Cobb State of the County address highlights Chamber breakfast

Cobb State of the County Address, Mike Boyce

Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce will give the annual “State of the County” address Monday at the Cobb Chamber of Commerce’s Monday breakfast meeting.

The breakfast starts at 7:30 a.m. at the Cobb Galleria Centre (info and tickets here), and Boyce’s comments can be seen in their entirety at this link later Monday.

The State of the County is an annual tradition for the chairman. Boyce, an East Cobb resident, begins his third year in office after commissioners voted narrowly last year to approve a property tax increase.

Boyce has defended this as a “restoration budget” to add services that had been reduced since the recession. Those include hiring more police officers and equipping them with body camera, Sunday library hours and hiring road work crews.

His East Cobb colleagues, Bob Ott and JoAnn Birrell, voted against that tax hike, and starting this month they will be joined by a new commissioner, Keli Gambrill of North Cobb, who also campaigned against the increase.

She defeated Bob Weatherford, who cast the deciding vote for the tax increase and defended his vote after his election loss.

At a budget retreat last month, Boyce indicated he will not be seeking a millage increase for the fiscal year 2020 budget.

Boyce also will be speaking at the East Cobb Business Association breakfast on Jan. 15. Tickets and info can be found here.

 

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Cobb Civil Air Patrol cadets take to the sky at McCollum Airport

Cobb Civil Air Patrol

Thanks to Major Joshua Stultz, the Deputy Commander for Cadets of the Cobb County Composite Squadron Georgia Wing Group 1, for the photo and information about a cadet flight exercise Saturday at McCollum Airport, and the Cobb Civil Air Patrol’s open house there on March 21:

The cadet orientation flight program shares with cadets the thrill of flying. Every CAP cadet under age 18 is eligible for five flights in a powered aircraft (usually a single-engine Cessna), five flights in a glider aircraft. Pictured here is Cadet Airman Garrett Neal at the controls of one of CAP’s Cesena 182 aircraft.
The open house on March 21 goes from 6:30-9:30 p.m. at McCollum Airport (1901 McCollum Pkwy NW, Kennesaw):

Since Civil Air Patrol’s formation during the earliest days of World War II, this vigilant organization of citizen Airmen has been committed to service to America. Founded on Dec. 1, 1941, to mobilize the nation’s civilian aviation resources for national defense service, CAP has evolved into a premier public service organization that still carries out emergency service missions when needed — in the air and on the ground.

As a Total Force partner and Auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, Civil Air Patrol is there to search for and find the lost, provide comfort in times of disaster and work to keep the homeland safe. Its 60,000 members selflessly devote their time, energy and expertise toward the well-being of their communities, while also promoting aviation and related fields through aerospace/STEM education and helping shape future leaders through CAP’s cadet program.
Civil Air Patrol’s missions for America are many, and today’s adults and cadets perform their duties with the same vigilance as its founding members — preserving CAP’s 75-year legacy of service while maintaining its commitment to nearly 1,500 communities nationwide.

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East Cobb mixed-use properties among future land use proposals

Powers Ferry-Terrell Mill properties, MarketPlace Terrell Mill, East Cobb mixed-use developments

Two notable East Cobb mixed-used developments approved during the last two years are located on property that county commissioners will be considering this month as part of their annual Comprehensive Plan updates.

They include land zoned last year for the MarketPlace Terrell Mill project (above) at Terrell Mill and Powers Ferry roads, and for the Sandy Plains Marketplace on the former Mountain View Elementary School site on Sandy Plains Road that was rezoned in late 2017.

Commissioners don’t hear zoning cases in January, but they adopt amendments, including future land use changes, to the 2040 Cobb Comprehensive Plan.

The first of two public hearings on the proposed amendments is scheduled for Tuesday at 7 p.m. by the Cobb Planning Commission. Cobb commissioners will hold a hearing and adopt any changes at 9 a.m. on Jan. 15.

Both meetings are in the second-floor board room of the Cobb government building, 100 Cherokee St., in downtown Marietta.

(Here’s a link to the complete agenda.)

Revising the future land use plan is fairly routine following zoning cases. But those East Cobb cases, along with other proposed future land use plan amendments up for consideration, reflect lingering issues over density in the area, and the county in general.

The MarketPlace Terrell Mill project—which is to include a Kroger superstore, nearly 300 apartment units, restaurants and retail space—was opposed by residents of a nearby condominium complex.

Others opposed the assemblage of 24 acres that included the former Brumby Elementary School site into the Regional Retail Commercial category, a rare one in Cobb County that is denser than most surrounding property in a busy commercial corridor.

The future land use designation for the land is Regional Activity Center with high-density residential.

The MarketPlace Terrell Mill Project is regarded as a linchpin of redevelopment in the Powers Ferry corridor.

In its analysis for the future land use plan amendments, however, Cobb community development staff noted that “considering the changing conditions on site and the intensity that the proposed development will generate, a more appropriate future use designation may be Regional Activity Center with a sub-category of high density residential (RAC/hdr).”

The “changing conditions” is a reference Kroger’s attempts to seek tax breaks from the Development Authority of Cobb that were invalidated by a Cobb judge last fall. The grocery chain has appealed as other parts of the $120 million project are underway.

Also under construction is the Sandy Plains Marketplace project. Ground-clearing has begun, and all that’s left of the old Mountain View school is the sign at the entrance.

Sandy Plains Marketplace

That project will include a Publix GreenWise Market as its anchor, and other tenants have been announced.

The current future land-use designation is public institutional, since it was a school site. The proposed amendment would change it to the Community Activity Center category that matches the rezoning change.

Some residents of an adjoining neighborhood expressed concerns about some aspects of the project, including a three-story self-storage facility that would be constructed near their property lines.

Another high-density East Cobb rezoning is on the proposed amendment list. That’s four acres on Olde Towne Parkway that were converted from Community Activitity Center to High Density Residential.

Commissioners approved rezoning to RM-12 for four-story townhomes that nearby residents said were too high and too intense for the area.

Cobb commissioners have proposed several future land use plan amendments. Bob Ott of District 2 in East Cobb is proposing changing 370 acres in the Powers Ferry-Terrell Mill-Delk Road area to a mixture of designations.

Currently the land (map below), which houses a number of commercial and multi-family developments, is designated for Community Activity Center, High Density Residential and Park/Recreation/Conservation (PRC).CP-2-1, Cobb future land use plan amendments

He wants that property to be reclassified to the following categories: Regional Activity Center/retail service, Regional Activity Center/high density residential, and Regional Activity Center/open space and recreation.

The area includes some of the planned Windy Hill-Terrell Mill Connector project and a proposed extension of the Bob Callahan Trail network along Rottenwood Creek.

Other proposed Comprehensive Plan amendments would designate land purchased by commissioners last year for future green space to PRC. They include properties on Ebenezer Road and part of the Tritt property next to East Cobb Park.

 

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Columns Drive reopens after flooding; sunny weather this weekend

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The rain projected for Thursday and Friday didn’t amount to much at all, at least in Cobb County, where the only road still shut down from last week’s storms has now reopened.

Around 6 p.m. Cobb government announced that Columns Drive, located off Johnson Ferry Road and along the Chattahoochee River, has been reopened to traffic.

For the last week, it was shut down between Atlanta Country Club Drive and Willow Knoll Drive after heavy rains left the area heavily saturated.

As the Cobb DOT photos show, the standing water remained due largely to clogged drains.

Cobb government said rangers from the nearby Chattahoochee National Recreation Area, furloughed due to the partial federal government shutdown, helped clear up a clogged drain at the end of Columns Drive.

Crews also had to clear away a beaver-caused clog, and that helped drain away a good bit of water.

Cobb had been under a flash flood watch through Friday, but very little rain occurred after the morning.

Sunshine is in the forecast for the weekend, with partly cloudy skies and highs in the high 50s on Saturday.

Sunday will be sunny with highs in the mid 60s.

 

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Windy Hill Road motel sued in sex trafficking case by Cobb DA’s office

The Masters Inn, Windy Hill Road motel sued
Source: OpenStreetMap

Cobb District Attorney Vic Reynolds said Friday his office has filed a lawsuit to force a Windy Hill Road motel to address sex trafficking and drug activity on its premises or be subject to forfeiting its property.

A release by the DA’s office said the “public nuisance” measure was being applied to The Masters Inn, 2682 Windy Hill Road, located near the Windy Hill Hospital, the junction of Interstate 75 and SunTrust Park.

UPDATED, Wed., Jan. 9, 11:55 a.m.: The AJC is reporting the motel has closed temporarily for renovations, and that the owner has reached an agreement with the DA’s office to address the crime issues.

ORIGINAL STORY CONTINUES:

Authorities say the motel has been a haven for drug and sex trafficking and was the scene of a deadly shooting in 2015. In late 2017 Cobb Police arrested a man there on felony drug charges and discovered he had been holding a female against her well and using her for sex trafficking, according to the release.

The DA’s office said it was approached earlier last year by a lawyers’ group, Civil Lawyers Against World Sex Slavery, and along with Cobb Police compiled data on hotels in the county with high levels of arrests, especially for drugs, prostitution and trafficking.

RELATED STORY

According to the lawsuit, filed in Cobb Superior Court, The Masters Inn was known to police as “notorious hotbed of criminal activity that has been the subject of countless investigations.”

The release said The Masters Inn ownership must take the following steps:

  • contact and cooperate with police about suspected criminal activity;
  • require valid photo identification of all guests;
  • maintain complete guest rosters and a list of those previously arrested there;
  • require staff training to recognize and prevent human trafficking;
  • hire a licensed and armed security guard;
  • install outdoor lighting, video surveillance and fencing;
  • ban loitering.

According to the release, the first of several compliance hearings will be held before Cobb Superior Court Judge Kimberly Childs on March 14.

The DA’s office said the suit is believed to be one of the first in Georgia aimed at curbing sex trafficking activity.

The announcement of the lawsuit comes at the end of a week of public events in the state about sex trafficking. Georgia is regarded as one of the busiest states in the nation for sex trafficking, and January is National Sex Trafficking Awareness Month.

Earlier this week, dozens of school buses formed a caravan to reflect the estimated 3,600 children authorities say are used for sex trafficking in Georgia.

Among those taking part were Attorney General Chris Carr and Governor-elect Brian Kemp. The faith-based group Street Grace also has been leading the charge.

The upcoming session of the Georgia General Assembly is expected to include sex trafficking legislation, and efforts are underway to crack down on sex trafficking ahead of the Super Bowl, which takes place in Atlanta in early February.

 

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Land acquisition for new Cobb Fire Station 12 site on commissioners’ agenda

Cobb Fire Station 12

The purchase of three parcels of land on Canton Road for a new Cobb Fire Station 12 is on the Cobb Board of Commissioners agenda next Tuesday.

The current station, located at 810 Brackett Road in the Shaw Park area, is 55 years old. It’s one of four stations in the Northeast Cobb area but the only one serving the Canton Road corridor.

On the agenda is a request to purchase property located at 3852, 3592, and 3686 Canton Road owned by Chastain, LLC, and to be assembled with a parcel at 3587 Centerview Drive, which also is on the agenda.

According to the agenda item, the total purchase price for the three Canton Road properties is $1.1 million. They are located on the east side of Canton Road, between Kensington Drive and Chastain Corners Road.

The purchase price for the Centerview Drive property, currently owned by the Cochran Family Trust, is $263,000.

The cost to construct a new facility is estimated to be $4.1 million.

Also on Tuesday’s meeting agenda is a request from Cobb DOT to condemn four parcels of land for the planned Windy Hill-Terrell Mill Connector. DOT says that while negotiations continue with property owners, condemnation is needed for right of way acquisition if talks fall through.

The four parcels are 1.4 acres at 1557 Terrell Mill Road (Forest Ridge at Terrell Mill Apartments), and 1,206 square feet each at three townhomes located at 1631 Turnberry Lane, 1617 Turnberry Lane and 1613 Turnberry Lane.

The land is located near the northern portion of the road project, close to its intersection with Terrell Mill Road.

It would be the second such condemnation of property in the path of the Connector, an 0.8-mile stretch. Commissioners voted in November to condemn portions of apartment complexes near Windy Hill Road.

Tuesday’s meeting begins at 9 a.m. in the second floor board room at the Cobb government building, 100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta. The full meeting agenda can be found here.

 

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McBath sworn into Congress; casts first vote for Nancy Pelosi

Shortly after Lucy McBath took the oath as a member of Congress on Thursday, she dedicated the first action of her tenure to her late son.

Georgia 6th Congressional District candidate Lucy McBath
U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath

McBath, a Marietta Democrat who narrowly defeated Republican incumbent Karen Handel for the 6th District seat in November, voted for Nancy Pelosi to become Speaker of the U.S. House.

As she did so, McBath said she was doing it “in memory of my son Jordan Davis.”

He was a student at Marietta High School in 2012 when he was shot and killed at a gas station in Jacksonville, Fla. The man later convicted of the shooting and sentenced to life in prison was complaining about loud music coming from a parked car in which Davis was a passenger.

McBath, a former Delta Air Lines flight attendant, became a gun-control advocate as a result, working for the Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense organizations.

She was planning to run for a state house seat, but cited the Parkland, Fla., high school shootings last February in switching to become a candidate for Congress.

The 6th District includes most of East Cobb, much of Sandy Springs and North Fulton and North and Central DeKalb. She is the first Democrat to serve in the seat since 1978, when Newt Gingrich was first elected.

Pelosi was elected Speaker for the second time, getting 220 votes to 192 for Republican Kevin McCarthy, previously the House Majority Leader. Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams got one of the other Democratic votes.

McBath’s official Congressional website has just been activated. Her committee assignments and district office locations have not been announced. The Washington office phone is 202-225-4501.

 

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Columns Drive remains closed as flash flood watch continues through Friday

Columns Drive closes

Another week, and another flash flood watch has been issued for Cobb, metro Atlanta and much of north Georgia. Last week’s rains closed Columns Drive in East Cobb, and it’s expected to remain closed through at least Friday.

That’s the word coming from Cobb DOT, which is still clearing out flooded areas along Columns Drive between Atlanta Country Club Drive and Willow Knoll Drive.

A message sent out this morning by Cobb commissioner Bob Ott said that Cobb DOT is working with contractors to pump out remaining water on Columns Drive, which borders along the Chattahoochee River and is mostly residential. It provides access points for several apartment complexes as well as trails in the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area.

“Please do not drive past the barricades, your interruption slows their effort in the area. And some drivers have caused private property damage by driving onto their neighbor’s yards,” Ott said.

Cobb will be under a flash flood watch starting at 7 p.m. Thursday through Friday evening. The National Weather Service is forecasting between 1-2 inches of rain, and possibly more in some areas. Those areas that were saturated with last week’s rains are more prone to flooding again.

The chance of rain Thursday is 70 percent, and 90 percent tonight and on Friday. The rain is supposed to taper off on Friday night and sunny skies will return on Saturday and through the weekend and into the first of next week.

 

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Chastain, Davis to be sworn in at Cobb school board meeting Monday

Two of East Cobb’s three representatives on the Cobb Board of Education will take the oath of office Monday in the first of two special-called meetings next week.

David Chastain
David Chastain

David Chastain and Charisse Davis will be sworn in, along with Jaha Howard, in a meeting that starts Monday at 7 p.m. in the board room at the Cobb County School District Central Office (514 Glover St., Marietta).

Chastain, a Republican who represents Post 4 (the Kell and Sprayberry clusters), was re-elected to a second term in November.

Davis is a Democrat who ousted two-term Republican Scott to represent Post 6, which includes the Walton and Wheeler clusters. Howard, a Democrat, also is newly elected in Post 2, which includes the Campbell and Osborne clusters.

There is no other business on the Monday meeting agenda.

Charisse Davis
Charisse Davis

On Tuesday morning, the newly comprised board will elect officers for the calendar year 2019. Each year they choose a chair and a vice chair, and that meeting will take place in the same place, starting at 9 a.m.

Chastain was the vice chairman in 2018 and previously has served as a chairman.

With the changes to the school board, the partisan split also has changed. Republicans held a 6-1 majority, but this year they hold a 4-3 edge.

After electing officers, the board will go into executive session for a student discipline matter.

The first regular board meeting of 2019 will take place Jan. 17.

 

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Revised East Cobb cityhood study adds $1.4M in annual ad valorem revenues

A week after a group touting East Cobb cityhood released a rosy financial feasibility study, the report was revised with a projection of additional annual revenue.

The report, prepared by Georgia State University researchers and made public Dec. 11, initially included no revenue from the state title ad valorem tax (TATV), explaining that the proposed city of East Cobb has no car dealerships.

But the revised report, which was dated Dec. 18 and made public today, acknowledges that the TAVT calculation is based on where motor vehicles are registered.

The revenue based on vehicles in the proposed city of East Cobb, according to the revised report, would come to nearly $1.4 million a year.

Here’s a link to the revised study, which explains the calculation in detail on Page 8. The estimated revenue table on Page 22 and shown in the chart above includes that line item, which was absent from the initial study (PDF here).

The estimated annual revenue for the City of East Cobb would rise from $48.4 million to $49.8 million. The estimated annual expenses are unchanged, at around $46 million a year.

The expenses would include police, fire and emergency services, planning and zoning and for general administration.

The updated report still concludes that East Cobb cityhood is financially feasible. The Committee for East Cobb Cityhood, Inc. paid $36,000 to commission the report by GSU’s Center for State and Local Finance.

It’s one of two entities, along with the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia, that conducts required feasibility reports for those seeking cityhood.

The two-year process includes state legislation that would call for a referendum to be voted on by residents of a proposed municipality. New cities must provide a minimum of three services.

The revision of the 22-page East Cobb cityhood study noted the addition of the ad valorem revenue and said “no other material changes were made.”

In an e-mail response to a request by East Cobb News, Phil Kent, the public relations consultant for the cityhood group, said the revised study also “answered critics with additional references to the base year 2017 for its property tax analysis.”

We’ve followed up for a further explanation and will update when we get it.

The proposed city of East Cobb includes unincorporated areas of Cobb Commission District 2 that are east of I-75 and outside the Cumberland Community Improvement District.

The population of that area comes to around 96,000.

The initial GSU study was circulated to a select group of community influencers in East Cobb right before Christmas, and some of them had concerns about the numbers and methodology.

One of those citizens, Joe O’Connor, resigned in protest, accusing the cityhood group of a lack of transparency.

Little is known about who is behind the cityhood drive other than its president, Atlanta Country Club resident Joe Gavalis, and G. Owen Brown, founder of the East Cobb-based Retail Planning Corp.

Thea Powell, a former Cobb commissioner who also is part of the ad hoc citizens advisory board, said she found information about East Cobb businesses outdated, going back to 2012, during the aftermath of the recession.

The East Cobb cityhood group has not indicated what its next steps may be or when the public may be informed of its plans.

 

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Sherlock Holmes Film Festival showing at Sewell Mill Library

Friday’s the last day of the holiday break for students, and the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center (2051 Lower Roswell Road) is showing several youth-themed movies in its Sherlock Holmes Film Festival.Sherlock Holmes Film Festival, Sewell Mill Library

The event, which celebrates the 100th anniversary of the fictional detective character, is from 1:30-9 p.m., and it’s all free, in the black box theater. Here’s the schedule, with information provided by the Cobb County Public Library System:

1:30 PM – The Great Mouse Detective  (1986, 80 min) – G

Basil embarks on the greatest case of his career when London’s master toymaker is kidnapped – and ends up pitting his wits against his old adversary, Professor Ratigan, who wants to become “supreme ruler of all mousedom.”

3:00 PM – Sherlock Gnomes  (2018, 86 min) – PG

After a string of garden gnome disappearances in London, Gnomeo & Juliet look to legendary detective Sherlock Gnomes to solve the case of their missing friends and family.

4:30 PM – Young Sherlock Holmes  (1985, 109 min) – PG-13

A teenage Sherlock Holmes meets and befriends his future sidekick, the bemused and bespectacled John Watson. During their first semester of boarding school, a series of deaths occur on campus. Intrigued by the crime, Holmes looks into it and soon comes to suspect a poisonous hallucinogen. And then, in the midst of their investigation, Holmes and Watson stumble on a bizarre cult with a penchant for human sacrifice – after which they must struggle to escape.

6:30 PM – Sherlock Holmes  (2009, 128 min) – PG-13

When a string of brutal murders terrorizes London, it doesn’t take long for legendary detective Sherlock Holmes and his crime-solving partner, Dr. Watson, to find the killer, Lord Blackwood. A devotee of the dark arts, Blackwood has a bigger scheme in mind, and his execution plays right into his plans. The game is afoot when Blackwood seems to rise from the grave, plunging Holmes and Watson into the world of the occult and strange technologies.

Call 770-509-4988 for more information.

 

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EDITOR’S NOTE: Happy New Year East Cobb! Thanks for a great 2018!

First of all, Happy New Year East Cobb! I wish all of our readers a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year, and hope that you and your family are enjoying the holiday season with relish.Happy New Year East Cobb!

We’ll be getting back to our usual posting schedule shortly, but I wanted to say a few words before we get on with 2019.

As the first full calendar year of East Cobb News is in the books, my heart is full of gratitude for readers who’ve come to this site during 2018, followed us on social media, subscribed to the newsletter, left comments, offered story tips, asked questions, pointed out corrections or just got in touch to say thanks.

I’ve been hearing that a lot lately from readers—thanks for doing this. It’s been a great pleasure to provide news and information that’s all East Cobb, and only East Cobb.

Over the past few days I’ve been compiling our top stories and photos and readers’ picks from 2018, and I’ll include them again at the bottom of this note. Looking back through them, I was surprised how much we were able to report on, because I’ve often felt I’ve only been scratching the surface.

I’m the kind of person who likes to show, not tell. My main objective for East Cobb News for 2019 will be to continue building on a solid foundation for providing news and information for this community.

I’ve appreciated so many of you making your contributions, with photos, stories, tips and suggestions. You’ve helped make this the kind of community resource I want people to feel that they can’t be without.

Whether it’s regular coverage of local government and schools, transportation and development, local businesses and events, I want East Cobb News to really reflect our vast, diverse and thriving community.

Among my aims for the coming year is to do more in-depth stories about what you care about the most, as well as highlighting more people who serve vital roles in our community.

I’ve got a few ideas and subjects percolating along those lines, and if you have any suggestions, feel free to get in touch. Just e-mail me at: wendy@eastcobbnews.com.

In this new year I also want to connect community-minded readers with small businesses and organizations that help make the community better. I’ve been a member of the East Cobb Business Association this year and have seen this dynamic up-close, and it’s been very inspiring.

If you run a small business or organization and are interested in advertising opportunities, please get in touch. We’re young, but we’re growing, and we can provide you with a variety of ways to reach your ideal, targeted market.

These are lofty aspirations, I know, but as another member of my local independent online news publishers’ group likes to say, “No one else is doing this.”

You have many ways to get community news, from sources that have been around for decades and have plenty of name recognition. East Cobb News is only 18 months old, but I’ve been around here most of my life, and what really drives my passion is that this is the place I call home.

Thanks again for your readership in 2018. I’m excited for what’s in store for 2019!

Top East Cobb stories for 2018

 

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East Cobb food scores: Loyal Q; New Lucky China; Sam’s BBQ-1; Seed; Stem and more

Loyal Q, East Cobb restaurant scores

The following East Cobb restaurant scores from Dec. 17-28 have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing to view details of the inspection:

China Great Wall
1860 Sandy Plains Road, Suite 302
December 18, 2018 Score: 97, Grade: A

Great American Cookies/Marble Slab Creamery
4101 Roswell Road, Suite 308
December 17, 2018 Score: 100, Grade: A

JJ’S Pizzeria
2211 Roswell Road, Suite 116
December 19, 2018 Score: 90, Grade: A

Little Caesar’s Pizza
3372 Canton Road, Suite 100
December 17, 2018 Score: 96, Grade: A

Longhorn Steakhouse
4721 Lower Roswell Road
December 17, 2018 Score: 100, Grade: A

Loyal Q and Brew
4880 Lower Roswell Road, Suite 850
December 21, 2018 Score: 96, Grade: A

Mi Rancho
1495 Roswell Road
December 17, 2018 Score: 91, Grade: A

New Lucky China 
3045 Gordy Parkway, Suite 104
December 27, 2018 Score: 83, Grade: B

The Place 
700 Sandy Plains Road, Suite A-1
December 20, 2018 Score: 97, Grade: A

Sabores de Mexico
1951 Canton Road, Suite 330
December 17, 2018 Score: 93, Grade: A

Sakura Restaurant 
4880 Lower Roswell Road, Suite 130
December 27, 2018 Score: 96, Grade: A

Sam’s BBQ-1 
4958 Lower Roswell Road, Suite 108
December 19, 2018 Score: 87, Grade: B

Seed Kitchen & Bar 
1311 Johnson Ferry Road, Suite 504
December 28, 2018 Score: 100, Grade: A

Stem Wine Bar 
1311 Johnson Ferry Road, Suite 516
December 28, 2018 Score: 100, Grade: A

Waffle House 
621 Johnson Ferry Road
December 17, 2018 Score: 87, Grade: B

 

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Cobb New Year’s Eve fireworks extended until 1 a.m.; Columns Drive still closed

Cobb New Year's Eve fireworks ordinance

Just a reminder that Cobb County allows New Year’s Eve fireworks use to go as late as 1 a.m.

There is a strong chance of rain that could affect that, according to the National Weather Service.

This afternoon there’s a 50 percent chance of rain in Cobb, increasing to 70 percent this evening, along with some patchy fog.

We’ve had that most of Monday, and the forecast for New Year’s Day is the same. A 40 percent chance of showers is forecast, with an 80 and 70 percent chance Wednesday and Thursday.

Temperatures are unseasonably warm, with today’s high expected around 70 and the high on Tuesday in the low 60s. Highs will drop into the mid-50s Wednesday and Thursday.

The rain will taper off to a 30 percent chance by Friday, but it will be partly cloudy. The sun is expected to return on Saturday, with highs in the 50s throughout the weekend.

The heavy rains last week caused some flooding in areas of Cobb County, including along a stretch of Columns Drive in East Cobb.

That stretch is still closed, between Willow Knoll Drive and Atlanta Country Club Drive. Cobb DOT has not said when it may reopen.

 

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Top East Cobb stories for 2018: Readers’ favorites and the year in photos

Fred Veeder, Dodgen Middle School teacher
The look of surprise: Dodgen Middle School teacher Fred Veeder was named Cobb teacher of the year. (ECN file)

We’re concluding our look back at the top East Cobb stories for 2018 with a collection of stories that resonated with our readers, as well as photos of events and other news that we covered in the first calendar year of East Cobb News.

It’s been a tremendous pleasure serving you with these stories and community connection in 2018, and we’re excited about what the coming year will bring.

Happy New Year!

Public safety

Motorcylist dies after Johnson Ferry Road accident

Pope graduate Alyssa Prindle died days after falling out of a moving car on Johnson Ferry Road in July.

East Cobb teen dies after falling out of moving car

Man arrested for trying to purchase child at Kroger

2 killed in Powers Ferry Road crash

Inmate who escaped Fullers Park work detail captured

Mountain View students, mother killed in Texas crash

Kell HS teacher charged with sexual assault of student

Business/Restaurants

Ming’s Asian Kitchen coming soon

Jason’s Deli coming to East Cobb

Zeal Kitchen and Bar closes

Publix GreenWise market to make Georgia debut in East Cobb

Woodlawn Square Chick-fil-A to close for renovations

Marietta Coffee Company has grand opening

Stockyard Burgers and Bones opens in East Cobb

Taqueria Tsunami to hold East Cobb grand opening

Burger’s Market closing on Canton Road after 45 years

Schools

A Walton parent reads the names of the victims of the Florida school shootings on National Walkout Day in March.

Cobb schools oppose anti-gun student walkouts

Walton walkout leaders claim 2,300 student sign-ups

New Walton, other East Cobb principals appointed

Dodgen MS teacher ‘a legend in our community’

Cobb schools to conduct unannounced code red drills

Government/Politics

EDITOR’S NOTE: The scapegoats of the Cobb budget crisis

East Cobb Library proposed for closure

City of East Cobb group releases ‘favorable’ feasibility study

City of East Cobb proposed; feasibility study underway

City of East Cobb leader declines to identify other group members

Some East Cobb Republicans feel effect of Democratic ‘Blue Wave’

City of East Cobb citizen advisory board member resigns, citing lack of transparency

County to acquire portion of Tritt property next to East Cobb Park

Election results: Governor’s race, Congress and school board cliffhangers

Transportation

Cobb managed lanes slated for late summer opening

Northwest Corridor lanes open in Cobb, Cherokee

Cobb to spend more on Lower Roswell traffic design plan

Zoning/Development

Powers Ferry Restaurant Row project
A mixed-use project will replace the mostly vacant Restaurant Row on Powers Ferry Road.

Proposed Powers Ferry Road development would replace vacant restaurants

Powers Ferry-Terrell Mill development gets planning commission OK

Sprayberry Crossing owner ordered to clean up property

Johnson Ferry Design Guidelines adopted

Commissioners approve MarketPlace Terrell Mill project

Faith/Religion

Johnson Ferry Baptist Church minister plans to step down

‘The beginning of healing’ at East Cobb synagogue service

Sports/Youth

Walton student and paralympic swimmer dies after public cancer battle

Last-minute Walton football comeback stuns North Gwinnett

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Top East Cobb stories for 2018: Cobb property taxes increased in ‘restoration budget’

Cobb property taxes increased
Commission chairman Mike Boyce holding a budget town hall meeting at the East Cobb Senior Center. (ECN file)

East Cobb citizens spoke out strongly on both sides of a proposed property tax increase that was approved in July as part of the Cobb fiscal year 2019 budget.

The general fund budget of $454 million includes a boost in the millage rate of 1.7 mills to 8.46. Services like fire and water are included in separate millage rates.

The boost came in spite of a record Cobb tax digest, but the county was facing what Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce said was a $30 million deficit.

The current budget is funding the hiring of additional police and public safety positions, additional road work crews and increased library hours. Boyce calls it a “restoration budget,” as some of those services had been cut back during the recession.

A contentious, months-long public discussion about the budget, including town hall meetings, came after proposed or possible cuts in county services were made public.

They included the proposed closure of the East Cobb Library and the possible closing of other facilities, including The Art Place-Mountain View, the Mountain View Aquatic Center and Fullers Park.

A number of citizens groups formed, including Save Cobb Libraries. East Cobb resident Rachel Slomovitz galvanized countywide support for libraries, as advocates were vocal at town hall meetings.

Boyce, an East Cobb resident and a Republican completing his second year in office, was adamant that taxes had to go up to keep Cobb “a five-star county.”

After the outcry from those fearing further cutbacks in services, Boyce revised the budget to include the preservation of parks and library services, and said “We’re not closing anything.”

But Boyce struggled to find a third commissioner (along with South Cobb’s Lisa Cupid) to vote for a tax increase.

At a summer budget retreat, he grew openly frustrated with his colleagues.

“I get it. You don’t want to stick your neck out. But this isn’t hard. It’s $30 million in an economy of billions. You would think we’re living in Albania! I just don’t understand.”

Cobb budget
East Cobb commissioners Bob Ott, left, and JoAnn Birrell voted against the FY 2019 budget. (ECN file)

East Cobb commissioners Bob Ott and JoAnn Birrell voted against the final budget proposal. Commissioner Bob Weatherford of North Cobb, in a re-election battle, indicated ahead of his runoff that he would support the increase. The day after he lost convincingly to Keli Gambrill, an opponent of a tax hike, he cast the decisive vote in favor of Boyce’s budget, and said he had no regrets.

“The only thing I’m running for now is the hills, but I do not want to leave the county worse than than when I got here,” he said.

A few weeks after the vote, Ott said the only benefit of the tax increase for his constituents in District 2 was a Cobb DOT work crew.

Among other things, he said he didn’t like the way the proposed budget cuts were presented to the public, which he heard plenty about from citizens: “I tell them that the services that are being threatened to be taken away were never proposals that came before the board.

“A borrowed quote from William S. Buckley sums up this tax increase and budget: ‘What do we care how much we—the government—owe so long as we owe it to ourselves? On with the spending. Tax and tax, spend and spend, elect and elect . . .’ ”

Related stories

 

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Top East Cobb stories for 2018: Mystery East Cobb cityhood effort launched

One of the late-breaking major stories in East Cobb in 2018 figures to linger well into 2019 and beyond: An exploration of a possible city of East Cobb.

It’s not the first time such an idea has been floated, but a group called the Committee for East Cobb Cityhood, Inc. has spent $36,000 for a feasibility study that currently is circulating among a hand-picked group of community leaders. East Cobb cityhood

Both the committee and the citizens group chosen to examine the study have not been fully identified, and those contacted by East Cobb News to provide further information beyond perfunctory press releases have been reluctant to discuss anything.

That includes likely next steps, and possibly the introduction of state legislation calling for a referendum that is part of a two-year process.

Joe Gavalis is the cityhood group’s president and a resident of the Atlanta Country Club area. G. Owen Brown, founder of the East Cobb-based Retail Planning Corporation, is listed as the group’s incorporator, and political consultant and TV pundit Phil Kent has been hired for public relations.

One member of the citizens advisory board, Joe O’Connor, resigned in protest, telling Gavalis that the cityhood effort needs better transparency.

“I’ve always said that if you’re hiding something, then you’ve got something to hide,” O’Connor told East Cobb News.

Other members of the citizens group told East Cobb News right before Christmas that they’ve just begun looking at the study and haven’t formed any impressions. Former Cobb commissioner Thea Powell said while she has some problems with the study’s numbers and methodologies, the idea of cityhood is worth examining.

The study, conducted by researchers at Georgia State University, concluded that East Cobb cityhood is “feasible” given the data they were given to work with.

Among the concerns is that 85 percent of the proposed city’s tax base would be from residential property, and only 15 percent is commercial property.

Another question that’s been raised is the proposed city map, which doesn’t include all of East Cobb. Its boundaries include only areas of unincorporated Cobb in commissioner Bob Ott’s District 2 that are east of I-75 and outside the Cumberland Community Improvement District.

The northern boundaries of the proposed city, in fact, identically match the northern boundaries of District 2, which was redrawn and went into effect in 2017. The population of the proposed city would be around 96,000, roughly half of what is generally considered East Cobb.

In addition, the exact reasons why the cityhood group is pursuing this effort also haven’t been fully revealed. Gavalis has said there is displeasure that District 2 property taxes provide 40 percent of Cobb property tax revenue, and that some want more of their tax money to stay here.

He did say that among the potential service priorities for a city of East Cobb would be police and fire, as well as community development (planning and zoning).

Gavalis has said that the community will be informed of the cityhood’s next steps but did not indicate when that might be.

“We want to be transparent but we are compiling answers to questions about the study and formalizing our strategy on the expertise levels that will be needed to provide insight and professional advice,” he said.

 

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Play Me Again Pianos to unveil ‘Vincent’ community piano at Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center

The third community piano provided by the Play Me Again Pianos non-profit in an East Cobb location will be unveiled Jan. 9 at the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center (2051 Lower Roswell Road).

The debut for “Vincent” takes place at 6 p.m. and is open to the public. Guests can play the piano afterward.

The East Cobb-based Play Me Again Pianos is providing 88 repurposed and repainted pianos throughout the metro Atlanta area. Vincent, named after the painter Vincent van Gogh, is the 20th completed project.

Previously, community pianos were installed at East Cobb Park and the Egg Harbor Cafe restaurant on Lower Roswell Road.

“Street pianos and public pianos inspire people to connect with each other in ways that were once common, but seem increasingly rare. By adding our pianos to the landscape throughout the metropolitan area, we hope to nurture that connection into an evolution of Atlanta’s culture, community and the arts,” said Jason Brett, co-founder of Play Me Again Pianos.

Vincent was designed and painted by Suzzanne Anicette, a local artist and the arts coordinator at the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center.

“The idea and design for Vincent grew out of a desire to have an easily recognizable reproduction of a Master work, since we’re placing him inside the Gallery,” Anicette said. “I wanted to depict the feeling of van Gogh’s Starry Night using slightly more vibrant colors to entice players and help them feel at ease enough to enjoy playing.

“Painting Vincent was truly a labor of love. I can see him symbolically unifying the Visual and Performing Arts that are housed at Sewell Mill and being enjoyed for years to come. I’m grateful to Play Me Again Pianos for affording artists the opportunity to complete these public art pieces. I cannot wait to see the subsequent works take shape.”

Anicette is a former arts teacher in Rochester, N.Y. and Atlanta public schools and community arts centers and museums. She joined the cultural arts division of Cobb County PARKS in January.

Vincent will be located in the Carol and Jim Ney Art Gallery near the entrance to the library.

On Thursday, Jan. 10, a “Play In” will include staff from the Cultural Affairs Division of Cobb County PARKS and the Cobb County Library system playing Vincent in an all-day celebration from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.

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Traffic Update: Columns Drive closed temporarily due to flooding

Columns Drive closed, Cobb flood warning

Cobb County government issued a notice around 12:30 p.m. today that Columns Drive, which meets Johnson Ferry Road at the Chattahoochee River, has been closed due to flooding.

The specific area of Columns Drive that is closed is between Willow Knoll Drive and Atlanta Country Club Drive.

Cobb DOT also closed Woodland Brook in Vinings, where a woman in a van had to be rescued after being stranded in high water.

Cobb officials also said areas of the Chattahoochee near Roswell, including East Cobb boundaries, also are vulnerable to flooding. This morning motorists were advised not to travel along Willeo Road along the Chattahoochee, close to where it meets Timber Ridge Road in East Cobb.

A flood warning was issued for several stretches along the Chattahoochee in Cobb, including that stretch near Roswell.

After being in a flash flood watch area, Cobb is now under a flood warning, following storms Thursday night and Friday morning, that brought between 2-4 inches of rain to the area.

The warning is due to expire around 3:15 today, but the National Weather Service said flooding issues from the rains will linger through the rest of today. Here’s more from the NWS warning, which was issued around 1:30 p.m., and specifically about the flooding near Vinings:

  • At 12PM Friday the stage was 18.5 feet and and rising.
  • Flood stage is 14.0 feet.
  • Significant flooding occurs in the woodlands and affects large portions of the Chattahoochee National Recreation Area along the river upstream and downstream from the gage on Cobb Parkway. The flood waters will be around 3 feet deep over portions of the access road to the recreation area. Portions of the parking lot will begin to flood.
  • This crest compares to a previous crest of 17.9 feet on Oct 12 2009.

A flash flood watch continues for Cobb, metro Atlanta and much of north Georgia until 7 a.m. Saturday.

More thunderstorms are expected later this weekend and into New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

 

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Top East Cobb stories for 2018: Democrats make gains on Republican turf

East Cobb Election Update, Charisse Davis, East Cobb elections 2018
Charisse Davis upset Scott Sweeney to win a seat on the Cobb Board of Education representing the Walton and Wheeler areas. (ECN file)

The all-Republican slate of public office holders in East Cobb is no more. Three Democratic candidates defeated Republican incumbents in the November elections, as Cobb’s changing political demographics reached even the strongest GOP part of the county.

All three races were extremely close in what’s being called part of a Democratic “Blue Wave” that galvanized party voters, especially in metro Atlanta.

For the first time in a long time, Democratic candidates contested every office on this year’s ballot for East Cobb voters. All of the Democrats were females, and most were running for office for the first time.

After winning last year’s bruising 6th Congressional District special election over Jon Ossoff, Republican incumbent Karen Handel was unseated by Marietta Democrat Lucy McBath, a high-profile gun-control candidate.

Handel won most of the East Cobb precincts, but McBath prevailed in north DeKalb precincts and won north Fulton by a nose.

Georgia 6th Congressional District candidate Lucy McBath
U.S. Rep.-Elect Lucy McBath

After indicating she would ask for a recount, Handel conceded the following day after falling fewer than 3,000 votes short.

McBath will be the first Democrat to hold that seat since former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was first elected to Congress in 1978. She also will serve in the majority, as Democrats nationwide picked up enough seats to take control of the House.

A recount took place for the State House District 37 seat held by Republican Sam Teasley. But Democrat Mary Frances Williams was declared the winner for the seat that includes some of East Cobb.

The Cobb legislative delegation also will be majority Democratic as several other seats in the county switched from GOP control.

In Cobb Board of Education elections, Democrat Charisse Davis, who lives in the Campbell High School area, upset Republican incumbent Scott Sweeney to win Post 6, which mostly includes the Walton and Wheeler attendance zones.

State Rep. Sharon Cooper
State Rep. Sharon Cooper

Republicans had held a 6-1 majority on the school board, but their edge will be 4-3 in January. David Chastain, a Republican who represents Kell and Sprayberry, won election to a second term.

Even some Republican incumbents who won had close calls in Cobb. Commissioner JoAnn Birrell was re-elected for a third term in District 3, which includes most of Northeast Cobb. But liberal Democrat Caroline Holko ran strong, as Birrell got only 52 percent of the vote.

Veteran State Rep. Sharon Cooper won by a similar margin to retain State House seat 43 in East Cobb. The chairwoman of the House Health and Human Services Committee, Cooper, first elected in 1996, was challenged by first-time candidate Lucia Wakeman.

 

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