The following East Cobb restaurant scores from Nov. 19-30 have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing to view details of the inspection:
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!
A proposed single-family subdivision for seniors near the Holly Springs-Davis roundabout got a recommendation of denial Tuesday by the Cobb Planning Commission.
The board voted 4-0 against a proposal by Loyd Development to get a residential senior living (RSL) designation to build 16 free-standing homes on 4.3 acres near the southeast intersection of the roundabout.
The land, currently zoned R-20 (single-family residential) is part of the Margaret A. Keheley Living Trust, and two homes are currently located there.
The developer wants to build homes between 2,000 and 2,500 square feet with a cost range between $550,000 and $600,000, according to Garvis Sams, a zoning attorney representing the applicant. The buyers would be age-restricted, from 55 years old and up.
The density would be 3.7 homes an acre, but Cobb zoning staff recommended a reduction to 10 homes, or 2.5 an acre, closer to nearby neighborhoods that have a density of 2.3 homes an acre.
The county’s future land-use map calls for the property to remain low-density residential. All other neighborhoods in the vicinity are zoned R-20 or R-15.
Loyd also is seeking a reduction of the minimum 15 feet between homes to 10 feet, and reducing the side setback distance to five feet.
Some residents of the Ashmore subdivision supported the application, but others spoke out against it.
Randy Shaw of the Hudson Pond subdivision said Holly Springs traffic in that area during the day “is a nightmare” and that placing a new neighborhood so close to the roundabout “is going to add to the problem.”
“This is just not a good access point,” he said.
Amy Diaz of Cobb DOT said her agency believes the proposed subdivision entry on Holly Springs is far enough away from the roundabout to minimize those concerns.
Patrick Burns, a resident of Chestnut Oaks, said such a high-density development is incompatible with the community and will have a major impact on traffic.
“This will not be neighborhood we know and love” if it is built, he added.
Charles Sprayberry of the Cobb County School District also expressed the district’s concerns about the RSL category because of the county’s senior property tax exemption.
Cobb DOT estimates that nearly 12,000 cars use Holly Springs Road in the roundabout area daily, and nearly 4,000 travel along Davis Road in that vicinity, for D and C levels of service, respectively.
However, those are estimates from 2011, before the roundabout was built.
Planning Commission chairwoman Judy Williams, whose District 3 includes the Keheley land, said while she generally likes RSL zoning, “this RSL almost looks like a density grab to me.”
She said she preferred R-12 (another low-density single-family use), but “there is no plan before me.”
Williams said she’d like to see the developer to continue to work with the community to revise the proposal.
The planning board’s vote is advisory; the Cobb Board of Commissioners is scheduled to take action Dec. 18.
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Next week a toy collection drive that includes the county’s transit service will take place across the county. The CobbLinc ‘Stuff A Bus’ dropoff points include three in East Cobb, on designated days and at specific times.
Donations of unwrapped toys, food and monetary contributions will be accepted to assist needy children and their families during the holiday season.
It’s part of the Cobb Christmas program, an all-volunteer non-profit organization, and which “provides a minimum of three age-appropriate toys to each child, ages infant through 15.” Participating families go through a qualification process.
The collections in East Cobb will take place as follows:
Monday, Dec. 10, from 11:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., at WellStar East Cobb Health Park (3747 Roswell Road);
Tuesday, Dec. 11, from 11:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., at WellStar administration building (805 Sandy Plains Road);
Wednesday, Dec. 12, from 2:30 p.m to 3 p.m., at Three-13 Salon (2663 Canton Road).
The full dropoff schedule and other details about Cobb Christmas can be found at this link.
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Earlier this spring we reported from an open house (photo above) designed to gain citizen input for future land use and development possibilities in the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford community of East Cobb.
Also known as JOSH, the master plan project is being led by officials from several Cobb government agencies, including community development, parks and recreation, transportation and stormwater management.
Part of the process has included asking citizens to fill out an image preference survey of potential future buildings, and some people balked at the choices as too dense and not in keeping with the community surroundings (including the multi-family housing example offered below)
The Cobb Community Development office was asked to redo the design guidelines at the request of commissioner Bob Ott, whose District 2 now includes the JOSH area.
The JOSH study is similar to other corridor master plan projects in his district, including Johnson Ferry (between Roswell and Lower Roswell), Powers Ferry and Vinings.
Now the community development office is getting out word it’s holding some more public meetings after the first of the year.
According to comprehensive planner Phillip Westbrook, three meetings will be held “to refamiliarize everyone with the JOSH study and provide more opportunities for additional feedback.”
The specific dates haven’t been announced, but are being tentatively planned for January, February and March.
The master plan concept that is developed from the JOSH meetings will be incorporated into the Cobb 2040 Comprehensive Plan.
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This just issued from Cobb government spokesman Ross Cavitt:
The City of Atlanta had an issue with their water system that resulted in a Boil Water Alert. Many in Cobb County are reporting receiving a phone message about the alert.
Cobb County’s Water System is operating normally and does not have a boil order alert at this time.
Most of the city of Atlanta was experiencing a water outage or low water pressure after a pump failure at a water plant on Monday morning.
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The Georgia runoff elections Tuesday will decide two statewide offices—Secretary of State, and a spot on the Public Service Commission.
Voting is from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at your regular polling station (click here to check).
In the Secretary of State race, Republican Brad Raffensperger is facing Democrat John Barrow, a former Congressman.
In the Nov. 6 general election, Raffensperger got 49.09 percent of the vote and Barrow received 48.67 percent. Libertarian candidate Smythe Duval of Marietta had 2.23 percent of the vote.
The winner will succeed Brian Kemp, the Georgia governor-elect. He resigned on Nov. 7 and Gov. Nathan Deal appointed Robyn Crittenden to serve on an interim basis.
District 3 covers most of metro Atlanta, including Cobb County. Eaton received 49.7 percent of the vote, Miller got 47.63 percent and Libertarian Ryan Graham earned 2.67 percent.
Republicans won all other statewide offices in the Nov. 6 general election. However, Democrats got a majority of the vote in Cobb for those offices.
According to Cobb Elections, a total of 28,467 people cast ballots in advance voting last week.
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More holiday events are on tap in the early part of the week, but there’s a good variety of other activities taking place in East Cobb through Thursday. From our calendar listings:
Hanukah begins at sundown on Sunday, and on Monday Chabad of Cobb (4450 Lower Roswell Road) is having a Chanukah Gelt Drop event from 5:30-6:30. Treats, donuts and a special chocolate gelt “raining down” from a ladder truck in tribute to the Cobb Fire Department.
On Tuesday, it’s Eggnog and Mittens from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the East Cobb Senior Center (3332 Sandy Plains Road, in photo above). Bring new mittens, scarves and hats for MUST Ministries and enjoy Donna’s famous eggnog and cookies. Registration required, as is membership with Cobb Senior Services.
The monthly meeting of the Marietta Golden K Kiwanis Club is from 9:30-11:30 a.m. Thursday, also at the East Cobb Senior Center, starting with a social and including a guest speaker.
Later Tuesday, it’s the East Cobb Business Association Holiday Party from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at WellStar East Cobb Health Park (4737 Roswell Road). Members of ECBA, Northeast Cobb Business Association and Marietta Business Association can bring themselves and a guest for free at this networking event, which includes refreshments.
More business networking is Thursday, for the Sandy Springs-Cobb Meetup breakfast. It starts at 9 at Egg Harbor Cafe (4719 Lower Roswell Road), and is an open group format to learn from other small business owners and get referrals.
If you’re not quite in the holiday mood, the Bing Crosby Hollywood favorite “White Christmas” ought to do the trick. It’s the latest Classic Movie Thursday screening from 2-4 at the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center (2051 Lower Roswell Road). It’s free to all, and you’re welcome to bring your own food and drink.
Thursday night, the Catholic Church of St. Ann (4905 Roswell Road) is having a Christmas Sing-along from 7-8:30 p.m., featuring the church’s musicians and choirs.
East Cobb-based Aloha to Aging offers ongoing activities for the elderly and those who care for them. The Aloha Day Club is every Monday and Wednesday for those who need engagement outside the home. There’s also an Alzheimer’s Caregivers Support Group and a Parkinson’s Disease/Care Partner group that meet on a regular basis. All activities take place at Aloha to Aging offices (4608 Lower Roswell Road).
There’s a lot more you can find listed in our Holiday Guide, which has events details through the New Year.
Did we miss anything? Do you have a calendar item you’d like to share with the community? Send it to us, and we’ll spread the word! E-mail: calendar@eastcobbnews.com, and you can include a photo or flyer if you like.
Whatever you’re doing to start the week, make it a great one! Enjoy!
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Here’s how some Cobb and Georgia elected officials responded to the death of President H.W. Bush, who passed away Friday at the age of 94:
Photo: Office of Sen. Johnny Isakson
U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-East Cobb), who worked with Bush on education legislation during Isakson’s time in the U.S. House. The 41st president also campaigned for Isakson:
“America and the world will miss and mourn the life and service of George H.W. Bush. President and Mrs. Bush were and always will be an unforgettable first family. I was honored to serve and work with them. Dianne and I extend our deepest sympathy and condolences to the
Bush family.”
U.S. Sen. David Perdue (R-Warner Robins):
Bonnie and I join Georgians and all Americans in mourning the loss of President George H.W. Bush.
As a World War II veteran, member of Congress, CIA Director, Ambassador, Vice President, and ultimately our 41st Commander in Chief, President Bush dedicated his life to serving the United States of America. He was a skilled leader whose dedication to our nation was tireless during some of our most trying times.
Both George and Barbara Bush had an unmatched love for America. Bonnie and I both send heartfelt prayers to President George W. Bush and the entire Bush family during this time.
U.S. Rep. Karen Handel (R-Roswell):
George H.W. Bush was a statesman and patriot who dedicated his life to our country. Our nation’s last World War II veteran to serve as Commander and Chief, President Bush will be remembered as one of our nation’s greatest leaders and problem solvers.
It was an honor to have had the privilege of serving in his Administration, and through President Bush, I learned that any successful life had to include giving back and serving others. He instilled in me my desire to serve.
One thing that President Bush said has stayed with me all these years: “No problem of human making is too great to be overcome by human ingenuity, human energy, and the untiring hope of the human spirit.” Steve and I extend our deepest condolences to the Bush family. RIP President George H.W. Bush.
U.S. Rep.-elect Lucy McBath (D-Marietta):
HW Bush’s leadership and love for his country is unquestioned. I am praying for the entire Bush family, and I hope that myself and fellow congresspeople will follow his examples of leadership.
Former President Jimmy Carter:
Rosalynn and I are deeply saddened by the death of former President George H.W. Bush. His administration was marked by grace, civility, and social conscience. Through his Points of Light initiative and other projects, he espoused a uniquely American volunteer spirit, fostering bipartisan support for citizen service and inspiring millions to embrace community volunteerism as a cherished responsibility. We again extend our heartfelt condolences to the Bush family.
Gov. Nathan Deal has ordered the American flags at all state buildings and grounds to be flown at half-staff through Dec. 30:
President George H.W. Bush was an honorable man and a proud American whose character and generous spirit helped to change our nation indelibly and for the better. His devotion to the country he nobly fought for and led was matched only by his profound love of family.
While all Georgians join in grieving this national loss, we are comforted in knowing that President Bush is reunited with his beloved Barbara. Sandra and I send our deepest condolences to the Bush family and to all those fortunate enough to have known him.
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Back in August the owner of the Sage Woodfire Tavern Windy Hill had put the restaurant up for sale less than a year after opening. A reader passed by recently and alerted us that it that it looked like it had closed.
The restaurant did reach its first-year anniversary in October, but closed not long after that. According to a posting on its Facebook page, Sage Woodfire Tavern shuttered its doors on Oct. 28.
There was no word on whether the property has been sold, or what might come in its place. It opened in October 2017 in the spot of the former Houston’s restaurant.
The parcel at 3050 Windy Hill Road, at the intersection of Powers Ferry Road, is adjacent to, but not part of, a block of land that made up “Restaurant Row.” Those mostly vacant restaurant buildings will make way for a mixed-use development approved by Cobb commissioners that will include the remaining restaurant, the Rose & Crown Tavern.
The Sage closing is the second in the East Cobb area in the last couple years for the Sage Woodfire Tavern group, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as it sought a buyer for the Windy Hill property.
The Sage Social Kitchen was open for only a few months at Merchants Festival. The space is now occupied by Jason’s Deli, which opened earlier this month.
Just before it closed, the Windy Hill restaurant was promoting a new Sunday jazz brunch menu, as well as a new happy hour menu and live music performances.
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!
Destiny Center & SPI Theatre will be hosting its Annual “Holiday Relief” program with Toys For Tots on Saturday, Dec.15 from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. All community participants will receive a complimentary table top Christmas Tree along with decorations to be able to participate in the “2018 Christmas Tree Challenge.” They will also receive a wrapped toy for the kids, popcorn, a tour of the facility and watch a LIVE “Holiday” performance by Spoken Images’ talented performers.
This is a free event for the community and is for kids and adults of all ages!!
During the free event, you will be given the opportunity to support the work of Holiday Relief with a tax-deductible charitable donation. Your generosity and monetary gift will have a positive impact on the Performing Arts within the Cobb County Community. All donations are tax-deductible.
The Christmas Tree Challenge/Holiday Relief program will be held at the SPI Theatre at 3378 Canton Rd., Marietta 30066. For more information visit https://www.spitheatre.com/.
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Want to have some fun and a free lunch? Program volunteers and Kitchen volunteers (no cooking required) for Senior Adult Social Program at Aloha to Aging on Mondays and Wednesdays in East Cobb and Tuesdays in West Cobb from 10am to 2:30pm (we can be flexible with ending time), to socialize and help facilitate games and projects with seniors. Join in a morning snack and lunch as well as a fun 50 minutes of seated exercise with the participants and fellow volunteers.
The number of days is flexible, if you can do 1 day a month or 1 day a week, we’d love to hear from you! 770-722-7641 or info@alohatoaging.org.
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There’s so much in this edition of East Cobb Weekend Events that we’ll start with the last event first: East Cobb Park Holiday Lights (3322 Roswell Road) will be taking place at dusk on Sunday, a fitting culmination to so many festivities.
From 5-7, you’re invited to stop by for musical performances and await the arrival of Santa, which follows the tree lighting. Proceeds from refreshment sales benefit the work of Friends for the East Cobb Park.
Friday morning marks the start of 38th annual Apple Annie Arts and Crafts Show at the Catholic Church of St. Ann (4905 Roswell Road, see photo below). More than 120 vendors will showcase handmade items, and there will be a bake sale, heirloom quilt raffle and Artisan gift raffle. Admission is $3 for adults. Hours are 9-7 Friday and 9-2 Saturday. Overflow parking is at the Episcopal Church of St. Peter and St. Paul (1795 Johnson Ferry Road), with shuttle service provided from 9-4:45 Friday and all day Saturday.
The annual Christmas presentation of Eastside Baptist Church (2450 Lower Roswell Road) will feature “The Invitation,” a story focused on the Nativity Scene and featuring the Eastside choir, orchestra, drama and dance. Shows are at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday and admission is free.
On Saturday, bring the kids to The Art Place (3330 Sandy Plains Road) for another St. Nick’s Cafe, a family holiday show. This years show is “North Pole’s Got Talent!” and the $15 charge includes a catered breakfast or lunch from Chick-fil-A and a visit from Santa. Shows are at 9, 11, 1, and 3.
Saturday morning has another local tradition in store: The East Cobb Lions Club Pancake Breakfast. Stop by Powers Ferry United Methodist Church (245 Powers Ferry Road) between 7:30-11 a.m. and enjoy a hearty holiday meal and fellowship. The cost is $7 a person, and the proceeds benefit Lions Club activities that include vision screenings for needy students in Cobb schools.
On Saturday afternoon, the Wheeler Orchestra Fine Arts Showcase returns to the school’s performing arts theater (375 Holt Road) with two holiday-themed concerts. One ticket is good for performances at 2 and 4:30 that include the symphonic and concert bands, full orchestra, philharmonia, Bel Voce choir, chamber orchestra, and wind ensemble.
From 5-7, kids can enjoy an Underwater Tree Lighting and assorted festivities at Atlanta Swim Academy (732 Johnson Ferry Road). Bring a camera to snap selfies with Santa, swim and decorate the underwater tree and enjoy free holiday refreshments. Admission is the donation of canned food for MUST Ministries.
On Sunday, Johnson Ferry Christmas Packages will be renewed from 4-7:30 p.m. It’s the church’s annual holiday festival with live music, horse carriage rides, food trucks and a tree lighting.
There’s a lot more you can find listed in our Holiday Guide, which has events details through the New Year.
Did we miss anything? Do you have a calendar item you’d like to share with the community? Send it to us, and we’ll spread the word! E-mail: calendar@eastcobbnews.com, and you can include a photo or flyer if you like.
Whatever you’re doing this weekend, make it a great one! Enjoy!
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After getting some reader inquiries about the subject, we’ve got an answer to a question we’ve heard asked a lot in recent weeks: The Chick-fil-A Woodlawn Square reopening (1201 Johnson Ferry Road) is set for January.
That’s the word we got from Chick-fil-A representative Callie Bowers, who said there isn’t a specific date that’s been determined but is likely in the range of early- to mid-January.
The location has been closed since July for the construction of a new building and parking lot, including a double drive-through. When it closed, company officials were hoping to reopen in November.
When we last drove by a week or so ago, the new building was nearly completed, but everything around it is a pile of mud and dirt.
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Cobb County Tax Commissioner Carla Jackson will permanently close the motor vehicle office located at 700 South Cobb Drive, Marietta, at 5 p.m., Friday, Nov. 30.
It has served Cobb for more than 20 years, but the complexity of retrofitting today’s security, technology and business functions would have been extremely costly, according to Jackson. Monday, Dec. 3, will be a move and set up day for all team members.
The newly-renovated North Office will open at 8 a.m., Tuesday, Dec. 4, to handle all commercial (dealer, fleet and HD trucks) and individual motor vehicle transactions. This office is located at 2932 Canton Road, Suite 300, Marietta.
The renovated space on Canton Road will feature additional workstations and expanded services to better accommodate residents.
With this closure, the correct Tax Commissioner’s Office mailing addresses are:
Motor Vehicle (General) P.O. Box 100128, Marietta, GA 30061
Motor Vehicle (Commercial and Fleet) 2932 Canton Road, Suite 300, Marietta, GA 30066
Property Tax (Payments) P.O. Box 100127, Marietta, GA 30061
Tax Commissioner (General) P.O. Box 649, Marietta, GA 30061-0649
Please direct all correspondence to the appropriate P.O. box to avoid any service delay. For more information about the Cobb County Tax Commissioner’s Office, visit www.cobbtax.org.
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Cobb commissioners on Tuesday approved using $8 million in fiscal year 2019 general fund reserves for the construction of a new forensic laboratory for the Cobb Medical Examiner’s Office.
The 40-year-old facility needs to be replaced, and cost estimates range around $11 million. The remaining $3 million will come from SPLOST revenues.
In 2014 a critical audit of the medical examiner’s office suggested sweeping changes that prompted the resignation of the chief medical examiner.
Since then, the office has been run by Christopher Gulledge (in photo), and in recent years has been ramping up efforts to grapple with the county’s growing opioid crisis.
The audit was brought about by complaints by citizen Tom Cheek about the way his son’s autopsy was handled, and revealed wider organizational problems.
Cheek unsuccessfully ran for the District 3 Cobb commission seat this year, losing to incumbent JoAnn Birrell in the Republican primary.
Commissioners also voted on Tuesday to spend more than $158,000 to purchase flood storage volume at Wigley Lake in Northeast Cobb.
The funding, which will come from the Cobb Water System Agency, will create an additional 933,926.4 cubic feet of space for stormwater runoff, or around four vertical feet of space in the lake.
The lake is located near the intersection of Kincaid Road and Addison Road.
The county had an agreement with the Wigley Family Trust in 2003 to spend nearly $300,000 for additional stormwater volume at the lake, but the agreement was never executed. The Wigley family recently came back to the county about reactivating the agreement.
The water system says that the additional space being purchased now will address flood mitigation issues in the Noonday Creek Watershed.
Also on Tuesday, commissioners approved spending $474,805.16 for engineering design services for the second phase of the Bob Callan Trunk Trail, a 10-foot wide trail from Interstate North Parkway to Terrell Mill Road that will span around a third of a mile. The funding comes from the 2015 SPLOST and the design work was awarded to Heath and Linebeck Engineers, Inc.
This portion of the Bob Callan Trail is the central component of the project, which connects the Cumberland area with Marietta. The trail also is being developed near the forthcoming Windy Hill-Terrell Mill Connector.
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Ron Gorman, who served as a volunteer coach with the Pope wrestling teams, pleaded guilty in Cobb Superior Court on Tuesday to two counts of child molestation.
Gorman, 53, was given a 25-year sentence by Judge Gregory Poole, with 20 to serve without parole, according to the Cobb District Attorney’s Office.
Gorman was to have gone on trial after being charged with abusing a 14-year-old boy in Cobb County in 2010, according to prosecutors, who said the victim disclosed the abuse last year to authorities in Monroe County, Pa.
That’s where Gorman had been sentenced to 20-40 years in February for sexually assaulting boys there, including the boy prosecutors said was also victimized in Cobb.
According to the Cobb DA’s office, Gorman was extradited to Cobb to face the charges here and will be returned to Pennsylvania, where he will serve his sentences concurrently.
“This is a prime example of how child predators can work their way into positions of trust and authority, and then turn that trust into a weapon against children,” said Chuck Boring, Cobb deputy chief assistant district attorney and head of the Cobb DA’s special victims unit.
Gorman moved to Cobb in 2009 and was a volunteer with Pope Junior Wrestling, which feeds into the highly successful Pope High School program, where he also was a parent volunteer. He also was a coach at Life College in Marietta.
Gorman was arrested at his East Cobb home in March 2017 and eventually was charged by Pennsylvania authorities with a total of 513 counts, including child rape and statutory sexual assault.
His accusers in Pennsylvania claimed Gorman subjected them to frequent and continuous assaults, sometimes on a weekly basis, for several years, including in Georgia.
News reports last March and earlier this year quoted a Cobb woman who became concerned about Gorman in 2011. That’s when she saw a crude, sexually themed Facebook message sent by him to her son, then 12, and a member of the Pope junior wrestling program.
She said she was told by then-Pope principal Rick Beaulieu not to go to law enforcement. Gorman was suspended from any involvement with Pope wrestling for a year, but it was six years later that he was charged.
Boring said in court Tuesday that there are no other charges that Gorman is facing in Cobb. In Pennsylvania, prosecutors heard allegations that Gorman abused minors dating back to the 1980s, but the statue of limitations had run out.
“Hopefully this conclusion gives his victims some sort of closure and justice, whether they have reported his abuse or not,” Boring said.
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Johnson Ferry Road at Roswell Road in the heart of East Cobb.
This isn’t a new topic, and it’s one that hasn’t gone very far beyond the talking stage in the past: Should there be such a thing as a City of East Cobb?
A group of mostly unidentified people is behind a new push to create what would be the second-largest municipality in metro Atlanta.
The Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb, Inc., is led by Joe Gavalis, a resident of the Atlanta Country Club area. His group has commissioned a feasibility study being conducted by the Center for State and Local Finance at Georgia State University. He has not returned calls seeking comment.
However, the suggested City of East Cobb his group is advocating would not include all of East Cobb.
According to a map Gavalis furnished to the MDJ, the proposed map would fall almost entirely within Cobb Commissioner Bob Ott’s District 2.
East Cobb has long been a place name, but never a city.
The area generally regarded as East Cobb includes most of the ZIP codes 30062, 30066, 30067 and 30068, as well as the Cobb portion of 30075, and has an estimated population of 200,000.
The proposed City of East Cobb borders generally fall south of Sandy Plains Road, until it gets closer to the Fulton County line. The southern boundaries would fall roughly along the Powers Ferry Road corridor north of Terrell Mill Road.
The western edges of the city would run along Roswell Road Sewell Road and Holly Springs Road to Post Oak Tritt Road.
Everything east and north of that would become a city in what has long embodied classic suburban Sunbelt sprawl.
Cityhood measures require state legislation to call for a referendum that voters in the proposed municipality would decide. Under Georgia law, cities must provide a minimum of three services.
The cityhood effort in East Cobb comes after the Cobb Board of Commissioners approved a property tax hike for the first time since the recession. There has been some grumbling that East Cobb provides 40 percent of county tax revenue but some citizens don’t feel they’re getting their money’s worth in services.
After voting against the tax increase, Ott claimed that all District 2 residents were getting from the tax hike in the fiscal year 2019 budget was “1 DOT work crew.”
According to the East Cobb cityhood group’s contract with Georgia State, it is spending $36,000 for the study, which will develop revenue and expense estimates based on property tax files, a boundary map and estimated business license revenue.
The contract indicates that the feasibility of municipal services to be studied include police, fire management, parks and recreation, community development (libraries) and roads.
Gavalis is the lone signatory from the committee for the contract, which also lists G. Owen Brown, of Retail Planning Corp., a commercial real estate company based on Johnson Ferry Road, as a representative for the cityhood group.
The study is expected to be completed by mid-December. According to the contract, the Center for State and Local Finance at Georgia State is using a similar methodology as a feasibility study it conducted for Tucker, which became incorporated in 2015.
According to the East Cobb cityhood contract, a team of three CSLF researchers will:
” . . . estimate the total annual cost of government operations, including general administrative services and the discretionary services, based on the experience of several comparison cities in Georgia. The set of comparison cities in Georgia will include between four to six cities with similar demographic and economic conditions to the proposed area.
“In addition, the cost estimates will include the cost associated with purchasing any assets in the proposed incorporation area that are currently owned by Cobb County and any one-time costs associated with the initiation of municipal operations.”
The last time the City of East Cobb issue was raised also came after county commissioners voted to increase taxes, and during the heat of a political campaign. During the 2012 Republican runoff for Cobb Commission Chairman, challenger Bill Byrne proposed the idea but it didn’t gain much traction.
Byrne, a former chairman, was seeking to regain his seat against then-incumbent Tim Lee, who eventually edged him in the runoff.
Byrne would have had an elected mayor and five city council members for the City of East Cobb, which would have had its own police, fire, water and sewer services, purchased from the county for $1 a year. He also wanted the county, in his plan, to spend $1 million to build an East Cobb City Hall.
Byrne had attacked Lee for raising the property tax millage rate in 2011, during the aftermath of the recession.
At the time, Byrne’s idea didn’t resonate in East Cobb as it has elsewhere in metro Atlanta. This was right after citizens of Brookhaven voted to incorporate, and followed other successful cityhood drives in Dunwoody, Sandy Springs, Johns Creek and Milton.
But that sentiment hasn’t seriously spread in Cobb, which has six cities that have been incorporated for more than a century, and in some cases before the Civil War.
In 2009 there was a group called Citizens for the City of East Cobb that launched a website but never identified itself or pressed for action beyond that.
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Some of the most recent cityhood efforts elsewhere in metro Atlanta have failed. Earlier this month, a push to create the city of Eagle’s Landing out of Stockbridge fell short in a referendum.
Earlier this year, voters in a portion of Forsyth County turned down a similar measure that would have created the City of Sharon Springs, with a population of 50,000.
Others that have become cities have ended up providing fewer services than what is being studied for East Cobb.
Tucker, which has population of 35,000, provides zoning and planning, code enforcement and community development, and last year added overseeing the Tucker Recreation Center.
Tucker doesn’t charge a millage rate—city residents still pay the full DeKalb millage rate for county-provided services—but generates revenue from business permits, alcohol and excise taxes and utility franchise fees.
Other cityhood drives are continuing, including the Towne Lake community of Cherokee County, with a goal of having a referendum there in 2020.
The only services being suggested for Towne Lake are zoning and planning, code enforcement and sanitation, which would be optional. Those organizing cityhood there say they’re doing it to preserve property values.
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Johnson Ferry Baptist Church pastor Bryant Wright, the founding minister for the large East Cobb congregation and a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, announced Sunday he intends to step away from the post he has held for 37 years.
He’s not calling it a retirement, because he would like to continue to be involved in the ministry in some other capacity.
But for the last year and a half, Wright said he has been thinking about when the time would come for him to step away from leading the church, which has more than 8,000 members.
Appearing in a church-produced video with his wife Anne that was released Sunday, Wright said that it was during this past spring that “God clarified that the timing had come.”
He did not announce a timetable for his departure but said he would stay until a successor is named. Wright said that in January, he will ask church elders to appoint a search committee to begin the hiring process.
In his sermon on Sunday, Wright said he spoke about Moses tapping Joshua to succeed him, recalling an Old Testament tale from the Book of Deuteronomy.
“Unlike Moses,” Wright said, “I have no idea who God is going to choose for this particular role.”
His wife Anne said at first, she wasn’t sure. “I guess I just didn’t want to hear it,” she said, thinking he needed a vacation, and that a sabbatical “was going to be the answer to everything.”
In August, Wright said he went to the church elders with his decision to step away and to begin the succession process.
They came to Johnson Ferry in 1981, when the church met in a doctor’s office and had 20 members. It’s grown to one of the biggest churches in metro Atlanta and has extended far beyond its sprawling grounds on Johnson Ferry Road.
On Sunday, he asked for prayers for the congregation and for “the right decision” to be made about who will lead Johnson Ferry in its future.
“Let’s make the most of the time that we have together,” he said.
“It’s tough to let go, but we’re going to have to let go . . .. Pray that God will lead us to the right man.”
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Advance voting for two statewide election runoffs will take place Monday-Friday around the county, including the East Cobb Government Service Center (4400 Lower Roswell Road).
The races to be decided are for Georgia Secretary of State and a seat on the Georgia Public Service Commission (sample ballot here).
Advance voting takes place from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. at satellite locations, which include the following:
Jim Miller Park Event Center, 2245 Callaway Road
North Cobb Senior Center, 3900 S. Main St., Acworth
Ward Recreation Center, 4845 Dallas Highway, Powder Springs
Advance voting also is taking place at the Cobb Elections main office (736 Whitlock Ave.) from 8-5 Monday-Friday.
There is no advance voting on Saturday, Dec. 1, or Monday, Dec. 3. Runoff voting concludes at precinct locations on Tuesday, Dec. 4.
In the Secretary of State race, Republican Brad Raffensperger is facing Democrat John Barrow, a former Congressman.
In the Nov. 6 general election, Raffensperger got 49.09 percent of the vote and Barrow received 48.67 percent. Libertarian candidate Smythe Duval of Marietta had 2.23 percent of the vote.
The winner will succeed Brian Kemp, who is the Georgia governor-elect. He resigned on Nov. 7 and Gov. Nathan Deal appointed Robyn Crittenden to serve on an interim basis.
District 3 covers most of metro Atlanta, including Cobb County. Eaton received 49.7 percent of the vote, Miller got 47.63 percent and Libertarian Ryan Graham earned 2.67 percent.
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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!
East Cobb News wishes you and your family a peaceful, restive and joyous Thanksgiving.
We’re counting our blessings, grateful for the privilege to serve this community.
Thanks to all of you for reading, subscribing to our newsletter and sharing stories with others about all that’s going on in East Cobb.
We’re taking a bit of a break and will be back on Friday, as the full holiday season gets underway. Check out our Holiday Guide for calendar listings and other related information that we’ll be updating as the season goes along.
As always, please feel free to get in touch with news tips, questions, or news and information to share: wendy@eastcobbnews.com.
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!
Destiny Center & SPI Theatre will be hosting its Annual “Holiday Relief” program with Toys For Tots on Saturday, Dec.15 from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. All community participants will receive a complimentary table top Christmas Tree along with decorations to be able to participate in the “2018 Christmas Tree Challenge.” They will also receive a wrapped toy for the kids, popcorn, a tour of the facility and watch a LIVE “Holiday” performance by Spoken Images’ talented performers.
