With little discussion, the Cobb school board adopted a $1.17 billion fiscal year 2020 budget Thursday night.
The budget, which takes effect July 1, will include pay raises for most non-temporary employees ranging between 8 and 12.6 percent. They include teachers, administrators, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, counselors and nurses.
The only change to the budget, presented at a board work session Thursday afternoon, is spending an additional $340,000 in “academic supplements” for elementary school teachers. The stipends will go to those teachers who will serve in grade-level leadership positions at their respective schools.
The budget adopted by the board maintains the current millage rate of 18.9 mills. The pay raises will total around $74 million, and more than $18 million is being transferred from reserves.
Teacher allotments will increase by 90 across the district, and members of the CCDS’ police department also will get a “competitive salary adjustment.”
A total of $81 million in increased revenues, including $43 million in state Quality Basic Education funding as well as $30 million in additional property taxes due to an estimated 5.5 percent growth in the Cobb tax digest, has been worked into the budget proposal.
Brad Johnson, the district’s chief financial officer, said the final tax digest number will be determined in June.
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The Marietta Greek Festival takes place from Friday-Sunday, and organizers said there will be some parking changes in effect this year.
The festival goes from Friday-Sunday afternoon the Holy Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church (3431 Trickum Road, indicated by red star on map), and off-site parking with shuttle service has been altered from previous years.
Due to construction work at Lassiter High School, a previous satellite parking venue, the festival lots for this year are at the following venues (indicated by blue circles on the map):
Simpson Middle School (3340 Trickum Road);
Church of Latter-Day Saints (3195 Trickum Road, Friday and Saturday only);
Mountain View Elementary School (3151 Sandy Plains Road).
The festival hours are 3-11 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.
There’s free admission Friday from 3-5 p.m.; otherwise admission is $5, and free to children ages 12 and under. Online admission and food ticket purchases can be made here through Sunday.
The parking is free at all lots.
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Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) contractors will implement overnight lane closures on I-75 this weekend for resurfacing. Expect some traffic delays.
Weather permitting, these are the lane closures scheduled for Friday, May 17 from 9:00 p.m. until 5:00 a.m. Monday, May 20:
Two right lanes and right shoulder lane will be closed on I-75 southbound between the Canton Road and Delk Road exits;
Three right lanes will be closed on I-75 northbound between the I-75/I-285 interchange and the Canton Road exit.
Overhead signs and message boards in the Marietta area will alert drivers of the closures in advance. These major closures reduce prolonged impacts to the traveling public by condensing the crews and equipment needed and ensuring safety for workers and drivers.
Motorists are advised to plan alternate routes to their destinations and/or allow extra travel time for traffic delays.
As always, motorists traveling in the area are reminded to reduce their speeds in the work zone. Motorists are also encouraged to wear seatbelts, eliminate distractions behind the wheel, and plan their routes before getting on the road by calling 511 for real-time information on work status and traffic conditions.
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Anthony and Cynthia Welch were shot after celebrating her birthday at dinner at Pappadeaux. (Photo: Cobb District Attorney’s office)
A Cobb Superior Court jury has convicted two men from Florida for killing a man and shooting his wife in 2016 in the parking lot of a Windy Hill Road restaurant.
The Cobb District Attorney’s office said Demarious Kevauh Greene, now 23, and Dylan Marquis Ledbetter, now 25, were found guilty of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, armed robbery, and firearms-possession charges. Ledbetter was also found guilty of aggravated assault on a police officer.
Their victims are Anthony and Cynthia Welch, a Kennesaw couple leaving the Pappadeaux restaurant on Oct. 7, 2016, after celebrating her birthday. Prosecutors said they were attacked as they reached their car, and when Anthony Welch stepped in front of his wife to shield her from the men, he was shot in the heart with a .380-caliber bullet.
Cynthia Welch also was shot, in the arm and the chest, and one of the men took a necklace from her neck before they fled the scene by car, according to the DA’s office.
Anthony Welch died a short time later, and Cynthia Welch survived. They were married nearly 25 years.
During the trial, prosecutors said police linked the Welch shootings with a robbery in the parking lot at a store in Woodstock four days later. On Oct. 15, police spotted a vehicle from the Woodstock incident parked at a Red Roof motel near the Pappadeaux restaurant, and followed it as it left the parking lot.
During a traffic stop, prosecutors said the vehicle pulled into a gas station, trying to get away, and hit a Cobb Police officer, then another car. According to police, Greene and Ledbetter jumped out of the car, with Ledbetter being shot three times by a plainclothes officer.
The DA’s office said a man still in the car surrendered to police, who executed a search warrant for items in the vehicle and discovered a .380 handgun that GBI ballistics experts later matched to the bullets in the Welch shootings.
Prosecutors said other evidence corrobrated the presence of Greene and Ledbetter at the crime scenes.
In his closing arguments, Cobb assistant district attorney Jesse Evans said, “this murder was cold-blooded. Senseless. It didn’t have to happen. Cynthia and Anthony Welch did not deserve this.”
Greene and Ledbetter will be sentenced on May 30, and could be facing life in prison without parole. They’ve been convicted in the Woodstock robbery and received life sentences.
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For the first time since 2011, the Walton boys lacrosse team is playing for a state championship.
The Raiders downed centennial 8-3 at Raider Valley on Wednesday to reach the Georgia High School Association Class 7A finals.
Their opponent will be the two-time defending state champions from Lambert, which prevented an all-East Cobb final by downing Lassiter 8-4.
Saturday’s final will take place at 1 p.m. at Fifth Third Bank Stadium near the Kennesaw State University campus (3200 George Busbee Parkway).
Admission is $14 and covers all four state championship games, starting at 10:30 a.m.
Walton is 20-2 on the season, while Lambert is 20-1. The Longhorns, from Forsyth County, have won four state championships since the school opened in 2009.
Walton’s only title came in 2011. The Lassiter boys won state championships in 2006 and in 2017, but on Wednesday never had the lead against a Lambert team that’s become a dynasty in a short amount of time.
No East Cobb girls teams reached the finals this year. Kell won state titles in 2014 and 2015 and Walton won in 2016. The Milton girls, who play in the same region as Walton and Lassiter, will go for their 13th championship in the 7A final Saturday against Mill Creek at 5 p.m.
Pope prevails
The Pope Greyhounds baseball team advanced to the state championship series for the fourth consecutive year by defeating Harrison earlier this week.
The Greyhounds, winners of the last two Class 6A titles, knocked off the Hoyas on the road in the third and decisive game on Wednesday in a 5-0 shutout.
Pope will play Heritage of Conyers in a doubleheader starting at 5 p.m. next Wednesday, May 22, at State Mutual Stadium in Rome. Tickets are $13 plus a $2 facility fee.
If a third game is necessary, it will take place at the same venue on Thursday, starting at 7:30 p.m.
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As crews were finishing the grading work for the new MarketPlace Terrell project and construction began on the self-storage facility, a spokesman for the developer updated the community about the mixed-use development.
Brandon Ashkouti of Eden Rock Real Estate Partners told members of the Powers Ferry Corridor Alliance last week that the overall timetable for the $120 million project, located at the northwest intersection of Powers Ferry Road and Terrell Mill Road, is expected to be about 24 months.
That depends in part on a case to be decided soon by the Georgia Supreme Court. Kroger, which is planning a 95,000-square-foot superstore as the center’s anchor, is appealing a Cobb judge’s ruling against tax abatements it sought from the Development Authority of Cobb County.
Ashkouti said in response to a question from the audience that Kroger is committed to building there (and moving from a nearby location at Powers Ferry and Delk roads).
“Until they are approved,” he said, referring to the abatements, “we do not have a timeline for that store. We anticipate a favorable outcome.”
The Kroger store would be located where the former Brumby Elementary School campus once stood.
In the meantime, a self-storage facility located at the back of the 23.9-acre tract, and near Terrell Mill Road (in photo above) is the first building to get underway.
Ashkouti said that building should be done within 9 to 12 months, and an adjacent apartment building with 298 units is expected to be completed in 24 months.
Building out shops and restaurants could take between 12-15 months, he said, and discussions are underway with possible tenants he wouldn’t identify.
Construction on the latter could get underway this fall, he said, and two planned restaurants would have 4,200 and 3,500 square feet.
“We’re talking to some great local restaurants,” Ashkouti said.
Brandon Ashkouti
The buildings will be in Colonial Williamsburg style architecture.
A dentist’s office on the intersection that has already opened is not part of the MarketPlace Terrell Mill project.
The plans also call for traffic lights on Powers Ferry right across from Micro Center shopping center and on Terrell Mill, to be sequenced at the L.A. Fitness entrance.
Rezoning was approved last year by Cobb commissioners in a project that has been dubbed “transformative” for a corridor that is being revitalized elsewhere.
The so-called Restaurant Row cluster on Powers Ferry near Windy Hill Road will make away for another mixed-use project.
Craig Gearheart of Greystar, a multi-family developer, told the PFCA audience that groundbreaking will begin in July for Overture at Powers Ferry, a 171-unit building for residents 55 and older, and should take around 24 months to complete.
A 276-unit apartment building, Elan at Powers Ferry, also is planned for the property, as is a 10,000-square foot building with shops and restaurants, including Rose and Crown.
It’s the only active restaurant still remaining at Restaurant Row, and will relocate to the new facility, taking up 6,000 square feet.
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For more than 20 years service organizations, churches and others have helped Marietta-based MUST Ministries with its summer lunch program by providing homemade sandwiches to be delivered to needy children in seven counties in metro Atlanta.
Last Friday, MUST was notified by state health officials that for food safety reasons, only sandwiches made in certified, licensed kitchens under supervision can be distributed in the sack lunches.
Volunteers and organizations have been preparing sandwiches at their own venues, and at MUST kitchen off Cobb Parkway near Bells Ferry Road in “lunch building” sessions.
With only a couple weeks to go before the summer lunch program begins, MUST is asking anyone who wants to help to make a cash donation so it can purchase sandwiches for the summer lunch program, which starts May 28 and continues until the end of July.
It’s called “SOS”—for “Save Our Sandwiches”—and MUST says the cost will cover only the purchase of sandwiches, about 75 cents each. Other items for the lunches, including juice boxes, crackers, fruit cups and other prepacked foods and snacks, are still accepted.
Last summer MUST distributed between 6,000 to 7,000 sandwiches a week, or around 260,000 for the summer, to kids who qualify for free or reduced school lunches.
MUST has pointed out that in 23 years of the summer lunch program, it’s never heard of an instance of a food safety issue. MUST has distributed for years a lengthy list of requirementsfor those who’ve made sandwiches.
MUST looked at partnering with church and other certified kitchens, but that was unfeasible since the summer lunch program is less than two weeks away.
Thus far, more than $17,000 has been raised for MUST to buy sandwiches from a certified food vendor, about enough to get through three weeks of the seven-week summer lunch program.
If you’re interested in helping out, you can text “MUSTSOS” to the number 52182, or e-mail SummerLunch@MUSTMinistries.org.
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Cobb commissioners on Tuesday approved a project to repair the bridge over Sope Creek on Lower Roswell Road.
Georgia Bridge and Concrete, LLC submitted a low bid (out of four received) of $356,440 and was awarded the contract. The funding comes from the 2016 Cobb SPLOST.
The project will consist of resealing bridge joints, replacing, drainage structures, patching existing concrete, stabilizing an approach slab, and installing polymer overlay.
Work will begin 60 days after the contractor gets permission to proceed.
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Due to graduation ceremonies next week, the Cobb school board has moved up its May meeting by a week, and is scheduled to act on the fiscal year 2020 budget on Thursday.
Charisse Davis
There will be a work session starting at 2:30 p.m., a public hearing on the budget at 6:30 p.m. and a regular meeting starting at 7 p.m., in which the board is expected to vote on the budget.
The meetings will take place in the board room at the Cobb County School District Central office, 514 Glover St., in Marietta.
He said the proposed raises were made possible by $3,000 raises for teachers that were included in the state education budget. The fiscal year 2020 budget begins on July 1.
Details of the budget proposal can be found in several ways:
Earlier this month the school board held a retreat and spurned a proposal by board member Charisse Davis to create a special committee to examine possible changes to the Cobb schools property tax exemption for seniors.
Cobb is only one of two school districts in the metro Atlanta area to offer the exemption to homeowners 62 and older without any qualifications (such as income levels). School district officials estimate the exemption will amount to nearly $112 million this year.
Davis, who represents the Walton and Wheeler clusters, pointed to a recent vote in Forsyth County to eliminate a senior tax exemption for homeowners who have students living with them but who are not legal guardians. Forsyth schools will gain an additional $500,000 in annual revenue.
But Davis’ proposal just to form a committee was voted down 4-2 (with the board’s four Republicans all voting against), and came just a few days after board chairman David Chastain, who represents the Kell and Sprayberry clusters, adamantly said the senior exemption isn’t being taken away.
Davis, one of three Democrats on the Cobb school board, reiterated after the retreat that in Forsyth, “a Republican school board asked a Republican delegation to put a senior tax change up for a vote, the state legislature overwhelmingly approved it, and then the county’s voters approved it. Imagine that.”
She also drew up a map (bigger version on her website) showing the various school senior tax exemptions in metro Atlanta school systems.
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A photo of the former Wilce Frasier home taken over the winter, as the land was put up for sale. (ECN file)
One of the older buildings in East Cobb stands no more. A home more than 100 years old and located at 4658 Lower Roswell Road, at Woodlawn Drive, has been demolished by Cobb County government, which has had plans for several years to rework the intersection.
The demolition of the home and two smaller structures behind it took place following an expedited decision granted by Cobb commissioners on April 30 to County Manager Rob Hosack, at a cost of $18,625.
A low bid for the demolition work was awarded to Tucker Grading & Hauling, with the funds coming from the 2011 Cobb SPLOST account, according to a memo to Hosack from Cobb DOT Director Erica Parish and dated Tuesday.
The demolition was necessary, according to the memo, because the properties were in poor condition and trespassing had been taking place there.
On Tuesday, commissioners “ratified” the decision to tear down the buildings by a 4-0 vote. Commissioner Bob Ott of East Cobb was absent. The memo was included as an agenda item.
The home had been vacant since Jan. 2018, when the homeowner, Wilce Frasier Jr., died at the age of 93. According to deed records with the Cobb County Superior Court Clerk’s office, Frasier had lived in the home since the early 1960s.
A family member, Lisa Frasier McCalvin, said the home dates from the late 1800s: “Wilce grew up in this house with his brothers and sisters . . . . it never left our family . . . . the memories I have of playing in that house are some of my fondest from my childhood.”
Wilce Frasier’s obituary noted that he was a Navy veteran during World War II and worked at Lockheed-Georgia for 30 years, and that he is buried at the Mt. Bethel church cemetery just around the corner on Johnson Ferry Road.
His heirs had been in negotiations with Cobb DOT regarding right-of-way for the intersection improvements. The 0.9 acres owned by Frasier, put up for sale over the winter, has been sold. It had been marketed for possible commercial use.
The intersection project is part of Lower Roswell Road improvements stretching from Woodlawn, across Johnson Ferry Road and to Davidson Road and is part of the 2011 SPLOST.
A contract for the project was approved in 2012 but the county still needs to make more right-of-way acquisitions.
The improvements at Lower Roswell and Woodlawn will include installing a median and additional turn lanes at a clogged intersection.
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From L-R: NW Atlanta Habitat for Humanity CEO Jessica Gill; Campbell and Pope Students; State Farm Agent Veronica Adadevoh; State Rep. Sharon Cooper; Pope HS Advisor Cindy Ford.
Submitted information and photos:
Alan C. Pope and Campbell High School Habitat for Humanity Campus Chapters have each been awarded $5,000 after raising matching amounts for this year’s annual Cobb High School Coalition Habitat build. The grants were awarded at the home dedication of United States Veteran Danny Burgess on Old Bankhead Highway in Mableton on Saturday, May 11.
Pope and Campbell High School Habitat chapters are a part of the Cobb High School Coalition, which comes together annually each Spring semester to build a Habitat house over nine weeks. This year’s home began in February and was dedicated on Saturday. The 2019 Coalition consisted of chapter students from Allatoona, Campbell, Hillgrove, Pope, Walton and Wheeler High Schools.
Students representing each school participated in the dedication ceremony through the singing of the national anthem, the presentation of the homeowner Bible and key, and the reading of the Habitat Litany. Cobb County State Representative Sharon Cooper spoke at the ceremony and optimistically told the students, “You are our future leaders” and encouraged them to “never stop giving back.”
“We are grateful to have been selected as one of the matching grant recipients,” said Pope High School chapter teacher/advisor Cindy Holland. “The grant will help us to build another house for a well-deserving family in our community.”
A Habitat campus chapter is a student-led, student-initiated organization on a high school or college campus that partners with the local Habitat affiliates to build, fundraise, advocate and educate to support the work of Habitat for Humanity.
“We are proud that our funding is helping to engage young leaders in advancing Habitat’s mission in communities across the country,” said Ed Woods, Human Resources Director, Philanthropy/Diversity & Inclusion at State Farm. “State Farm is here to help life go right and is committed to building safer, stronger and better educated communities.”
Habitat has several programs to engage youth ages 5 to 25. In addition to the ongoing support State Farm offices provide to local Habitat organizations across the United States, State Farm has provided support for Habitat for Humanity’s youth programs since 2007.
Students from Allatoona, Campbell, Hillgrove, Pope, Walton and Wheeler HS with new homeowner Danny Burgess.
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The Pope baseball team’s hopes of winning three consecutive state championships is alive. There’s also a chance for an all-East Cobb boys lacrosse state final.
The Greyhounds, who ousted Lee County 2 games to 1 in a home baseball series this week, moved up the finale of that series on Thursday to avoid the rain, and came away with a 9-1 victory.
The victory came in a rematch between the finalists for the 2017 Georgia Class 6A title. Lee County won the opener 8-7 and Pope rallied with an 18-8 win in the second game of a doubleheader.
Pope is 28-7 on the season and won’t have to travel far in the semifinals, meeting Harrison, which eliminated Houston County Friday in a game that was delayed by rain from Thursday night.
This will be the fourth consecutive semifinal appearance for Pope. The series with Harrison begins with a doubleheader on Tuesday, and a third game, if necessary, would be played on Wednesday.
Walton’s baseball season came to an end this week when the Raiders were swept in the Class 7A quarterfinals by Parkview, by scores of 5-3 and 7-4. The teams have won two of the last three titles.
Lacrosse playoffs
The Lassiter boys lacrosse team has reached the semifinals of the Class 6A-7A tournament after defeating Mill Creek 16-9 this week. The Trojans, who have reached the finals three years in a row, will next play the team they’ve met in those championship games.
The Lambert Longhorns downed North Gwinnett 12-4 and will play host to Lassiter on Tuesday or Wednesday. Lambert, in Forsyth County, has beaten the Trojans in two of those three title games.
The Walton boys reached the other semifinal match in Class 6A-7A, as the Raiders toppled Etowah 8-5 on the road on Friday. They will be playing host to Centennial.
The Walton girls team was eliminated Friday in the quarterfinals, losing at North Paulding 14-13.
Soccer semis
The Pope boys have reached the Class 6A semifinals, and will be playing at Dalton on Tuesday. The Greyhounds defeated Tucker 3-2 in the quarterfinals this week.
The Kell boys were eliminated in the first round in Class 5A by Lithia Springs, while Walton reached the second round in Class 7A before falling to Hillgrove. The Lassiter boys also lost in the second round in 7A to another Cobb school, Kennesaw Mountain.
In girls soccer, the Walton girls also were ousted in the second round by Hillgrove, while Lassiter beat Kennesaw Mountain to advance to the Class 7A quarterfinals, where they were beaten by Parkview.
In Class 6A, the Pope girls were eliminated in the quarterfinals this week by Heritage of Conyers, and Johns Creek downed Sprayberry in the first round.
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Submitted information and photo from the Master Gardener Volunteers of Cobb County, which is holding its next Open Garden event next Thursday, May 16, at the Wright Environmental Education Center in East Cobb:
Joe Ranney of Wild Birds Unlimited will speak at 9:30 and 10:30 on Backyard Birds, including songbirds, migratory birds, owls, and raptors (hawks, vultures). He will bring nest boxes, feeders, seeds, etc. Make plans to attend the talks and to walk the trails of this beautiful urban forest.
The Wright Center is located at 2661 Johnson Ferry Road; parking is in the adjacent Chestnut Ridge Christian Church, accessible via Post Oak Tritt Road.
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The last week of the 2018-19 year for the Cobb County School District is coming up, with graduations a little more than a week away.
Here are the dates, times and venues for commencement exercises for the six high schools in East Cobb:
Tuesday, May 21
Kell, 3:30 p.m., KSU Convocation Center
Wednesday, May 22
Wheeler, 6:30 p.m., Wheeler Gymnasium
Thursday, May 23
Lassiter, 2:30 p.m., KSU Convocation Center
Friday, May 24
Walton, 10 a.m., KSU Convocation Center
Pope, 7 p.m., KSU Convocation Center
Saturday, May 25
Sprayberry, 7 p.m., KSU Convocation Center
There are more details here about each school’s event, including directions and parking, as well as a link to watch via the web and order DVDs of the ceremonies.
They’ll be among 8,000 high school seniors in the Cobb district getting their diplomas.
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Left to right: 2nd place winner Sophia Maier, 1st place winner Holly Mostyn, Rep. Lucy McBath, 3rd place winner Emily Marie Phillips.
Submitted information and photos from the office of U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath:
This week,Rep. Lucy McBath (D-Marietta) hosted her first Congressional Art Competition Reception at the Roswell Visual Arts Center for student artists and their parents and teachers. During the exhibit, McBath announced that Holly Mostyn’s photograph, “Splatter” won first place and will be on display in the halls of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. for one year as a part of the nationwide Congressional Art Competition: An Artistic Discovery exhibit. Her artwork will be on display alongside winners from other Congressional Districts across the nation. Holly is a senior at Lassiter High School in Marietta.
Additionally, Sophia Maier’s colored pencil, marker and acrylic piece “BusBOY” won second place and will be on display in McBath’s Washington, D.C. office. Sophia is also a senior at Lassiter High School in Marietta. McBath announced that Emily Marie Phillips won third place for her ink and marker on paper piece, “Silence.” Emily is 16 and attends Cambridge High School in Milton. Her artwork will be displayed in Rep. McBath’s Sandy Springs District Office.
“It was a delight to see all of the art on display from talented young artists in Georgia’s Sixth,” said Rep. McBath. “Congratulations to this year’s winners – Holly, Sophia, and Emily! I look forward to seeing their art on display as I walk through the U.S. Capitol building and in my Sandy Springs and Washington offices.”
This year, the judges serving on the panel to decide the winners included Althea Foster, Laurianne Love, Craig Ford, and Nancy Fairchild. Ms. Foster is the Curator and Program Director at the Johns Creek Art Center. Ms. Love is the Visual Arts Coordinator for the City of Roswell Department of Recreation, Parks, Historic and Cultural Affairs. Mr. Ford is a painter, graphic artist, and teaches at the Roswell Visual Arts Center. Ms. Fairchild teaches art classes at the Roswell Visual Arts Center.
Each student participant in attendance received a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition from Rep. Lucy McBath. The Congressional Art Competition began in 1982 to provide an opportunity for Members of Congress to encourage and recognize the artistic talents of their young constituents. Since then, over 650,000 high school students have participated in the nationwide competition.
Below, Rep. McBath and Lassiter student Sophia Maier with her artwork, “BusBOY.”
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“We think we have time to get feedback and do this thing right,” said David Birdwell of East Cobb Cityhood group. (ECN photo)
In their third public appearance, leaders of an East Cobb cityhood group announced Wednesday they had formed a finance committee to put in motion a working budget proposal.
David Birdwell and Rob Eble, the spokesman for the cityhood steering committee, said the panel is made up of financial experts, including corporate CFOs.
They wouldn’t identify those with the financial committee for now, but Eble said after a Powers Ferry Corridor Alliance meeting at Brumby Elementary School that one of the individuals has some public budgeting experience.
The committee also will be scrutinizing a financial feasibility study conducted for the cityhood group by researchers at Georgia State University (read it here).
“They’re going to go line-by-line through that feasibility study,” Eble said, to ensure it’s accurate and “to try and create a budget.”
The feasibility study concluded that a City of East Cobb providing police, fire and community development services (including planning and zoning), and based on a population of 96,000, would have projected revenues of $49.8 million, and expenses totalling $45.6 million (see chart from the study in graphic below).
That’s with a property tax rate levied at 2.96 mills, the same paid by homeowners in unincorporated Cobb now for fire services.
Revising the map?
The feasibility study was requirement for a cityhood bill to be filed in the recent Georgia legislative session, which includes a proposed city charter and a proposed map that is likely to change.
The cityhood group also was scheduled to meet Thursday with officials at the state reapportionment office about the possibility of changing the boundary lines.
Birdwell and Eble both characterized the meeting as seeking out “scenarios” for moving the lines beyond the current boundaries, roughly the East Cobb portion of commissioner Bob Ott’s District 2, to include more of the Pope and Lassiter attendance zones.
The proposed city does not include any of the Sprayberry or Kell clusters.
Both said they didn’t know how the final lines might be drawn, as that is a function of the legislature as it considers the cityhood bill next year.
Birdwell did reiterate the cityhood group’s insistence that those living in a City of East Cobb wouldn’t be paying higher tax rates than they are now.
Changing the city lines would mean changing all those financial numbers, and Birdwell said that “if it’s a real material change, we’ll figure out a way to do the feasibility study to satisfy the [legislative] process.”
Skepticism remains
One citizen trying to keep an open mind is Connie Day, a member of the PFCA board who lives near Brumby in the Stratford neighborhood.
Mike Boyce
While she said she appreciates the cityhood group for addressing “what’s on peoples’ minds” about the issue, she wonders what the impact will be on taxes.
When asked if she thought the city could be run at or below the current county millage rate, Day laughed for a second, then said, “the skeptic in me says it’s going to be a challenge.”
Day said her property tax assessment has gone up by 20 percent, so she’s already paying more in taxes anyway. That’s not her only question.
“If feels like another layer of government,” she said. “I’m not dissatisfied with the level of services I’m getting now. Right now, I’m not feeling the pain point” that might persuade her to support cityhood (a referendum would take place if the legislature passes the cityhood bill next year).
Also listening to the cityhood group’s presentation Wednesday was Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce, who has noted previously that all six Cobb municipalities have higher tax millage rates than the county.
He said he was encouraged to hear about the budget proposal, so “we can get a real comparison.”
Eble said the budget committee’s work could be done in another 60 days or so.
The cityhood group is planning another town hall in mid-June.
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Of the 229 Cobb school retirees honored by the Cobb County School District on Thursday, some of the longest-serving teachers and staff have been at East Cobb schools. They include the following, with their total years of service to the district:
Lassiter High School food services manager Jeannie Ledbetter, 39 years;
Deborah Poss
Lassiter High School teacher Donald Slater, 38 years;
Walton High School custodian Lawrence Moon, 36 years;
Lassiter High School teacher Deborah Poss, 35 years;
East Side Elementary School teacher Debra Denise Clackum, 35 years.
“It is the greatest part-time job with benefits that you could ever have. You get summers off. You get to enjoy life,” Ledbetter said.
The luncheon took place at Roswell Street Baptist Church, and Lassiter student Will Cole took part in the festivities by singing the national anthem; he’s pictured below.
The total service logged by the retiring 229 employees comes to 5,009 years.
(Information and photos submitted by Cobb County School District)
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An East Cobb man charged with raping a woman at her home in the Johnson Ferry Road area in February has been indicted.
Kendal Guerin Chaves, 34, of Lerose Court, was indicted by a Cobb grand jury last week on one count of aggravated sodomy, one count of aggravated assault, one count of first degree burglary and one count of battery.
He was charged by Cobb Police on Feb. 10, two days after a woman living on Colony Drive, off Little Willeo Road, said a man knocked on a window in the morning and attacked her after she answered the door.
According to the indictment, Chaves gained unlawful entry into the home, committed anal rape against the victim, choked her and caused bruises to her neck, face and arms.
Chaves was booked into the Cobb County Adult Detention Center without bond, according to jail records.
He also was charged with DUI, a misdemeanor, at the same time. Chaves pleaded guilty in late January to a cocaine possession charge and had been sentenced to three years’ probation, according to court records.
The court records further show that his probation was revoked due to the DUI charge, and on March 26, Chaves was resentenced to serve two years.
According to Cobb jail records, Chaves was released to the custody of the Georgia Department of Corrections on April 11.
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A controversial rezoning and annexation request on Lower Roswell Road at the Loop was tabled again on Wednesday by the Marietta City Council.
Cobb County officials delivered a letter to city officials earlier on Wednesday, reiterating their objections under a state law that gives counties that right in high-density cases.
Traton Homes wants to build 37 townhomes and 15 single-family residences on 7.48 acres at the northeast intersection of Lower Roswell and the Loop, a plan that residents in an adjacent neighborhood have opposed.
Many living in Sewell Manor are in the county, and they grew concerned when the Marietta City Attorney suggested Tuesday that a vote could go ahead because Cobb commissioners hadn’t voted on formalizing the objection.
At a town hall meeting elsewhere in East Cobb Wednesday, Cobb commissioner Bob Ott said the council tabled the request, and that he had spoken to Marietta Mayor Thunder Tumlin.
The parties “have agreed to follow the steps of HB 489,” Ott said, referring to the state law in question. That allows counties to enter mediation when there’s such a dispute.
The law kicks in when a city wants to annex unincorporated land that would be zoned for more than four residential units an acre. Traton’s initial request was for more than 11 units an acre, but it’s revised it to 6.5.
That still didn’t set well with Sewell Manor residents who think the project not only remains too dense (their neighborhood density is 1.75 units an acre), but that they also believe will contribute to traffic issues at a clogged intersection.
Ott said the mediation process would include going back to county commissioners, but the possibility looms that the city could annex the land under Georgia home rule provisions.
The property includes three tracts of land already part of the city that front Lower Roswell, and six residential parcels that were once part of Sewell Manor, a community of small homes built in the 1950s.
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The National Merit Scholarship Corporation on Wednesday announced that around 2,500 high school seniors around the country were recipients of $2,500 National Merit Scholarships for 2019. Eleven of those recipients are from East Cobb schools.
Students are chosen for having “the combination of accomplishments, skills, and potential for success in rigorous college studies. The number of winners named in each state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the nation’s graduating high school seniors.”
The recipients were chosen by college admissions officers and high school counselors. The winners also indicated their probable career field (in parenthesis) on their applications:
Campbell: Alexander Eaton, who’s from East Cobb (business administration);
Lassiter: Dennis G. Goldenberg, with a probable career field in mathematics.
Walton: William Ellsworth (computer science), Vineet Gangireddy (business administration), Nicholas Hong (neurobiology), Ryan Li (computer science) and Grace Xu (undecided);
Wheeler: Fianko Buckle (computer science), Caden M. Felton (physics), Arya N. Mevada (intellectual property law) and Keshav K. Shenoy (computer science).
The field began with 15,000 applicants, and more than 7,600 students will receive scholarship money totalling $31 million by the end of the school year.
The NMSC also recently awarded corporate scholarships, which are renewable for up to four years and range from $500 to $10,000, that go to the children of company employees, live in the communities those companies serve or who plan to go into career fields the sponsor wishes to encourage.
The following East Cobb students were awarded those scholarships on April 17:
Mariah K. Butts, Wheeler (Marsh & McLennan Companies Scholarship), probable career field medicine;
Eashan Gandotra, Walton (ADP Henry Taub Memorial Scholarship), mathematics;
Tarunnum Lakdawala, Campbell (PWC Charitable Foundation Scholarship), computer science;
Zachary Yahn, Wheeler (Georgia-Pacific Foundation Scholarship), electrical engineering.
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The Lassiter boys lacrosse team has reached the semifinals of the Class 6A-7A tournament after defeating Mill Creek 16-9 this week. The Trojans, who have reached the finals three years in a row, will next play the team they’ve met in those championship games.
The recipients were chosen by college admissions officers and high school counselors. The winners also indicated their probable career field (in parenthesis) on their applications: