An East Cobb Veterans Day celebration scheduled for Nov. 10 is free to veterans and family members of those who have served.
UPDATE: We’ve been notified that the reservation limit has been reached. In other words, it’s “sold” out; however you can put your name on a waiting list.
However, they are required to register by the end of next week, Nov. 3, to reserve their place, and they must do so in person. There’s also a ticket limit (see details below).
The East Cobb Senior Center and the East Cobb McCleskey Family YMCA and Northeast Cobb YMCA are teaming up to sponsor the event, which takes place from 5-8 p.m. Nov. 10 at the East Cobb Senior Center, 3332 Sandy Plains Road.
The event includes music and dinner, and the special guest is Cobb commission chairman Mike Boyce, a retired U.S. Marine Corps officer.
More from Cobb District 3 commissioner JoAnn Birrell:
“The keynote speaker will be Cobb County Chairman Col. Mike Boyce (Ret.). . . Doors will open at 4:45 p.m. for seating and fellowship. Program will begin promptly at 5 p.m.
Anyone who desires to attend must register no later than Friday, Nov. 3. Registration is open to those 18 years of age and older and you must visit the East Cobb Senior Center’s front desk to request a ticket. Limit two tickets per household.
“For more info, contact the East Cobb Senior Center at 770-509-4900 or McCleskey and Northeast Cobb YMCAs at 770-977-5991.”
Several Terrell Mill Road traffic improvements to accommodate the relocations of Brumby Elementary School and East Cobb Middle School were approved Tuesday by the Cobb Board of Commissioners.
The commissioners approved a measure to spend $427,656 for a new traffic signal, a sidewalk and flashing beacons around the new school sites, which are under construction adjacent to one another and are set to open for the 2018-19 school year.
The low bid was from Glosson Enterprises, Inc., and the work is expected to be done by July 22, 2018—a little more than a week before the start of school.
The money is earmarked from the 2016 Cobb government SPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax).
The signal will be installed at Terrell Mill Road and Greenwood Trail, at the joint entrances to the schools. The sidewalk will be constructed on the north side of Greenwood Trail, from Terrell Mill Road to Foxcroft Circle. Here’s more from Cobb DOT:
“To mitigate impacts of the new signal at Terrell Mill Road and Greenwood Trail and along the Terrell Mill Road Corridor, the adaptive signal timing area will be expanded to include the new signal and four other existing area traffic signals.”
The commissioners also approved a measure that would allow Cobb DOT to begin condemnation proceedings against two property owners in the area should right-of-way negotiations with them fall through.
Cobb DOT said discussions are continuing with Victoria Kelly and Erin Bell, property owners at 3141 and 3142 Greenwood Trail, respectively, both located at the intersection of Terrell Mill Road.
The county needs 253 square feet and 430 square feet, respectively, from the property owners for right-of-way and construction easements to complete the traffic improvements. Condemnation would be employed only to meet project deadlines.
Not for the first time, Mabry Park construction plans have been put on hold. The three members of the Cobb Board of Commissioners who voted on Tuesday to table the item are pledging that it won’t be for long, but that it must be done.
The Northeast Cobb commissioner who fought long and hard for her community to have a passive park doesn’t think any further delays are necessary, even though this one may be for only a month.
“It’s long overdue,” commissioner JoAnn Birrell said, choking up with emotion and pleading for her colleagues to approve a $2.85 million construction contract at Tuesday’s regular meeting. “I see no reason to hold this.”
By a 3-2 vote, however, the commissioners voted to table approval of the contract, to Integrated Construction and Nobility, Inc., with the measure slated to be taken up again on Nov. 14.
Commission chairman Mike Boyce wants Mabry Park and other projects approved by voters through SPLOST referendums to be reviewed for long-term operations and maintenance costs, since that funding comes out of the annual county budget.
The SPLOST impact statements and a policy proposed by Boyce to govern them are among the topics at a commissioners retreat next week. That’s why Boyce said he sought the delay.
By law, projects approved via SPLOST (Special Local Option Sales Tax) must be funded. How to pay for their recurring expenses has been a vexing one for commissioners, who recently voted to spend $20 million in reserve money to balance the fiscal year 2018 budget.
“The project that got caught between a rock and a hard place is Mabry Park,” Boyce said. “We’re going to commit to these parks, but we have a bigger problem here and we need to solve this now.”
Boyce was supported by East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott, whose district now includes Mabry Park, and Bob Weatherford.
Tabling the Mabry Park contract approval comes a week after the commissioners hotly debated additional funding for the new Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center, another SPLOST project that has more staff and higher operational costs than the East Marietta Library it is replacing.
The Cobb Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs has indicated that once that complete, Mabry Park will incur an initial one-time cost of $22,230 for maintenance tools and equipment. Starting with the fiscal year 2019 budget, ongoing annual expenses are estimated to be $104,922. Of that total, $73,122 will go for staff salaries and benefits, and another $31,800 is projected for utilities and operational supplies.
Birrell cited the decade-long process of SPLOST approval, the development of the park master plan and the formation of the Friends of Mabry Park citizens group, which has raised more than $60,000 to help fund the project, located on 26.5 acres at Wesley Chapel Road and Sandy Plains Road.
Commissioner JoAnn Birrell represented the area around Mabry Park until this year following redistricting. (East Cobb News file photo)
“It’s a crying shame that we’re still discussing the construction of Mabry Park,” she said.
But Ott, who inherited the Mabry Park area this year due to redistricting, said it’s prudent for a delay so the board can work through the impact statement policy.
“We cannot continue to build things and not open them because they’re not funded,” Ott said.
He also pointed to unfinished projects in his district, including Hyde Farm (whose proponents have raised more than $350,000) and shifting $1 million in sidewalk funding as part of a series of “very difficult” decisions that have had to be made because of existing commitments.
Hania Whitfield, a former executive board member of the Friends of Mabry Park, was one of several citizens who spoke Tuesday to urge the commissioners to approve the construction contract.
“Many have lost faith they will be able to use the park,” especially seniors, she said. “There is an indisputable lack of green space access in the Northeast Cobb portion of the county.”
Boyce, supported by parks advocates during his successful campaign last year to oust former chairman Tim Lee, said the need to hammer out an impact statement policy can’t be postponed.
“We have to stop and put this together,” he said. “We have to start with something.
“Once we get this process in place, we will never have this problem again.”
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A few readers have asked about what’s coming in the former Uncle Maddio’s Pizza spot at Providence Square Shopping Center. We went by recently and renovations are still underway for a new Salata location, but there’s not an estimated time of opening beyond the fall.
Salata is making its way into the Atlanta area, with a recent opening at Atlantic Station and another restaurant planned for Sandy Springs. Uncle Maddio’s closed at Providence Square earlier this year.
The discount store Five Below is moving into a former party store space between T.J. Maxx and Rack Room Shoes. Opening is scheduled for the spring and hiring has begun.
Five Below also has locations near Town Center, Sandy Springs and Woodstock.
Do you know of a new business coming soon to East Cobb? Wonder what might be going into a vacant space? Get in touch with us! E-mail editor@eastcobbnews.com and we’ll update the community.
Eden Rock Real Estate Partners aerial rendering of the Terrell Mill Towne Center.
What’s currently the location of Brumby Elementary School and adjoining office and retail space along Powers Ferry Road is set to become the Terrell Mill Towne Center.
That’s the name the developers of a proposed 23-acre mixed-use project at the northwest intersection of Terrell Mill and Powers Ferry are calling their project. It is to be anchored by a 100,000-square-foot Kroger superstore, and plans include restaurant and retail space and 340 luxury residential units.
That meeting takes place at 7 p.m. at Brumby Elementary School, 1306 Powers Ferry Road. The PFCA, a citizens’ organization, was formerly called the Terrell Mill Community Association.
County development, public safety, transportation and school officials also have been invited to attend.
Brumby, which is relocating for the next school year to a new site on Terrell Mill Road, is where the new Kroger would be built (and moving down Powers Ferry from its current venue near Delk Road).
(Here’s a marketing package Eden Rock has prepared for potential tenants, touting the location’s proximity to SunTrust Park and the new Terrell Mill interchange with Interstate 75 that’s slated to open next spring.)
Eden Rock’s zoning application (here’s the most recently updated agenda item packet) has been delayed several months. The proposal would convert land currently zoned for general commerical, neighborhood shopping and residential (that’s Brumby, as are most schools) to a community retail center.
The Cobb Planning Commission will hear the application on Dec. 5, and the Cobb Board of Commissioners are scheduled to act on Dec. 12.
This will be the final round of zoning decisions in Cobb until February, since the commissioners do not hear zoning cases in January.
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Halloween is exactly a week from today, and already many East Cobb homes, neighborhoods and businesses are decked out in creative ways.
We saw this leisurely display in the Riverhill neighborhood off Johnson Ferry Road, and thought we’d solicit more Halloween community photos.
All you have to do is e-mail us and attach your photo(s) to: wendy@eastcobbnews.com. Let us know who you are and where you live so we can give you proper credit as we try to get a good representative sampling from all around East Cobb.
At the end of the week, as Oct. 31 rolls around, we’ll publish a photo gallery.
In the meantime, check out these community Halloween events, some of which are taking place during the week, and go by one of these East Cobb churches for a pumpkin. These pumpkin patches are open every day through Halloween.
“Tommy” will make his debut at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Nov. 4 at Egg Harbor Cafe in East Cobb. (Photo provided by Play It Again Pianos)
Back in July East Cobb Park was the benefactor of a community piano program thanks to Play Me Again Pianos, a local non-profit (previous East Cobb Newspost here).
“Sunny,” named after East Cobb Park advocate Sunny Walker and located in the upper gazebo, will have some nearby accompaniment of sorts soon, at Egg Harbor Cafe (4719 Lower Roswell Road, Suite 210), on Nov. 4.
That’s when “Tommy” will be unveiled during a ribbon-cutting at 12 p.m. Like “Sunny,” the first tunes played on “Tommy” will be by a young local student musician.
It’s the latest in a community piano program started last year by East Cobb-based Play Me Again Pianos, co-founded by Jason and Kelly Brett. Their aim is to purchase, restore, paint and place 88 pianos throughout the metro Atlanta area, designed for community use.
Angela Lockman, East Cobb Middle School art teacher.
“Tommy” is also locally painted, by Angela Decker Lockman, a visual arts teacher at East Cobb Middle School.
Here’s Lockman, last year’s Middle School Art Specialist of the Year for the Cobb County School District, on how she went about her work:
The Bretts said “Tommy” is named after a member of the family-run Egg Harbor Cafe business. Unlike others in the family who had menu items named after them, there was no mention of Tommy on menus or business literature or logos.
Other Play Me Again Pianos are located in Chastain Park, The Woodruff Arts Center, Colony Square, the Dunwoody Nature Center, the Chamblee Rail Trail, Brookhaven, Ponce City Market, Atlantic Station and Alpharetta.
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The long-delayed development of a passive park in Northeast Cobb could formally come to fruition Tuesday night. On the Cobb Board of Commissioners regular meeting agenda is an item that would provide funding for a Mabry Park construction contract.
The meeting starts at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the 2nd floor boardroom of the Cobb BOC building, 100 Cherokee, St., in downtown Marietta.
Alow-bid proposal of $2.85 million was submitted by Integrated Construction and Nobility, Inc., of Whitesburg, Ga., to develop the 26.5-acre tract of land at 4470 Wesley Chapel Road designated for Mabry Park.
The county purchased the Mabry Park land with funding from the 2006 Cobb Parks Bond Program, but has nothing further due to the recession.
In August, bids for the construction project went out, and the Friends of Mabry Park citizens group was ecstatic. The group has tempered its enthusiasm somewhat because of longer-term funding issues.
A message on the Friends of Mabry Park Facebook page urged supporters to turn out for Tuesday’s meeting because “we need to let the Board know how important Mabry Park is to our area!!” Here’s more:
“We’re not home free yet… While the park was voted on and approved by the residents of Cobb, funded in the SPLOST and is required to be built, there are rumors that it could be delayed while funding for future maintenance is resolved.
“It’s been 11 years since the County purchased the land. We’ve waited long enough…”
The Mabry Park construction contract item comes on the heels of the commission’s delayed vote earlier this month to fund additional staffing for the new Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center.
Commissioners adopted a fiscal year 2018 budget in September that includes contingency funding to close a $21 million shortfall. This came not long after they declined to increase the property tax millage rate.
While Cobb voters have approved new facilities in the SPLOST, annual funding of operations comes from the county budget, and commissioners have hotly debated how to resolve the issue.
In a related item on Tuesday’s agenda, the board will vote on choosing a contractor for sidewalk improvements that include servicing Mabry Park once it’s developed. A low bid of $783,000 for the 0.4-mile project was submitted by Excellere Construction of East Cobb.
The sidewalk will be built on the east side of Wesley Chapel Road from Garrison Mill Elementary School to Sandy Plains Road, connecting pedestrians to nearby subdivisions as well as Mabry Park.
Late October and it’s all green in many East Cobb neighborhoods. (East Cobb News photo by Wendy Parker)
One of the things my mother misses most since her move to Florida a number of years ago is a real, authentic autumn. That East Cobb fall feeling, I always called it, at least in my own mind.
A native of Wisconsin, she grew to relish the four full, distinct seasons we seem to have in Georgia. While coming here was initially culture shock for her—this was the South of the early 1960s, as air conditioning, school integration and multiple-lane roads were still new—she grew to regard the place as home.
It’s still home for me, the only member of the family who hasn’t relocated to the Florida panhandle or Alabama Gulf Coast (perhaps I should take a hint?). Like mother, I really do revere the autumns around here, and drives through neighborhoods in East Cobb like where we once lived, that still retain the trees and feel of a community as it was coming to be what we know it today.
When I traversed down our old residential street the other day, it looked very different than how it always did in late October. The lush green colors gave off the feel of mid-summer, instead of the yellow, orange and brown of autumn.
In fact, if you go most anywhere in the community, it doesn’t feel like fall at all. Even East Cobb Park, with its majestic backdrop of high trees framing a singular shade of green, dark green, and hardly any leaves falling anywhere.
Don’t get me wrong: I’m not complaining about 70-degree temperatures, for when they go away, they will disappear fast, with a cold winter likely setting in.
For the moment, however, it’s just a different feeling, a week before Halloween, without the natural accompaniment to go with the pumpkin patches and other signs of the coming holiday seasons.
They will be here soon enough, with November just around the corner. While these Indian Summer days are a nice reward for enduring the heat of June, July and August, I’m eager for the fall to start feeling like it, and the beautiful sights of the season that for me is the most special of all.
Whatever you’re doing this week, make it a great one! Thanks so much for reading East Cobb News!
If you travel along Lower Roswell Road around the Sope Creek Bridge, you’re still subjected to the weekday lane closures that have been in place since the East Cobb Pipeline Project began in late 2015.
Well, there is a projected end date for the delays as the post-installation Lower Roswell Road work nears completion: Nov. 1, according to Commissioner Bob Ott’s office, which sent out word Friday.
It was a brief message, noting that “final paving will be done in the evening hours. Thank you to everyone for your patience over the year. Hopefully traffic patterns will return to pre-pipeline.”
Further west on Lower Roswell, repaving work continues between Holt Road and the South Marietta Parkway as part of a separate traffic improvements project that includes road widening and turn lanes, especially around Sedalia Park Elementary School and Eastvalley Elementary School. Here’s more from Ott’s office about that:
This project consists of widening Lower Roswell Road from approximately 425 feet east of SR120/South Marietta Parkway to Holt Road, and includes the addition of left-turn lanes, right-turn lanes, and signal modifications. The project will also add sidewalks within the project limits, and will include resurfacing from SR120/South Marietta Parkway to Terrell Mill Road. Resurfacing Operations NIGHT WORK – are scheduled through Sunday, Nov. 12, on Lower Roswell Road between Utica Drive and South Marietta Parkway. Expect lane closures between 7 p.m. and 5 a.m. with one lane remaining open at all times.
The portion of Lower Roswell between Terrell Mill and Holt has been repaved, but there is still striping work to be done.
The Walton football team under first-year coach Daniel Brunner remains undefeated and has now sewn up a state playoff spot.
The Raiders did that on Friday night at Raider Valley in a 42-19 win over East Cobb rival Lassiter in a key Region 4AAAAAAA contest.
Although starting Walton quarterback Austin Kirksey didn’t return following a third-quarter injury, running back D.J. Soyoye more than made for his loss with two touchdown scores in the second half as the Raiders (8-0) pulled away from the Trojans (4-3) down the stretch.
Walton, which has regular season games remaining against Etowah and Woodstock, is the first East Cobb high school football team to qualify for the state playoffs.
Lassiter is still in contention for a post-season berth and will close out against Cherokee and Etowah.
Sprayberry was hopeful at the start of the season with a new coach, former Yellow Jackets player Brett Vavra. After winning their opener, however, they lost six in a row. On Friday at home, Sprayberry ended that skid with a 17-14 win over River Ridge. Sprayberry doesn’t have a post-season shot, but has two games left against Creekside and Sequoyah to try to finish with some momentum.
The three other East Cobb teams suffered some heartbreak on Friday, with playoff berths within reach.
The Kell Longhorns took a 28-7 lead at home against Carrollton, with a chance to nail down a home playoff game. But Carrollton surged back and kicked a field goal with time expiring to earn a 45-42 victory. The Longhorns (4-4) are still in the hunt for the post-season, and play Woodland and Hiram over the next two weeks.
Pope fell behind early at Chattahoochee on Friday, then mounted a comeback that fell short in another wild finish, a 46-41 loss. The Greyhounds are 3-5 and have an outside playoff chance, with games remaining against Centennial and Northview.
Wheeler led a good bit of the night on Friday at Campbell, but were defeated 35-23 to fall to 2-6 on the season. The Wildcats also are winless in regional play and will close out their season against Westlake and Pebblebrook.
A week that was supposed to have been a festive one for Sam Olens has turned out to be very different.
Olens, an East Cobb resident and former Cobb commission chairman and Georgia Attorney General, was formally installed this week as the president of Kennesaw State University.
It’s a post Olens has held since last year, but what’s called the “investiture” ceremony was scheduled for Thursday.
Some KSU students used the occasion to stage a protest in support of five cheerleaders who were removed from the football field before games because they were kneeling during the national anthem.
That decision came after Cobb Sheriff Neil Warren and Earl Erhart, a Republican state representative from Cobb County, objected to the demonstrations.
Olens, who developed a reputation as a strong consensus builder during his time leading Cobb County government, has said little about the controversy.
As reported by the Cobb County Courier and the KSU Sentinel, Olens said nothing during Thursday’s installation speech. He also has denied feeling the pressure from Warren and Erhart, although text messages made public reveal that the two elected officials credited themselves with the decision to keep the cheerleaders away from pre-game activities.
Olens’ tenure has been relatively quiet since the early weeks of his administration, which was met with some opposition. Those complaints included the lack of a full search process and his lack of a higher education administrative background.
Last month, Olens was the special guest of both the East Cobb Business Association and the Northeast Cobb Business Association.
That was right before the cheerleaders began to kneel, and now the Georgia Board of Regents will be conducting a review of the matter.
On Saturday, the Kennesaw State football team will be playing its first home game since the controversy began. The Owls play host to Gardner-Webb for homecoming at 7 p.m.
The Walton and Pope volleyball teams will be playing host to Georgia High School Association state quarterfinal matches on Saturday.
The Walton Raiders, defending state champions and ranked No. 1 in Class 7A, will entertain South Forsyth at 2 p.m. in the Walton gym, aka The Pit. The Raiders are 37-1 on the season, and their only loss came in recently in an Arizona tournament to Mater Dei of California, which is ranked in the Top 10 nationally.
The Walton team is marking the match as a “black out”—asking fans to wear black. If you need something black to wear, they’ll be selling Black Pit Crew t-shirts and hoodies at the match.
According to the latest national rankings by MaxPrep, Walton is at No. 2 in the country and is the only school from Georgia in the Top 25.
At 3 p.m. Saturday, the Pope Greyhounds (32-8), will take on Greenbrier of Evans, Ga. (near Augusta). The Greyhounds are repeating their 2016 trip to the Class 6A Elite Eight and are looking for their first state championship since 2011.
Lassiter’s season ended earlier this week in a state tournament loss to East Coweta. The Trojans finished with a record of 18-11.
Admission to both the Walton and Pope volleyball matches Saturday is $5. The winners will advance to the semifinals next Wednesday.
The state championship round takes place next Saturday, Oct. 28, at Marietta High School.
The Sprayberry Band of Gold once again is host of the Southern Invitational Music Festival, from 10-10 on Saturday at Jim Frazier Stadium.
It’s finally starting to really feel like fall, and with Halloween coming in just a little more than a week, so are the pumpkin-related East Cobb weekend events:
Kicking off one of many such Halloween activities on Saturday is the Haunted Hustle Race, a 1k/5k event at the Northeast Cobb YMCA (3010 Johnson Ferry Road). The shorter race starts at 7:30 a.m. with the feature event following at 8;
Don’t forget the ongoing Pumpkin Patches at several East Cobb churches that continue all the way to Halloween. They’re open daily and generally have extended hours on the weekends;
The high school football regular season is reaching its climax, and with crisp fall weather in the air the timing couldn’t be better for an East Cobb backyard rivalry game on Friday. It’s Lassiter at undefeated and state-ranked Walton, at 7:30 p.m. at Raider Valley (1590 Bill Murdock Road), with region and playoff implications on the line;
In other games on Friday, Kell is playing host to Carrollton, and Sprayberry is also at home against River Ridge. Wheeler and Pope travel to Campbell and Chattahoochee, respectively;
Sprayberry’s Jim Frazier Stadium (2525 Sandy Plains Road) will be an extra busy place this weekend, continuing on Saturday with the 34th annual Southern Invitational Music Festival. The hosts Sprayberry Band of Gold are putting on the judged competition that lasts from 10-10, with prep marching bands coming from around the Southeast;
Saturday also will be a quick turnaround for the Lassiter band, which is putting on the Lassiter Band Community Recycling Day from 9-4 at the school (2601 Shallowford Road);
While the weather’s supposed to be in the 70s and at least partly sunny this weekend, there are some indoor events worth noting here, including the Roman Reads Family Storytime session from 2:30-3:30 at Mountain View Regional Library (3320 Sandy Plains Road). It’s aimed at grade school to middle school kids and is presented by the Wheeler High School Junior Classical League;
If you like your drama staged and indoors, there’s the Pope Theater version of “12 Angry Jurors” continues Friday and Saturday at 7, plus a Saturday matinee at 3 at the school (3001 Hembree Road).
Check out our full calendar listings page for more things to do this weekend and beyond. Did we miss something? Have an event you’d like to share with the East Cobb community? E-mail your calendar listing to: calendar@eastcobbnews.com and we’ll post it ASAP! Here’s more information on how to send your news to East Cobb News!
The following East Cobb restaurant scores from Sept. 21-Oct. 19 have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing to view details of the inspection:
The last home games of the season for the Pope softball team were close, but were clinchers for the Greyhounds as they advanced to the Georgia High School Association finals once again.
Pope defeated Harrison 1-0 and 3-0 in a doubleheader Wednesday afternoon, and will be headed to the GHSA Final Eight next week in Columbus.
That’s the fifth time in the last six seasons for the Greyhounds (29-4), who reached the Class 6A semifinals in 2016.
Pope’s first game in the double-elimination round will be next Thursday morning at 11 against Evans High School of Augusta.
Another East Cobb team playing in the Class 7A state tournament was eliminated Wednesday. Lassiter lost a doubleheader on the road to Lowndes by 2-0 and 4-3 scores. The Lady Trojans finished with a 22-10 record.
Freshman pitcher Hallie Adams won both games for Pope, getting the game-winning run in the first game from Bailey Chapin, another freshman. Adams followed her one-hitter in the nightcap with a little more run support, as Chapin, senior Hannah Rogers and Leah Higgs drove in the runs for the Greyhounds to book another trip to Columbus.
Grace Kittrell was 2-for-4 at the plate for Pope.
In the Class 6A finals, another Cobb County team, Allatoona, also will be competing. But the biggest obstacle for Pope, should the Greyhounds advance, may be a team in their own region. Pope recently defeated Cambridge High School of North Fulton to win the Region 7-AAAAAA title.
However, Cambridge returns to Columbus as the defending state champion. Should Cambridge and Pope continue to advance, they could meet for the state championship as well.
Marietta Police say two men were taken to Kennestone Hospital Wednesday following a Delk Road motel shooting.
The men, whose names were not released, appear to have non-life-threatening injuries after shooting one another at the Rodeway Inn & Suites, 2375 Delk Road, according to police.
Police said the men were inside one of the rooms of the motel when the shooting began.
The Rodeway Inn is located near Delk and the Interstate 75 interchange in an area with similar motels, restaurants and convenience businesses.
Police said they are continuing to interview witnesses as their investigation continues.
We drove by Paper Mill Village this afternoon and saw that the much-anticipated opening of La Novia Taqueria (by Chas D’Huyvetter and his Moxie Burger venture) is getting closer.
While there’s no specific date that’s been announced yet (we’re placing a call and will update with that information when we get it) there is a hiring sign that’s been posted. On the Moxie Burger Facebook page, the following message was posted on Monday:
“Moxie’s girlfriend La Novia is gearing up for their opening. We are looking for hardworking responsible applicants. Help us spread the word.”
The La Novia space is next to Camp’s Kitchen and was formerly occupied by Valentino’s and Caffé Fortunato. The exterior has been repainted from its previous charcoal look.
La Novia Taqueria will be the fourth restaurant for D’Huyvetter, a Pope High School graduate who opened his first Moxie Burger at Paper Mill Village in March 2012, and has expanded to Shallowford and Trickum Roads and to Founders Square in downtown Roswell.
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Cobb Police Chief Mike Register (third from left) and commissioner JoAnn Birrell (center) with members of the Bells Ferry Civic Association at Saturday’s Keep Cobb Beautiful project. (Cobb Police Department photo)
Press release:
Commissioner JoAnn Birrell, Police Chief Mike Register, and about a dozen of his officers joined a group pounding the pavement to clean up the Bells Ferry Road corridor on Saturday. The county leaders joined members of the Bells Ferry Civic Association in the effort. The Association keeps tabs on the stretch of Bells Ferry near I-575 as part of the “Adopt-a-Mile” program. Keep Cobb Beautiful runs the “Adopt-a-Mile” program. The group spent several hours cleaning up the shoulders and curbs, finding everything from cigarette butts to car parts to bottles and cans. In the end, they filled nearly 30 bags of trash. This was the second time Chief Register brought his officers to a community cleanup. “It’s not all about catching criminals,” Register said. “It’s that partnership with the community that is very valuable and very precious and doing things like this brings us closer together as a community.” “It means a lot to the community to keep our county clean, and we’re happy to show we’re willing to contribute to that,” said Commissioner Birrell.
By a 5-0 vote Tuesday morning, the Cobb Board of Commissioners approved a proposal for the former Mountain View Elementary School redevelopment plan on Sandy Plains Road.
The applicant, Brooks Chadwick Capital, LLC, wants to raze the school to build a 103,000-square foot development to include restaurants, retail, a bank and supermarket (agenda packet here).
The plan calls for seven separate buildings on the 13.8-acre site, which is owned by the Cobb County School District, and would include and expanded buffer at the back property line that is adjacent to the Hunters Lodge neighborhood.
“I think we’ve made a lot of progress,” Northeast Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell said, explaining the multiple meetings between the developer and residents who had opposed the rezoning.
After the Cobb Planning Commission recommended rezoning approval from R-20 to CRC (previous East Cobb Newspost here), the developer’s attorney Kevin Moore, presented additional stipulations at Tuesday’s meeting to address nearby residential concerns.
Those stipulations, which were submitted in an Oct. 12 letter, include no automotive, convenience store, liquor, laundromat and dry cleaning services in the back three buildings.
A 30-foot undisturbed buffer between the back property line and the residential area would include an eight-high fence, plus an additional 20-foot landscape buffer. The fencing would be enclosed at either end of the property line, and would be inspected by a certified arborist, Moore said.
Moore also stressed that at no location within the development will amplified outdoor entertainment be allowed, a stipulation he said is similar to The Avenue at East Cobb.
The redevelopment was supported by the East Cobb Civic Association.
Birrell moved to approve the rezoning, subject to the latest stipulations and final site plan amendment, as well as a landscaping plan that she would approve as the district commissioner.
“There have been some long meetings, but I think it’s going to be a win-win-for the community,” Birrell said.
In other East Cobb items at Tuesday’s zoning hearing, an application to rezone 2.172 acres at Lower Roswell Road and Bermuda Drive from R-20 to R-15 was withdrawn without prejudice. The Planning Commission voted to recommend denial earlier this month after strong community opposition (previous East Cobb Newspost here).
