall prevention programs that bring people together while learning how to prevent injuries and illnesses. Year-round senior class offerings include tai chi, yoga, chair yoga, and hula hoop.
“Our falls prevention programming shows how libraries are effective in intervening to address significant community issues,” said Poyer. “These classes are about increasing knowledge and confidence and improving quality of life. The library is a place for lifelong learning; we can help you learn what you need, when you need it.”
For the initiative, Cobb County Public Library received the Award for Outstanding Service presented by the Injury Prevention Research Center at Emory (IPRCE) in 2023.
Vision To Learn Partnership: The library’s partnership with the nonprofit organization Vision To Learn has provided more than 2,100 eye exams and 1,400 pairs of glasses to Cobb County children for free through on-site mobile vision clinics at library branches.
This partnership helps children who have uncorrected vision needs, which means they are more likely to struggle in learning how to read. Vision To Learn visits are part of the library’s collaboration with Learn4Life, Metro Atlanta Regional Education Partnership.
“Although we have provided service at libraries across the country, Cobb County Public Library was a pioneering partner and has continued to set the standard for using libraries as a critical resource in the community, not just for literacy, but for health and wellness,” said Peter Silberman, chief growth officer at Vision To Learn.
Accessibility Services: Cobb County Public Library has made meeting the needs of the underserved in their community a priority. The library offers patrons a place to use assistive technology such as screen readers and magnifiers, listen to talking books, or find disability resources.
Cobb County Public Library began its focus on special needs populations in 2014, when the Windy Hill Therapeutic Center Library opened within the Cobb County PARKS Therapeutic Center. The center provides adult day care for those 18 and over who have a disability and need recreational, social, and skill-building activities. In 2019, the library expanded its programs to also serve the general public.
“We recognized that accessibility needed to become a priority for our library. Disability doesn’t have an age limit,” said Renaté Elliott, accessibility services supervisor at Cobb County Public Library. “We needed to provide services beyond those who attend adult day care. We also needed to include kids, as well as young adults who graduated from high school but are not quite ready for college or a job. We wanted to prioritize inclusion across the board.”
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Public Library Access for Student Success: Students who attend a Marietta City School or a Cobb County Public School can use their student ID number, commonly referred to as a lunch number, to check out library materials and access digital resources.
The library is also known for providing career advancement opportunities through educational programming, workshops, partnerships, and more.
“The Cobb County Public Library has been instrumental in organizing educational workshops, offering technological access, and hosting a wide range of programs that cater to people of all ages,” said Sonya Grant, president and chief executive officer of CobbWorks. “Their unwavering commitment to serving the community is apparent in the resources and support they provide, enabling individuals to enhance their skill sets and improve their employment prospects.”
The library also partnered with Georgia Educational Resources, Inc., a sponsor of Georgia’s Summer Food Service Program, to provide over 141,500 meals to more than 11,000 children at branches in response to the pandemic’s impact on families’ ability to afford food and the program has continued since.
“The dedication and hard work that Cobb County Public Library has invested in supporting the Summer Food Service Program over the past four years are nothing short of outstanding,” said Tammie Johnson, director at Georgia Educational Resources, Inc. “Because of the library, many children received nutritious meals who may not have otherwise.”
Not long after the Cobb County School District announced Tuesday postponements of all classes and other activities, Cobb County government did the same early Monday evening, as all government offices, courts and libraries will be closed Tuesday, due to ” the potential for hazardous travel conditions.”
Among those activities being postponed is a Cobb Board of Commissioners public hearing on the Cobb Comprehensive Plan.
The winter weather advisory begins at 4 a.m. Tuesday and continues until noon, but icy road conditions may be in effect all day. High temperatures aren’t expected to get out of the 20s.
Cobb government said in a statement Monday evening that “Cobb DOT crews will monitor road conditions early in the morning and treat bridges, overpasses, and known trouble spots.”
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
“I can’t support a 30-year tax, but it will be up to voters to decide,” commissioner JoAnn Birrell said.
In a partisan vote, the Cobb Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved adding a referendum to the November 2024 general election ballot on whether to collect a 30-year sales tax for a major development of the county’s transit system.
Commissioners also approved a project list for the referendum that in East Cobb would include the reinstatements of bus routes running along Roswell Road and connecting to the Dunwoody MARTA station, and a new transit station in the Roswell-Johnson Ferry area.
The Cobb Mobility Special-Purpose Local-Option Sales Tax, if approved by voters, would collect a one-percent tax for an estimated $10.8 billion, financing the creation of several high-occupancy bus routes, the construction of transit centers and expanding microtransit, paratransit and other transit options around the county.
Cobb collects a SPLOST for overall county projects, and the Cobb County School District also has its own SPLOST for school construction, maintenance and technology projects.
But Cobb DOT officials have been planning for a possible transit referendum for several years, with Atlanta Regional Commission projections that the county’s population will near a million people by 2050.
The board’s three Democrats voted in favor of having the referendum, while Republican commissioners were opposed.
The items on the project list would add 106 miles of bus and transit routes to the existing CobbLinc service, which has only one route in the East Cobb area, along Powers Ferry Road.
Commissioner JoAnn Birrell of District 3 in East Cobb said the length of the proposed tax is far too long, and consists only of transit projects.
“In the past I’ve always supported our county SPLOST going to a referendum, but the maximum they were was six years,” she said. “But they had not only transportation, but libraries, parks, public safety and other departments.
“I can’t support a 30-year tax but it will be up to voters to decide and that’s the bottom line.”
Commissioner Monique Sheffield of South Cobb, who grew up in Brooklyn, said she might not have had the educational opportunities she had without being able to ride the subway in New York City, and that many young Cobb citizens are facing similar obstacles.
“The generations are getting younger, things are changing,” she said. “I look forward to see how this plays out in the community.”
Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid said that “we have moment of transformation before us today.”
She compared the chance to vastly expand transit options to the 2013 vote by commissioners to enter into a 30-year memorandum of understanding with the Atlanta Braves to build a baseball stadium, and the county’s buildout of sewer systems in the 1980s.
“I’m sure there were reasonable voices of concern about those times, but there are reasonable considerations of why now,” said Cupid, who was the only commissioner to vote against the Braves stadium deal.
“This is a board of action, this is a board that wants to get this done,” she said. “I’ve seen moments of opportunity come and go.”
Cobb voters rejected a referendum in 1971 to join the then-now Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority. In 1989 the county created Cobb Community Transit (now called CobbLinc) to provide a limited amount of transit services, including express buses serving commuters in downtown Atlanta.
She said Cobb has had “consideration of a robust investment in transit for almost 50 years now. . . . and we’re at a key time to offer commensurate options for our community.”
Commissioners voted along the same 3-2 split to approve spending $187,000 for an education campaign to take place in 2024 ahead of the referendum.
That effort, which includes a combined donation of $100,000 from the Town Center and Cumberland Community Improvement Districts, will include town hall meetings and other information presented to citizens.
After the vote, citizens spoke on the issue in public comment sessions.
Kevin Cutliff of East Cobb, a 21-year-old who supports the transit tax, said many in his generation are struggling to afford cars to get around.
He uses a combination of an electric bike and CobbLinc, but said he doesn’t feel safe with the former and feels “disconnected” with the latter, saying the current system has very limited access to the rest of metro Atlanta.
“This transit referendum hopefully will change that going forward,” Cutcliff said. “When voters use transit, this affects all of us, when all of it is connected.”
But Cobb resident Tracy Stevenson said the overall cost of the Mobility SPLOST—nearly $11 billion—”is a buttload of money.
“Do we need to overhaul the system? Probably? Do we need to have compassion for people? Absolutely. Are there are better ways to do it that use a 30-year technology to move forward. We put rosy new names on things, but it’s still a bus system.
“If we can manage the system better than we have now then why don’t we?”
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
More than half of all current Cobb residential customers would fall into a stormwater fee tier charging between $2.12 and $2.17 a month.
A number of options to collect stormwater fees from Cobb homeowners, businesses and institutions was presented to the Cobb Board of Commissioners on Tuesday.
Cobb doesn’t collect a stormwater fee, but for more than a year, the Cobb County Water System has been researching potential options to maintain and upgrade a stormwater system that officials say is under severe strain.
During a work session Tuesday, water system director Judy Jones presented a detailed set of options that include imposing an average monthly fee ranging between $2.12 to $5, based on the amount of impervious surface on a property.
That would amount to a smaller fee for homeowners and a larger bill for commercial and institutional properties.
Cobb water and sewer customers are currently billed according to usage, ranging from $2.14 for 5,000 gallons or less a month for residences to $7.06 for heavy commercial users (15,000 gallons or more) for combined services.
That proposal is less than what nearby jurisdictions charge for stormwater fees, including some of Cobb’s cities.
Basing a fee on impervious surface, Jones said, would “create dedicated funding” for stormwater repairs.
Since 1994, Cobb has funded stormwater maintenance from water and sewer fees, and it’s been nearly two decades since a consultant recommended the county impose a stormwater fee.
The county has admitted it lacks staffing and resources to adequately handle demands on the system, which include older and failing pipes and maintenance of several hundred detention ponds.
Those concerns were accelerated following floods in East Cobb and elsewhere in the county in 2021, and prompted commissioners to explore the possibility of stormwater fees.
The Cobb water system currently spends $8.4 million a year on stormwater costs, including capital improvement projects. Jones presented nine options for expanded services that would increase that total to $19 million annually if they were all approved, by collecting $5.01 a month in stormwater fees from individual customers.
That would include hiring several positions to conduct repairs, provide engineering and inspection services and update the system’s map of detention ponds it maintains.
Jones said her staff is still trying to determine how many detention ponds the county is responsible for, including mowing and landscaping, but the best estimate is around 300.
When Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid said “that’s not sustainable,” from a time as well as financial context, Jones said that “we’re not maintaining them the way they need to be.”
Jones presented slides showing such things as a sample bill including a stormwater fee, with the charge for a Tier 2 residence (around 2,000 gallons a month) going up by only 3 cents, from $71.10 to $71.13, using the impervious surface formula.
Cobb Water System director Judy Jones said county water customers “still have the lowest rates” in metro Atlanta.
However, the monthly bill for a “big box” commercial customer would go up by more than $217, from $1,777 to $1,808.
Jones said special lower formulas could be worked out for non-commercial institutions, such as schools and churches, which have a lot of impervious surfaces.
The two Republicans on the commission have said previously they oppose a stormwater fee, calling it a tax.
GOP Commissioner JoAnn Birrell of District 3 in East Cobb asked Tuesday if there there would be town halls or public meetings ahead of any vote on whether to charge a stormwater fee.
She has been opposed as long as a portion of Cobb Water System revenues are transferred every year to the county’s general fund budget.
This year that figure is 6 percent, after commissioners voted along party lines to raise water rates by nearly 8 percent.
County attorney Bill Rowling said public hearings would be required for any changes to the county code regarding stormwater fees.
Cupid added that “anything you can do to educate the public would be generous,” and she referenced recent meetings about the proposed Cobb Mobility SPLOST.
“I think we can err on the side of being generous,” she said.
Jones said she would make her presentation available on the county website. Commissioners didn’t discuss a timetable for any possible action, but hearings and public feedback are expected to continue into the middle of 2024.
A few other related slides from Jones’ presentation Tuesday are included below, along with a replay of the work session. It lasts an hour and 17 minutes.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
He was followed by East Cobb civic activist Debbie Fisher, who said that “we’re being taxed enough already.”
