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:
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!
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.
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.
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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 response included 28 personnel, four engines, one truck, one rescue vehicle, an air truck and a specialty unit.
The above photos were taken by Cobb Fire; Sadie has passed along the following photos of the interior of the destroyed home.
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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.
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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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
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.
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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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 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.
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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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.
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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.
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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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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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:
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!
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.
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.
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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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.
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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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.
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“The last thing we want to do is remove services for residents of unincorporated Cobb,” Cobb Fire Chief Bill Johnson said.
Public safety services for the proposed City of East Cobb generated much of the discussion at a town hall meeting held Wednesday night by Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid.
It’s the first of several town halls county officials will be holding in the coming weeks as voters in East Cobb, Lost Mountain and Vinings will decide cityhood referendums on May 24. A Mableton cityhood bill is still being considered in the Georgia legislature.
County leaders said they cannot take official positions on cityhood, but said their sessions are meant to be informational.
Questions were submitted by citizens in advance and read on index cards by Cobb public information officer Ross Cavitt.
(You can watch a replay of Wednesday’s town hall, which lasted around an hour, by clicking here. Dates and locations for future town halls are to be determined.)
At a Cobb Board of Commissioners work session in February, county finance head Bill Volckmann said the impact to the county budget would be $41.4 million annually if all four cities are created. (The county has created a cityhood page that is being updated.)
Of that, they estimate $23 million would come out of East Cobb alone (East Cobb cityhood leaders have taken issue with those financials, saying they’re misleading).
That’s because only East Cobb is proposing to have its own police and fire departments and an E911 service.
The leaders of those agencies for Cobb County government said at the town hall they’re still learning about the details of those services in East Cobb.
But they all said it’s likely that response time for those services will rise for citizens in a new City of East Cobb.
East Cobb would have two fire stations—current Cobb Station No. 21 on Lower Roswell Road and current Cobb Station No. 15 on Oak Lane.
Cobb Fire Chief Bill Johnson said those two stations would have to expand their current footprints by 13 percent to serve a City of East Cobb with nearly 60,000 residents and covering 25 square miles.
The problem, he said, is that citizens on the western edge of the city are currently served by Station No. 20 on Sewell Mill Road, No. 3 on Terrell Mill Road, No. 19 on Powers Ferry Road and No. 3 next to the Mountain View Regional Library, all of which would remain in unincorporated Cobb.
“They absolutely will see an increase in their response time,” Johnson said.
Should a City of East Cobb be formed, mutual aid agreements would be negotiated with Cobb Police and Cobb Fire, which have similar agreements with the existing six cities in the county, to provide backup.
Cobb Fire officials said citizens in the red shaded areas in the proposed East Cobb city and currently serviced by fire stations in unincorporated Cobb would have higher response times.
An East Cobb Police Department would be stationed at current Cobb Precinct 4 headquarters, with an estimated 71 officers, according to a financial feasibility study prepared for the Committee for East Cobb Cityhood.
Interim Cobb Police Chief Scott Hamilton echoed Johnson, and said that “if anybody needs help, we’ll come. At the end of the day, we’re a family and we all take care of each other. But response times are going to get longer.”
Cobb public safety leaders said they haven’t had any contact with East Cobb Cityhood proponents, but some meetings are slated to begin next week.
Cobb E911 director Melissa Altiero said she’s unclear if East Cobb would be handling its own emergency calls or have them answered by Cobb.
She said Cobb answers calls inside the City of Marietta, which has its own police and fire services, “and it’s a seamless response.”
Transferring calls from one call center to another, she said, takes an average of 40 seconds.
Altiero also said she would be concerned about misrouted calls further delaying response time in a City of East Cobb, and said there’s nothing in the East Cobb financial study about what kind of radio system it would have.
That study proposes transferring the 2.86 mills in the Cobb Fire Fund to provide the main revenue source for a city with an estimated $27.7 million annual budget (and that also provide planning and zoning, code enforcement and possibly parks and recreation services).
Johnson said that would amount to $14 million in lost revenue for the Cobb Fire Department, out of annual budget of $110 million.
What that would mean for the county fire department is uncertain, financially or in affecting its service levels.
“The last thing we want to do is remove services to unincorporated Cobb,” Johnson said. “The citizens have come to expect a high level of service and we want to continue to provide that service.”
Before those remarks, Cavitt read a citizen question to Cupid about whether the county would increase taxes to offset the loss of revenue due to new cities being formed, but she deflected it.
“It depends,” Cupid said. “But I am not aware of a new city that has been formed that has not raised taxes.
“If somebody can show me a new city that has not raised taxes, then no, your taxes won’t be raised. Will they be raised immediately, if this moves forward on the May ballot? The answer is no.
“In the short run, no would be a qualified answer. But in the long run, I have yet to be pointed to a new city that has not been formed where they have not had some increases in taxes.”
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The Marietta-based Georgia Symphony Orchestra will have a sensory-friendly concert on Saturday with soft lighting and moderated volumes.
The concert takes place at 2 p.m. at the Performing Arts Center at Marietta High School (1171 Whitlock Ave.), with an instrument petting zoo preceding that at 1 p.m.
The works to be played include the “Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major” by Johann Sebastian Bach; “Capriol Suite” by Peter Warlock; “Gabriel’s Oboe” by Ennio Morricone and selections by Frederick Delius, Karl Jenkins and John-Baptiste Lully.
The GSO Chorus also will perform Johannes Brahms’ “How Lovely is My Dwelling Place” and Eric Whitacre’s “Sing Gently.”
The event also features a quiet zone, and the selections will be explained by GSO Music Director and Conductor Timothy Verville.
Masks are required (except for for sensory-sensitive patrons) and attendees 18 and over must show proof of full vaccination for COVID-19.
Tickets are $10 per person and can be purchased by clicking here.
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The 2016 Cobb SPLOST (Special Local-Option Sales Tax) expired at the end of 2021.
But county officials say the five-year revenue collection period generated nearly $114 million more than projected revenues.
So on Tuesday, they went before the Cobb Board of Commissioners to identity eligible projects on the 2016 list that needed additional funding.
Commissioners adopted a recommended list to fund projects in transportation, fire, parks, property management and the Cobb Sheriff’s Office to the tune of $31.8 million.
(You can read a line-item list of the projects by clicking here.)
The biggest chunk ($15.1 million) will go to Cobb DOT, including $8.5 million in local matching funds for state and federal projects; $3 million for drainage system improvements; $2 million to repair a sinkhole on Leland Drive and $1 million for the Silver Comet Trail Connector.
Another $5.7 million will be used for a firing range facility and equipment to be shared by the Cobb Police Department and the Cobb Sheriff’s Office, as part of $6.8 million dedicated for property management projects.
Parks facilities will receive $4.1 million, and an additional $2 million for the Cobb Sheriff’s Office will go for replacing vehicles and maintaining jail facilities.
The Cobb Fire training facility will get $3.7 million for renovations.
Cobb voters approved a new six-year SPLOST for county government projects in November.
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Submitted by the Cobb County Public Library System:
Two Job Fair 2022 events for teens and young adults are on the April calendar of Cobb County Public Library.
Job Fairs are scheduled for Switzer Library, 266 Roswell Street in downtown Marietta, on April 9 and North Cobb Regional Library, 3535 Old 41 Highway, located near North Cobb High School, on April 23. Both Saturday events will be from noon to 3 p.m.
Jobseekers, ages 16-22, are asked to bring printed resumes to share with employers. The events are also for businesses seeking motivated full- and part-time employees. Employers may contact a library representative at the Cobb library location nearest their job locations for more information on participating.
For information and resources on preparing for a job search and for updates on the springtime Cobb Library Teen/Young Adult Job Fairs, including lists of confirmed participating employers, visit cobbcat.org.
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East Cobb cityhood group member Sarah Haas explains how a mayor and city council members would be elected in November if the May 24 referendum passes.
In their first face-to-face meeting with the public, leaders of the East Cobb Cityhood effort on Monday addressed claims that development interests are driving their campaign.
It’s a charge that’s been made since the cityhood movement first began in 2019, and was renewed over the weekend by a group opposed to the May 24 East Cobb referendum.
At a town hall meeting Monday at Olde Towne Athletic Club, the Committee for East Cobb Cityhoodonce again stressed that their main objective is fostering local control of basic services and preserving the suburban nature of the community.
On Saturday, a citizens group opposed to the new city pointed out that the pro-cityhood group’s behind-the-scenes leader is a longtime retail real estate executive and expressed concern that high-density development wouldn’t be far behind.
The tax base of the proposed City of East Cobb is 91 percent residential and nine percent commercial, according to a financial feasibility study prepared for the cityhood group.
Chapin’s remark drew considerable applause, and followed emphatic remarks by former State Rep. Matt Dollar that having elected officials who live in the East Cobb area, and not other parts of the county, is vital to shaping the future of the community.
“They care. They give a damn about what goes here because they live here,” said Dollar, the bill’s main sponsor who resigned from the legislature last month. “It’s local control. It’s people you know making the decisions.”
That’s been the thrust of the cityhood group’s messaging since it was revived in 2021. Unlike the abandoned 2019 effort, this one has been centered around planning and zoning, especially in light of the East Cobb Church rezoning case last year that galvanized residents on either side in the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford corridor.
In noting the future of two major retail centers—Parkaire Landing and The Avenue, the latter of which is slated for a major overhaul—committee spokeswoman Cindy Cooperman said an East Cobb city government would be better-suited to work as a partner in redevelopment than a county government that’s serving nearly 800,000 with five commissioners.
“That brings more seats to the table, especially when it comes to zoning,” she said. “It really is a question of scale.” For a number of years, she said, the Cobb commission “worked fine.”
The East Cobb Cityhood group said citizens of a new city will pay the same taxes as they do now.
Fellow committee member Sarah Haas said that “it is our desire to tailor [certain services now provided by the county] to the community.”
The cityhood group also was pressed to back up its pledge that property taxes wouldn’t be raised beyond the millage rates that would be transferred from county government.
The proposed city would provide five of the 17 current services provided by the county—planning and zoning, code enforcement, police, fire and parks and recreation.
Residents of the city of East Cobb would still pay a tax bill of 30.35 mills (with 18.9 mills going to the Cobb County School District) as residents in unincorporated Cobb.
The city’s main funding source would be transferring the 2.86 mills of the current Cobb Fire Fund.
“Cities manage better—it’s a smaller footprint,” Chapin said, noting that state law does not permit duplication of services between cities and counties. “It’s not another layer of government.”
But the addition of police and fire services to the mix, and a financial feasibility study, has raised more questions.
While audience members on Monday did not directly ask questions—they were read from index cards by a moderator—cityhood group leaders were asked to explain how public safety facilities would be acquired.
The proposed city would house its police station at the current Cobb Precinct 4 headquarters along with current Cobb fire station 21 at the East Cobb Government Service Center, and also include current Cobb fire station 15 on Oak Lane.
Cooperman cited state law calling for a $5,000 transfer fee for those facilities and “their fixtures,” which she said included equipment (which the East Cobb Alliance disputes).
How a City of East Cobb might purchase the county-owned former Tritt property next to East Cobb Park is “unknown,” according to the cityhood group.
Should a city be created, she said, mutual aid agreements would be crafted during a two-year transition period.
That transition, should it come to pass, also might include negotiations with the county over parks and recreation services.
Parks and recreation services were examined in the feasibility study, but questions remain on how a City of East Cobb would acquire land adjacent to East Cobb Park.
In 2018 Cobb purchased 22 acres of the Tritt property with SPLOST funds, and the 2022 SPLOST referendum, if passed, includes the purchase of the remaining 24 acres of that land.
The Tritt property has been envisioned as being an extension of East Cobb Park, featuring pedestrian trails.
Cityhood group member Scott Sweeney said the process for obtaining that land (at $100 an acre), should a City of East Cobb come to fruition, would be an “unknown,” and Dollar said “it will just get worked out.”
Citizens also asked about the impact of an East Cobb city on schools, which are operated separately by the Cobb County School District.
Sweeney, a former Cobb school board member, stressed that a new city wouldn’t change the current senior exemption from school taxes for homeowners 62 and older.
With cityhood referendums on the May 24 ballot in Lost Mountain and Vinings as well as East Cobb, Cobb County government is holding a cityhood town hall Wednesday at 6 p.m. (more information here).
At least two other East Cobb referendum forums have been scheduled for now: April 19 by the East Cobb Business Association, and on May 4 at Pope High School by the Rotary Club of East Cobb.
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