East Cobb News

Eastvalley, Walton projects on Cobb school board agenda

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New Eastvalley ES campus

The long-awaited rebuild of Eastvalley Elementary School could be a major step closer to fruition this week.

The Cobb Board of Education will be asked on Thursday to approve a $36.7 million contract for R.K. Redding Construction, Inc., of Bremen to replace the aging facility on Lower Roswell Road and relocate the school to the former East Cobb Middle School campus on Holt Road.

As we noted last October, the Cobb County School District released renderings of the new campus, which will include 136,110 square feet and 61 classrooms.

According to an agenda item for Thursday’s meetings, construction is expected to be completed by May 2023 and open to students for the 2023-24 academic year.

Eastvalley parents have been pressing the district about overcrowded conditions for years at the school, which was built in the early 1960s to hold around 400 students.

This year Eastvalley has more than 700 students and more than a dozen trailers, whose conditions have been called “deplorable.”

Funding would come from the current Cobb Ed-SPLOST V, as would a new sports complex for Walton High School.

The district also will be asking the school board on Thursday to approve a $6.738 million contract for Bowen and Watson, Inc. of Toccoa to construct a new baseball field and tennis courts on nearly 20 acres at Providence Road and Pine Road.

As we reported last August, residents of the Independence Square neighborhood objected to plans for the baseball field to be located close to their homes, and asked for it to be reconfigured.

The agenda item doesn’t include a site plan or provide any details of what has changed. In response to a request from East Cobb News seeking more information, a district spokeswoman issued the following statement:

“Superintendent Ragsdale has very clear on this project as he is on all new construction: hear from the community before shovels hit the ground. All available details will be presented to the Board on Thursday and we are confident this is the best design for Walton and the surrounding community.”

The Cobb school board spent $5.65 million to acquire property for the complex, which was planned after several sports teams were relocated due the construction of the new Walton classroom building that opened in 2017.

The Walton softball and tennis teams have been playing home competitions at Terrell Mill Park since 2014.

The softball team has since moved back to the former site of the baseball team, which is playing home games this season at the East Cobb Baseball complex near Kell High School.

Construction of the Walton sports complex is expected to be completed by December.

The Cobb school board also will be asked Thursday to hire an interim law firm.

The board last year hired Atlanta-based Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough as it faced a special review from its accrediting agency.

But according to an agenda item, the Nelson Mullins legal team that has been serving the Cobb school district has left for Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein, a Southern regional law firm with locations in eight cities, including Atlanta.

The district is asking the board to hire Parker Poe Adams starting April 1 and under the same agreement as it has had with Nelson Mullins.

The board is meeting in public at a 1 p.m. work session Thursday and a 7 p.m. business session at the Cobb County School District Central Office (514 Glover St., Marietta).

The agendas for both meetings can be found here; an executive session will take place in between.

The meetings also will be live-streamed on the district’s BoxCast channel and on CobbEdTV, Comcast Channel 24.

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Cobb Mobility SPLOST referendum delayed to 2024

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CobbLinc World Series bus service

There will be one less item on the general election ballot for Cobb voters in November.

Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid said last week that she is delaying a referendum on the Cobb Mobility SPLOST until at least 2024 after meetings in recent months with community stakeholders.

She had been proposing a one-percent special-purpose local-option sales tax to fund transit and surface transportation projects.

But she and the mayors of Cobb six cities could not come to an agreement on how much money to raise from the tax and how long to levy it. There also wasn’t enough support from the other four commissioners to put a referendum on the November ballot.

“I can’t put this on the ballot myself,” Cupid said in a statement issued by the county. “This is a team effort and these conversations convinced me we can get more support for a transit referendum after putting in more intentional effort and planning over the next few years.”

She said she wanted to put the matter on the ballot this year because federal matching funds were available, but noted in the county release that similar referendums in DeKalb and Gwinnett counties may be proposed in 2024.

The Mobility SPLOST is separate from the Cobb general government SPLOST that funds road projects, facility construction and maintenance and purchase of park land.

You can view a county presentation on the Mobility SPLOST by clicking here; more information can be found here.

Cobb voters in November voted to continue that tax for another six years.

Roughly half of that amount is to go to road projects. Under state law, local governments have the option to collect a special mobility sales tax.

Last fall, Cupid and Cobb commissioners held town halls around the county to gauge public interest in a Mobility SPLOST.

Cobb residents also pay a one-percent sales tax for school construction and maintenance projects in the Cobb and Marietta school districts, and last year also voted to extend that tax for another five years, starting in 2024.

Related:

Cobb approves projects for $31.8M with excess SPLOST funds

 

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Mt. Bethel Christian Academy athletic field plans approved

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Mt. Bethel Christian Academy athletic field site plan

After several months of delays, the Cobb Board of Commissioners this week approved a site plan change at the North campus of Mt. Bethel Christian Academy for the construction of an athletic field.

Since 2014, Mt. Bethel has operated a high school on Post Oak Tritt Road near Holly Springs Road.

The school was granted a special-land use plan the year before that, stipulating that changes must come back before commissioners. The SLUP included the future construction of an athletic field and related facilities.

In 2019 Mt. Bethel Christian proposed a sports stadium but later withdrew the application after community opposition surfaced.

The new site plan (above) was adopted on the commission’s consent calendar after the private school worked out a new list of stipulations with nearby residents of the Holly Springs subdivision and the East Cobb Civic Association.

Mt. Bethel Christian attorney Kevin Moore filed the new site plan on Tuesday and a stipulation letter on March 9 (you can read here; you can read the zoning staff analysis by clicking here).

The include relocating the parking area, removing an athletic track, creating an 85-foot undisturbed buffer between the field and nearby homes, and requiring the district commissioner (JoAnn Birrell) to approve the maximum elevations for the field.

Other provisions limit the scope of lighting and the hours for a public address and sound system to operate. The district commissioner also would approve a final landscaping plan with community and ECCA reviews.

The approval comes after some neighbors objected to the close proximity of the field to their backyards.

Commissioners voted in December to delay the request, and Mt. Bethel requested another continuance in February.

But at a Tuesday zoning hearing, Birrell told the involved parties “I appreciate y’all working this out with me in the background.”

The site plan changes also call for the addition of 39 parking spaces for a total of 121 on the campus.

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Early voting continues in Georgia House special election

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Early voting is underway in a special election for a Georgia House seat in East Cobb.Georgia runoff elections

Four candidates are vying to succeed former State Rep. Matt Dollar of District 45.

Republicans on the ballot include former State Rep. Mitch Kaye and Cobb GOP activists Pamela Alayon and Darryl Willson.

The Democratic candidate is Dustin McCormick, a project management official at McKesson.

Early voting began this week and according to Cobb Elections, 353 people have cast ballots.

Of those, 342 have voted at the East Cobb Government Service Center (4400 Lower Roswell Road) and 11 at the Cobb Elections office (746 Whitlock Ave., Marietta). Another 40 ballots have been accepted in absentee voting, out of 194 ballots issued.

Early voting continues at both locations March 21-25 and March 28-April 1 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

There also will be early voting next Saturday, March 26, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the same venues.

The deadline to submit an absentee mail application is March 25, and absentee ballots must be received by 7 p.m. on April 5, which is the special election day for in-person voting.

Dollar resigned on Feb. 1 after nearly 20 years in office to take an economic development job with the Georgia technical college system.

Gov. Brian Kemp called for an April 5 special election to be decided by a “jungle” format, meaning candidates from all parties are running against one another.

If the leading candidate does not get a majority of the votes, there will be a May 3 runoff.

The winner will fill out the rest of Dollar’s term, which expires at the end of the year.

Due to redistricting, District 45 will have new boundaries for the May 24 primaries and the November general election.

None of the Republican candidates in the special election qualified for that race, but McCormick has qualified.

His name will be on the May 24 primary ballot, along with State Rep. Sharon Cooper, a Republican, who currently represents District 43, as has Cobb GOP activist Carminthia Moore.

Cobb Elections has more information on who is eligible to vote in the special election, what the current District 45 boundaries look like, and how you can check your registration status.

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Longtime Cobb judge Mary Staley Clark to retire after 40 years

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Mary Staley Clark, who has served as a judge in Cobb County for 40 years, announced Friday that she is retiring on May 1.Cobb Judge Mary Staley Clark retiring

In a release issued by Cobb government, Staley Clark said she is stepping down for family reasons, including getting married this spring.

Gov. Brian Kemp will appoint a successor to fill out the rest of her term, which ends in 2024.

Staley Clark is the third Cobb Superior Court judge to announce retirement this year.

Judge Tain Kell also is stepping down at the end of April to return to private law practice, and Kemp has not announced a successor.

Judge Robert Flournoy is not seeking re-election this year.

Staley Clark has been a Cobb Superior Court judge since 1992 and served as Chief Judge from 2005 to 2007. She also was a judge in Cobb Magistrate Court and Cobb State Court.

Staley Clark helped create the Cobb Mental Health Court and currently presides over the Cobb Drug Treatment Court.

She also is presiding over the current legal dispute between Mt. Bethel Church in East Cobb and the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church.

At a hearing this week, she agreed to mediate settlement talks between both sides.

“It will take time to adjust to not being on the bench every day. Of course, I’ll continue to help as a senior judge, but I am looking forward to getting married this spring and being able to spend more time with my parents and family,” Staley Clark said in the Cobb government release.

Staley Clark earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of West Georgia and a law degree from the University of Georgia.

Before her time as a judge, she was an assistant district attorney in Cobb County. In her statement, she thanked former Cobb District Attorney Tom Charron for hiring the first female prosecutors in the county.

She was recognized by the Cobb County YWCA as its 1994 Woman of Achievement and was the 2014 recipient of the Cobb Schools Foundation Leaders & Legends Award. Staley Clark was awarded the Cobb County Chamber of Commerce Distinguished Woman Award in 2015.

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Cobb Food Scores: Crooked Tree Cafe; Social Kitchen; schools; more

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Crooked Tree Cafe, East Cobb food scores

The following Cobb food scores for the week of March 14 have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing for inspection details:

Blackwell Elementary School
3470 Canton Road
March 15, 2022 Score: 100, Grade: A

Crooked Tree Cafe
915 Cobb Parkway North
March 15, 2022 Score: 97, Grade: A

Davis Elementary School
2433 Jamerson Road
March 15, 2022 Score: 100, Grade: A

Dodgen Middle School
1725 Bill Murdock Road
March 15, 2022 Score: 100, Grade: A

Daniell Middle School
2950 Scott Drive
March 15, 2022 Score: 100, Grade: A

Faith Lutheran School
2111 Lower Roswell Road
March 18, 2022 Score: 100, Grade: A

Hardee’s
2520 Delk Road
March 16, 2022 Score: 91, Grade: A

Hibachi & BBQ
2856 Delk Road, Suite 305
March 18, 2022 Score: 100, Grade: A

Rotana Restaurant
585 Franklin Gateway, Suite 190
March 17, 2022 Score: 92, Grade: A

Shadowood Cafe
2110 Powers Ferry Road, Suite 120
March 17, 2022 Score: 92, Grade: A

Social Kitchen
3100 Interstate North Circle, Suite 190
March 15, 2022 Score: 80, Grade: B

Walton High School
1590 Bill Murdock Road
March 15, 2022 Score: 100, Grade: A

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Sprayberry Crossing demolition to get underway in April

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Sprayberry Crossing Shopping Center
Bye bye, Bruno’s: The first Sprayberry Crossing building to be demolished will be the former grocery store.

A date many in the vicinity of the Sprayberry Crossing Shopping Center have been anticipating for years will soon come to pass.

On April 11, the first phase of the demolition of the blighted retail center begins, starting with the former Bruno’s grocery store.

What has been a community eyesore for more than two decades will be giving way to a mixed use development of senior apartments, townhomes and some retail and restaurant space.

Atlantic Realty Acquisitions LLC got rezoning last June from Cobb commissioners to redevelop Sprayberry Crossing, and existing businesses began relocating at the start of 2022.

The parcels making up the assemblage were sold in December to East Cobb Venture Partners, LLC, a holding company formed last October, for nearly $13 million.

“It’s been a long struggle, but the end is here,” said Joe Glancy, a co-founder of the Sprayberry Crossing Action Facebook group that’s pushed for the property’s redevelopment.

He said the area will be fenced off by the end of March, with openings for independent businesses fronting Sandy Plains Road.

But you won’t be able to cut through the backside of the property between East Piedmont Road and Post Oak Tritt Road.

Glancy said asbestos removal also is continuing through March, and a pest control company has installed around 200 rodent traps for the demolition process.

There also could be some Cobb fire and police training at the old structures.

Construction is expected to begin in August and should take around 18 months, Glancy said, and family members of the Mayes Family Cemetery will have access.

He said he doesn’t know yet whether the public will be invited to watch the demolition begin, “but I know many of us can’t wait and would like to be on site to witness it. I’d bring my own sledgehammer if they’d let me.”

He also posted the fencing map outlined below in red.

Once developed, the new Sprayberry Crossing will have 132 senior apartments and 102 townhomes and retail and restaurant space. The cemetery also will remain intact.

But plans for an anchor 34,000-square-foot Lidl grocery store were scuttled when the developer couldn’t come to a traffic agreement with the Sprayberry Bottle Shop, located across from the intersection of Sandy Plains Road and Kinjac Drive.

That’s where Cobb DOT recommended the main entrance to the new development, since there’s a traffic signal there now.

Sprayberry Crossing demolition map

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East Cobb family displaced after house fire in Indian Hills

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Indian Hills house fire

Friends of an East Cobb family of six who lost their home in a house fire in Indian Hills on Monday are helping to raise funds for temporary needs and expenses.

Sadie Hixon, a senior at Walton High School, got in touch with East Cobb News to say that the Addess family—four girls and their parents—lost everything when their home was destroyed by fire and smoke.

“All of their furniture, personal belongings, and sentimental items were turned into dust,” said Sadie, a close friend of one of the Addess daughters. “It is unknown what caused the fire, but this family needs help. It is so hard to recover from these kinds of things emotionally and money wise.”

A GoFundMe has been started by Ephraim Silverman, the rabbi at the Chabad of Cobb synagogue, and has raised more than $30,000 in just two days.

The Cobb Fire and Emergency Services Department said on its Facebook page Monday that crews from nearby Station 21 and other locations arrived in five minutes, but three sides of the home were already engulfed in flames, along with thick black smoke.

The response included 28 personnel, four engines, one truck, one rescue vehicle, an air truck and a specialty unit.

Indian Hills house fire

The above photos were taken by Cobb Fire; Sadie has passed along the following photos of the interior of the destroyed home.

Indian Hills house fire

Indian Hills house fire

Indian Hills house fire

Indian Hills house fire

Indian Hills house fire

 

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East Cobb man sentenced to two life terms for child molestation

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An East Cobb man arrested nearly four years ago on charges that he sexually abused his stepdaughter has been sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison.East Cobb man convicted

Marcelino Rebollar, 49, was sentenced on Tuesday by Cobb Superior Court Judge Henry Thompson, according to the Cobb District Attorney’s Office.

The DA’s office said that a Cobb jury last week found Rebollar guilty of two counts of aggravated child molestation and two counts of child molestation.

Rebollar, whose home address is on Freydale Road, was arrested on April 1, 2018, after being accused by his stepdaughter that he molested her from the ages of 10 to 13.

The Cobb DA’s office said the girl confided in her cousin and church pastor, leading to an investigation by police and forensic interviews at the Safepath Children’s Advocacy Center.

During the trial, the DA’s office said, evidence was presented from the victim and expert witnesses, and Rebollar was convicted on all counts.

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Departing Cobb school board member urges votes for educators

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The Cobb Board of Education member who has represented the Walton and Wheeler high school clusters since 2019 is not seeking re-election this year.

Charisse Davis, Cobb Board of Edcucation
Charisse Davis

Democrat Charisse Davis, who ousted then-incumbent Republican Scott Sweeney in 2018 in Post 6, did not qualify last week for the newly redrawn seat that takes out East Cobb.

The Georgia legislature approved maps submitted by Cobb Republicans over the objections of their county Democratic colleagues.

In a message she posted Tuesday on her Facebook page, Davis explained that redistricting has moved the Walton and Wheeler areas to Post 5, represented by Republican vice chairman David Banks.

Davis, a former elementary school teacher and currently a youth services librarian in Fulton County, still lives in the new Post 6.

Davis didn’t indicate in her message why she decided not to run again. East Cobb News has left a message seeking comment, but she encouraged voters to support three candidates in particular, all Democrats.

“It has been an honor serving the students of this district, and I look forward to continuing my career in education and supporting other educators who have answered the call to run for school board: Becky Sayler, Post 2; Dr. Catherine Pozniak, Post 4; and Nichelle Davis, Post 6.

“Continue to support our CCSD schools, hold the board accountable, and vote!”

Nichelle Davis is the only candidate who qualified in Post 6, which includes the Cumberland-Smyrna-Vinings area.

Sayler is one of two Democrats vying in the May 24 primary in Post 2, which includes Smyrna and some of South Cobb. Post 2 first-term Democratic incumbent Jaha Howard, who also was drawn into Post 6, is running for Georgia school superintendent.

Post 4 includes the Kell and Sprayberry and some of the Lassiter clusters. Pozniak, also a Democrat, is a Sprayberry graduate who will be challenging three-term Republican incumbent David Chastain in November.

The current Cobb school board has a 4-3 Republican majority, and for the last three years has wrangled along partisan lines on a number of contentious issues.

Howard and Davis have been at the center of those arguments, particularly over the Cobb school district’s senior tax exemption, equity and racial issues and the district’s response to COVID-19.

Davis also signed a petition started in 2020 to advocate changing the name of Wheeler High School, named after a Confederate Civil War general and which opened in 1965, as Cobb schools were preparing to integrate.

Davis and Howard also sparked a special review by the Cobb school district’s accrediting agency last year after complaining that the GOP majority was silencing them.

Cognia walked back many of the findings of that special review, however, with the exception of criticisms of board governance.

Before the current school board maps were redrawn, Republican Amy Henry, a parent of four students in the Walton cluster, announced her intent to run for Post 6.

Voters in the East Cobb area of what has been Post 6 will next get to vote for Cobb school board representation in 2024, when Banks’ term expires.

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East Cobb real estate sales for the week of Feb. 28, 2022

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Windsor Oaks Court, East Cobb real estate sales
Windsor Oaks Court

The following deeds for residential East Cobb real estate sales were filed the week of Feb. 28 with the Cobb Superior Court Clerk’s Office Real Estate Department.

The addresses are in Marietta ZIP Codes, unless otherwise indicated, and the subdivision names and high school districts are in parenthesis:

Feb. 28

2913 Ironwood Road, 30067 (The Woods Condos, Wheeler): Pavilion, LLC to Alexander Lopez; $220,000

2189 Rockwood Drive, 30067 (Freywood Estates, Wheeler): B. Sims Family Trust to Lynn McMichen Davis; $215,000

4100 Rivercliff Chase, 30068 (Rivermill, Walton): David and Janice Sanborn to Trent Leonard and Lindsay Berg; $760,000

535 Indian Hills Parkway, 30068 (Indian Hills, Walton): Maria Lopez to Edward Holladay Jr.; $535,000

567 Ridgewater Drive, 30068 (Indian Hills, Walton): Estate of Henry Holley to Satish and Juhi Shah; $795,000

2645 Indian Lake Drive, 30068 (Indian Springs, Walton): Carl Nalls to Kristin Foltz and Jesse Alexander; $399,000

2103 Sandstone Court, 30066 (Autumn Lake, Sprayberry): Tomokozu Tabata to Flecha Co., Ltd.; $342,000

299 West Junction Court, 30144 (Bells Ferry Station, Kell): Rock Solid Investments, LLC, to OP Gold, LLC; $312,800

4499 Coventry Way, 30075 (Coventry Downs, Lassiter): Glenn and Amy Fetters to Seth Erickson and Savannah Trabosh; $580,000

574 Charing Cross Drive, 30066 (Canterbury North, Sprayberry): Roy and William Whitaker to Holly Carter; $360,000

861 Richmond Hill Drive, 30062 (Yorkshire Hills, Walton): Susan Rogers to Deborah Buchman; $650,000

March 1

4204 Newpond Trail, 30066 (Farmbrook, Sprayberry): Julia Barker to Juan Vidal and Elaine Rheagan; $460,000

3263 Mitsy Forest Way, 30068 (Mitsy Forest, Walton): Zillow Homes Property Trust to Kayla Wyatt and Nathan Foster; $430,000

2985 Sutton Glen, 30062 (Sutton Glen, Pope): Diane Przywara and Susan Alexander Hamilton Cole to Sarit and Evyatar Tourgeman; $510,000

2824 Baccurate Drive, 30062 (Covington Ridge, Pope): Gregory Mosher to Darren and Lisa Ross; $760,000

March 2

2647 Skylane Drive, 30062 (Holly Hills Estates, Walton): Veronika Monteleone, Trustee to Mark Werkheiser; $420,000

1635 Princeton West Trail, 30062 (Princeton West, Walton): Steven M. Awtry, Trustee to Michelle Gistren; $515,000

1804 Shelley Court, 30062 (Jacksons Square, Pope): Henry Beatty to Katelyn Biniak and Matthew Wagner; $440,000

1337 Shaw Drive, 30066 (Pine Valley, Sprayberry): Geertruida Disseldorp to Ann Marie Edwards; $320,000

4558 Windsor Oaks Court, 30066 (Windsor Oaks, Lassiter): Bernarde Blide to Stephen Johnson and Laura Firmat; $565,000

March 3

2081 Murdock Road, 30062 (Folkstone, Pope): Charles M. Belmer III to Nitiv and Viashali Nigham, $580,000

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Mt. Bethel Church, UMC ask Cobb judge to settle lawsuits

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Mt. Bethel Church UMC seek settlement
An overflow crowd in Cobb Superior Court prompted the hearing to be livestreamed.

The nearly year-long feud between Mt. Bethel Church of East Cobb and the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church may be settled soon.

At a hearing in Cobb Superior Court Tuesday, attorneys for both sides said they were dropping motions and delaying depositions as they try to resolve deep divisions over governance of the Conference’s largest congregation and how to determine ownership of Mt. Bethel’s properties and assets.

The attorneys also asked Judge Mary Staley Clark to mediate upcoming meetings as settlement talks begin.

The North Georgia Conference sued Mt. Bethel last September after months of conflict over reassigning its top clergy and a failed attempt at mediation. The regional denominational leadership has claimed it is the rightful owner of Mt. Bethel properties and assets it values at $35 million.

Mt. Bethel countersued, saying the Conference was engaging in a “fraudulent conspiracy” and demanded an accelerated vote to disaffiliate from the UMC.

But in a packed courtroom on Tuesday morning, the charged rhetoric that has been exchanged between the two sides for several months was replaced by conciliatory language and a desire to iron out their differences.

Robert Ingram, chief attorney for Mt. Bethel, told Clark that the ideal way to reach an agreement is “with your persuasion rather than your orders.”

After reading through a proposed joint consent order, Clark said she would do that, and asked to meet with attorneys and parties for both sides separately.

(You can read the documents filed with the court on Tuesday here and here. You can also read all the court filings by clicking here and entering case number 21106801.)

The motions that were dropped include requests by North Georgia Conference Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson, Superintendent Jessica Terrell and its board of trustees not to be joined together as defendants as well as Mt. Bethel’s motion for a default judgment.

Those parties will have 30 days to respond to Mt. Bethel’s countersuit, and discovery can continue through Oct. 15.

The order also states that no vote to close Mt. Bethel—which the Conference had threatened to do—will take place at its annual meeting this summer.

The Conference includes nearly 800 churches. Mt. Bethel has nearly 10,000 members on its two campuses on Lower Roswell Road and Post Oak Tritt Road.

During discovery, Mt. Bethel attorneys had subpoenaed at least one church member and requested documents from the Conference to its officials and other Mt. Bethel members as well as former Senior Pastor Randy Mickler.  

It’s been 11 months since Haupert-Johnson tipped off the controversy by reassigning Rev. Dr. Jody Ray, Mt. Bethel’s senior pastor, to a non-ministerial position at the Conference office in Atlanta.

He and Mt. Bethel objected, saying they weren’t properly consulted. Ray turned in his UMC ministerial credentials and was hired by the church as a CEO and lead pastor, actions the Conference said were not allowed in its Book of Discipline governing documents.

Doctrinal disputes within the UMC have been building for several years, notably over gay and lesbian clergy and same-sex marriages, both of which are prohibited by the Book of Discipline.

But Mt. Bethel and other conservative Methodist churches have been anticipating that would change. 

The UMC was to have voted on a protocol allowing them to leave the denomination in 2020, but COVID-19 concerns have prompted delays.

Mt. Bethel is a founding member of the Wesleyan Covenant Association, a consortium of conservative Methodist churches that has been preparing for the creation of a new denomination, the Global Methodist Church.

When the UMC announced last month it was delaying its general conference again, to 2024, due to COVID-related travel issues, the GMC said it would move up its official activation date from September to May 1.

Among the leaders of the GMC is Keith Boyette, the WCA founder and a member of Mt. Bethel’s legal team. 

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Cobb schedules Cityhood town hall for Sewell Mill Library

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Last week we reported on Cobb County government’s first town hall meeting to address upcoming cityhood referendums, and noted that future events were to be announced.Cobb Cityhood town hall

Cobb government said Tuesday that the next town hall will be coming to East Cobb next week, on Thursday, March 24, at the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center (2051 Lower Roswell Road).

The town hall starts at 6:30 p.m. and will focus on the proposed City of East Cobb. It will be livestreamed on the county’s YouTube channel.

Members of the public also can ask questions in advance by e-mailing: cityhoodquestions@cobbcounty.org.

Last week’s town hall focused heavily on police, fire and 911 services for the proposed City of East Cobb.

Of the four cityhood movements in Cobb, only East Cobb is proposing public safety services. County officials have said since the East Cobb bill passed through the Georgia legislature that major questions remain about how those services will be provided and how the county will provide backup.

The East Cobb referendum is May 24, along with referendums in Vinings and Lost Mountain. Those proposed cities are focusing on preservation and development concerns.

At a town hall on March 7, leaders of the Committee for East Cobb Cityhood said they’re “low density fans,” in response to charges by opponents that the initiative is being backed by developer interests.

A Lost Mountain town hall is scheduled for April 7 at  Lost Mountain Park (4845 Dallas Highway, Powder Springs), and Vinings town hall will take place on April 21 at a venue to be announced.

A bill on Mableton cityhood passed the Georgia House last week and needs to be approved in the Senate for a referendum in November.

Cobb County also is updating a cityhood resource page.

Plans also are forthcoming for two East Cobb cityhood events: April 19 by the East Cobb Business Association; and May 4 by the Rotary Club of East Cobb at Pope High School.

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AAA: Cobb, Georgia gas prices reach an all-time high

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Cobb Georgia gas prices all-time high

Gas prices in the East Cobb area have been holding steady for a few days, many of them at $4.29 a gallon for unleaded like this Kroger station at the Pavilions at East Lake.

But AAA—The Auto Club Group says gas prices in Georgia are averaging an all-time high, more than the recession of 2008-09, when the average in the state was as high as $4.16.

AAA spokeswoman Montrae Waters said that $4.29 average across the state is a record, up 32 cents from last week, nearly a dollar from last month, and $1.61 from March 2021.

That means that a 15-gallon tank costs $64.35 to fill.

The national average is $4.32, with gas costing in excess of $6 a gallon in some parts of California.

The costs figure to increase as the Russia-Ukraine conflict continues, and Waters said that “unfortunately, drivers should anticipate gas prices to remain high for weeks to come.”

Some tips from AAA-The Auto Club Group on saving money on gas:

  • Slow down — if you’re on the highway, know that gas use increases as your car passes 50 mph. If you drive the speed limit, you could reduce your car’s fuel consumption.
  • Drive more gently — gradually brake and accelerate, rather than stomping on the gas pedal or brake pedal.
  • Avoid engine idling — it can waste fuel.
  • Make one trip, instead of many — make a comprehensive list of items you need to buy and then make a single trip outside of your home, rather than multiple short trips.
  • Clean out the car — lighter cars use less fuel. Get the junk out of your trunk, cargo areas and passenger compartments.
  • Stay regular on vehicle maintenance — get your car checked out regularly and make sure your tires are filled to the correct pressure level.

You can check more gas prices by clicking here.

 

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KSU economist to discuss East Cobb economic forecast

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Dr. Roger Tutterow, an economics professor at Kennesaw State University, will discuss the economic forecast for the East Cobb area on March 29 at a luncheon of the East Cobb Area Council of the Chamber of Commerce.Roger Tutterow, KSU economist

Tutterow is Chief Economic Advisor for Henssler Financial and is the Director of the Econometric Center in the Coles College of Business at KSU.

He also has been an economic adviser to former Georgia governors and current Gov. Brian Kemp.

His appearance comes as inflation has reached a 40-year high in metro Atlanta. The costs for fuel, food, energy and other basics have risen by an average of nearly 10 percent over the past year, according to the consumer price index of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The East Cobb Area Council luncheon begins at 12 p.m. March 29 at Indian Hills Country Club (4001 Clubland Drive). Tickets are $30 for Cobb Chamber members and $40 for general admission.

Registration is open until March 24 and can be completed by clicking here.

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East Cobb Rotary holds Give Back Banquet for Dog Days Run

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East Cobb Rotary Dog Days Run grant recipients

The Rotary Club of East Cobb held a banquet in February to announce the grant recipients of its Dog Days Run fundraiser to benefit community organizations.

The club also honored the sponsors of the 5K race, which was held in August 2021 at the McCleskey East Cobb Family YMCA.

The event collected more than $84,000, and here are the grant recipients:

  • Aloha To Aging
  • Boy Scouts of America
  • Camp Kudzu
  • Cobb Library Foundation
  • Davis Direction Foundation
  • Family Promise
  • Humane Society of Cobb County
  • Jason Cunningham Charitable Foundation
  • Kate’s Club
  • Kidz 2 Leaders
  • Lekotek
  • Loving Arms Cancer Outreach
  • McCleskey Family East Cobb YMCA
  • MDE School
  • Project Mail Call
  • Public Safety Celebration – Cobb Co Public Safety
  • Rally Foundation
  • REAP
  • Revved up kids
  • The Extension
  • Wellstar Community Hospice
  • AVID Wheeler High School

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East Cobb Food Scores: Vanilla Café; Carlo’s Pizza; more

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Vanilla Cafe e Gelato opens Avenue East Cobb

The following East Cobb food scores for the week of March 7 have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing for inspection details:

Carlo’s Pizza
1100 Johnson Ferry Road, Suite 225
March 10, 2022 Score: 100, Grade: A

Twisted Taco Express
2960 Shallowford Road, Suite 303
March 8, 2022 Score: 96, Grade: A

Vanilla Café
4475 Roswell Road, Suite 1010
March 10, 2022 Score: 84, Grade: B

Waffle House
2720 Sandy Plains Road
March 8, 2022 Score: 91, Grade: A

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Richardson: ‘I will not step down’ as Cobb commissioner

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Commissioner Richardson priorities

Hours after qualifying ended for the May 24 primary elections, Cobb District 2 Commissioner Jerica Richardson said Friday that she will be “forced” to vacate her office in January.

But in a video message on her Facebook page, the first-term Democrat vowed to fight a reapportionment map that drew her out of her East Cobb residence.

As of Jan. 1, 2023, when the new map takes effect, “I will not live in the qualifying district,” she said, referring to District 2. “I will not be permitted to vote on important county matters starting on that date.”

She said the “bigger issue” is how the new map “invalidates the will of the people and has created a conundrum on the county commission.”

Nearly 100,000 Cobb citizens, Richardson said, will not have a representative for several months” until a special election would be called.

“That is why I have made the decision to not step down as commissioner for District 2,” she said, reading from prepared remarks (you can watch the video here).

Richardson moved into a home off Post Oak Tritt Road last summer, but in February the Republican-dominated Georgia legislature redrew Cobb commission district lines to place most of East Cobb in District 3.

Incumbent Republican JoAnn Birrell has qualified to seek another term in District 3.

Richardson did not qualify for that race, and has until the end of the year to move into the new District 2, which includes the Cumberland-Smyrna-Vinings and Marietta areas and some of the I-75 corridor in North Cobb.

Cobb GOP BOC redistricting map
The new Cobb commission map includes most of East Cobb in District 3 (in yellow), with District 2 in pink.

Richardson didn’t explain why she didn’t qualify in District 3 or say why she isn’t moving to District 2.

“I will not abdicate my position just to seek a future win for my own personal gain. . . . The real problem is the injustice and disservice this map has created for the people,” Richardson said in the video.

“I will not sit back, I will not step down and I will not just say nothing,” she said in a statement that could set off a political and possibly a legal challenge.

She didn’t mention any possible legal action, although she said she’s received legal advice while contemplating her situation.

Richardson, 32, is an enterprise transformation specialist at Equifax whose family moved to the Atlanta area from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

She succeeded three-term Republican commissioner Bob Ott in 2020, edging GOP candidate Fitz Johnson to cement the first all-female county commission in Cobb history.

Her term expires in 2024, and she’s part of a 3-2 Democratic majority on the commission, which had been controlled by Republicans since the 1980s.

“The new mapping lines fundamentally shift our county, both economically and historically,” Richardson said in the video, “and not for the better.”

She said this redistricting process has “ignored the will of the people.”

Richardson said her office has received a “flood” of messages from citizens upset with the maps, which she said were drawn without much community consultation, and that sidestepped normal courtesies to the local delegations.

Cobb Republican lawmakers submitted redistricting maps for the commission and the Cobb Board of Education over the objections of the county delegation’s Democratic leadership.

State Rep. John Carson, a Northeast Cobb Republican who sponsored the commission redistricting bill, countered that his lines would likely maintain a Democratic majority.

In January, Cobb commissioners voted along party lines to recommend a map drawn by State Rep. Erick Allen, a Smyrna Democrat and the Cobb delegation chairman, that would largely maintain the current lines.

Birrell voted against Allen’s map, saying it removed some of her East Cobb precincts. Now she’ll have most of them, running to the Powers Ferry Road corridor.

The other GOP member of the commission, Keli Gambrill of District 1 in North Cobb, was the only candidate to qualify for that office.

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East Cobb Elections Update: Qualifying ends for primaries

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Commissioner Birrell recognized
JoAnn Birrell, Cobb Board of Commissioners

Qualifying for the May 24 primary elections ended at noon Friday, and several races in the East Cobb area will have contested primaries on the ballot.

(You can search through all candidates and all offices statewide by clicking here).

That local ballot will include the East Cobb Cityhood referendum, which will be decided by voters in the proposed city limits (visit our Cityhood page for more).

Cobb Commissioner JoAnn Birrell, a Republican, will have one opponent in the newly redrawn District 3 she has represented for three terms.

Also qualifying in the GOP primary for that seat is Judy Sarden, an attorney and homeschooling consultant (previous post here).

Birrell’s new seat will include most of East Cobb, including what had been in District 2. (That post is held by first-term Democrat Jerica Richardson, who now lives inside District 3. She would have to move into District 2 by the end of the year if she seeks re-election in 2024.)

Christine Triebsch is the sole Democratic candidate to qualify for District 3. She’s an attorney and a former State Senate candidate.

Reapportionment also reduced East Cobb representation on the Cobb Board of Education to two members.

One of them, current chairman David Chastain, has qualified as a Republican in his bid for a fourth term from Post 4, which includes the Kell, Sprayberry and Lassiter high school clusters.

A Wheeler High School graduate, Chastain is a proposal analyst for Lockheed Martin.

The only other candidate to qualify for Post 4 is Democrat Catherine Pozniak, an educational consultant and Sprayberry High School graduate (previous story here).

Post 6 has included the Walton and Wheeler clusters and since 2019 has been represented by Democrat Charisse Davis.

But the East Cobb portion of that seat was redrawn and includes the Cumberland-Smyrna-Vinings area. Davis did not qualify; the only candidate filing for Post 6 is Nichelle Davis, an educational equity advocate and a former Teach for America teacher.

Legislative incumbents opposed

There will be contested primaries in two State Senate seats that include East Cobb.

Ga. State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick
State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick

Republican incumbent Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick has qualified in District 32, which includes some of East Cobb and parts of Cherokee County. A Woodstock State House member, Republican Charlise Byrd, had announced for the seat, but qualified instead to retain her District 20 seat.

The other GOP candidate is Andy Soha, who lists himself as self-employed. The only Democrat seeking that seat is Sylvia Bennett, a social worker.

In State Senate 6, the GOP primary field includes financial advisor Fred Glass and Angelic Moore of Atlanta, who owns a business and political consulting company.

The Democratic primary includes Luisa Wakeman, who twice ran for a State House seat in East Cobb, and former Atlanta school board chairman Jason Esteves.

State Rep. Sharon Cooper, a 25-year legislative veteran and the chairwoman of the House Health and Human Services Committee, has qualified in State House District 45. Her GOP primary opponent will be Carminthia Moore, a program manager who’s active with the Cobb Republican Party.

The only Democrat to qualify is Dustin McCormick, who’s also running in an April 5 special election to fill the unexpired term of former State Rep. Matt Dollar (previous story here).

In District 43, a Democratic primary will have restaurant owner Solomon Adesonya and attorney Benjamin Stahl. The winner will face geologist Anna Tillman, a Republican, in November.

East Cobb Republican incumbent House members Don Parsons (District 44) and John Carson (District 46) also qualified, and will have Democratic opposition in the general election.

Redrawn State House seats in East Cobb include District 44 (in orange), which stretches into Cherokee County.

Democratic incumbent Mary Frances Williams of Distict 37 will have a Republican opponent in Tess Redding.

Crowded federal, state races

The East Cobb area will be represented in the U.S. House in two seats following reapportionment.

In District 11, GOP incumbent Barry Loudermilk has qualified, and he will have a Democratic foe in the fall.

The redrawn District 6 includes much of East Cobb and stretches into North Fulton, Forsyth and Dawson counties.

The Republican field has nine candidates who have qualified:

  • Jake Evans, attorney
  • Byron Gatewood, self-employed
  • Megan Hanson, attorney
  • Blake Harbin, business owner
  • Rich McCormick, emergency room physician
  • Paulette Smith, retired business executive
  • Mallory Staples, former teacher, homeschooler and small business owner
  • Suzi Voyles, consultant
  • Eugene Yu, retired

    U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock

The two Democrats running in the 6th District are business owner Bob Christian and international development consultant Wayne White.

U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, who was elected in 2020 to fill the remaining two years of the late Johnny Isakson’s term, will be seeking a six-year term. He has an opponent in the Democratic primary, and five Republicans also are running.

They include current Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black and former UGA football great Herschel Walker.

Gov. Brian Kemp qualified for re-election Thursday in the Republican primary, which includes former U.S. Sen David Perdue and two others.

One of them is Kandiss Taylor of Baxley, Ga., an educator who has been campaigning with a slogan of “Help Me Save Georgia! Jesus, Guns and Babies.”

Former legislator Stacey Abrams, who lost to Kemp in 2018, is running for governor again and also has a Democratic primary opponent.

Four Republicans and 10 Democrats are vying for lieutenant governor after incumbent Republican Geoff Duncan decided not to run again.

Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is being opposed in the primary by David Belle Isle, whom he defeated in 2018, and Congressman Jodi Hice.

Incumbent Republican Georgia School Superintendent Richard Woods is getting a primary challenge from John Barge, his predecessor.

On the Democratic side, current Cobb school board member Jaha Howard is one of four candidates in the field.

Cobb Chief Judge challenged

Those running for judgeships in Cobb County are in non-partisan elections.

Cobb Superior Court Judge Ann Harris qualified without opposition. Current Chief Judge Robert Leonard, who has been on the bench since 2010, has two primary opponents in Charles Ford, a public defender in Fulton County, and private attorney Matt McMaster.

Judge Robert Flournoy is retiring from Superior Court and five candidates have qualified:

  • Sonja Brown, Cobb Magistrate judge
  • Daniele Johnson, private attorney
  • James Luttrell, private attorney
  • Taneesha Marshall, regional counsel, Federal Aviation Administration
  • Gerald Moore, private attorney

Cobb State Court incumbent judges Ashley Palmer, Bridgette Campbell Glenn, Jason Fincher and Eric Brewton have qualified without opposition.

Cobb Solicitor Barry Morgan is retiring, with two Democrats and one Republican qualifying in the race to succeed him.

Primary runoffs are scheduled for June 21.

For more local information, including absentee voting, voter registration, maps and an elections calendar, visit the Cobb Elections website.

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Chattahoochee Nature Center to debut River Boardwalk Trail

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CNC Boardwalk Trail

The Chattahoochee Nature Center will have a grand opening and ribbon-cutting for its new River Boardwalk Trail and Connection Bridge on Tuesday, March 15 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The project—funded by support from CNC trustees and staff, individuals, foundations, corporations and government—restores a 2,000-foot river boardwalk.

It includes a pedestrian bridge over Willeo Road with ADA-accessible ramps and connects with the CNC main campus.

The River Boardwalk Trail and Connection Bridge was completed through Phase I of CNC’s “Bridging.Teaching.Inspiring.” capital campaign.

Grand opening day is slated for Sunday, March 20 and includes free admission.

For more information, visit the CNC website.

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