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!
Shane Spink of the Sprayberry Crossing Action group told East Cobb News there’s still not a conceptual plan for a possible mixed-use development.
Some of the group’s leaders, including Spink, met last week with the developer, who’s been identified as Atlantic Residential of Atlanta, that specializes in residential and mixed-use developments.
The group, which counts more than 4,700 followers on Facebook, was informed last month about the developer’s interest, after years of haggling with the county and NAI Brannen Goddard, the managing agent for the Sprayberry Crossing Partnership owners, to do something about a long-standing eyesore at Sandy Plains and Piedmont.
Spink said while he was encouraged that the developer wants to get community input, “the details were a little fuzzy and I’m not sure they know exactly what they want to do there, mainly because there could be some larger commercial involved that would take up more space. This was a grocery chain and that didn’t seem concrete yet.”
He said the developer appears to prefer a project with a largely residential component, featuring townhomes, senior living and multi-family units on the 16-acre tract that now houses a few businesses, but that has been largely empty for years.
The details there, Spink said, are still to be revealed, “so we are waiting for the final draw up to see where we are and what we think the community will agree to.
“Bottom line is the community wants change so let’s see what they put on paper. It is such a complicated site with all the different parcels and of course the cemetery in the middle.”
A timeline for discussing a conceptual plan, after a survey and design are completed, may come about in a few weeks, Spink said.
“The bottom line on the residential is that it’s going to have to have a larger component [than what has] been proposed in the past just because that site isn’t going to work as 100 percent commercial. So the community is going to have to accept residential there or it’s probably not gonna work for any developer.”
Joe Glancy of Sprayberry Crossing has added some more details, including the map below of the current property. The green area would be redeveloped, with the yellow area currently containing commercial property.
The commercial portion of the new development, he said, “will likely be ground floor below the residential. The developer could envision that including a small grocer – but that is way down the road and far from certain.” Some greenspace figures to be contained as well.
“According to the developer, one of the reasons why this property is more attractive for residential development is that it sits enclosed with no street visibility and is already fronted by retail development. Additionally, the abundance of retail space surrounding the property makes a large retail commitment unlikely.”
He said Atlantic Residential will continue to survey the site over the next few weeks, develop a plan and bring it to the community.
The developer, he said, isn’t going to seek rezoning “until they are satisfied they have the support of the community.”
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A few Cobb citizens addressed county commissioners Tuesday in the first of three required public hearings on the proposed Cobb fiscal year 2020 budget and millage rate.
The $475.8 million proposed for general fund spending is nearly six percent over the current FY 2019 budget of $454 million.
The overall budget proposal, which includes fire and E911, debt service and other categories outside the general fund, comes to $998.9 million, up from the current $966 million.
After several weeks of pressure from public safety employees and citizens, the budget proposal includes a seven-percent pay increase to boost salaries and benefits as well as retention issues.
It’s part of what commission chairman Mike Boyce has said is the beginning of a longer-term process toward step and grade raises and other incentives for police officers, firefighters and sheriff’s deputies.
No millage rate increase is proposed, but the anticipated tax digest is growing by an assumed 3.4 percent, to a record $39 billion.
Therefore, the county has to advertise the current millage rate as a tax increase since no rollback to the current year’s tax digest total of $36.7 billion.
Even with additional coffers for FY 2020, the proposal includes using $18.4 million in contingency (or reserve) funds to balance the budget.
That flustered Pamela Reardon, a real estate agent in East Cobb. After last year’s tax increase, she told commissioners, “you told me we would have plenty of money. And now we don’t have any money. What happened?”
She apologized for suggesting in such harsh terms that the contingency “looks like it’s being used like a slush fund.”
Reardon also said she thought a seven-percent raise all at once seems excessive. “I’m not opposed to raises, but who decided that?” she said.
That raise would amount to $5.2 million of the proposed contingency spending, with the largest chunk, $7.5 million, for a four-percent raise for other county employees.
Another $2 million would be earmarked for police operating and capital contingency, with another $1 million for undesignated use by the commissioners.
What’s missing from the budget is $850,000 in non-profit spending that in the past has gone to social-service agencies like MUST Ministries and the Center for Family Resources.
State. Rep. Mary Frances Williams, a Marietta Democrat who represents part of northeast Cobb, and who is a former advocate for non-profits, calculated that amount to less than 0.0020 percent of the budget.
But removing it completely would have a far greater detriment that tax dollars saved, she said, since county funding provides “seed money for nonprofits to get matching matching grants.”
Additional public hearings on the budget will be as follows:
Tuesday, July 16, 6:30 p.m.;
Tuesday, July 23, 2019, 7 p.m.
The final date is also scheduled for budget adoption. The meetings take place in the second floor board meeting room of the Cobb government building, 100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta.
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One of the oldest continuing events in all of Cobb County begins anew Friday night on the Marietta Campgrounds on Roswell Road—it’s the 182nd Marietta Campmeeting, a religious revival that traces its roots to the earliest settlers of what’s now East Cobb.
Friday’s opening service begins at 7:30 p.m., but it’s preceded by a picnic from 6-7, and you’re invited to bring a dish to share.
During the service, special music will be performed by the Open Door Trio, a metro Atlanta gospel group. The opening sermon will be delivered by Rev. Ike Reighard, senior pastor at the Piedmont Church in East Cobb and president and CEO of MUST Ministries.
There are twice-daily services during the week, daily services on the weekend and a number of special events during Marietta Campmeeting, including a watermelon cutting after the Saturday evening service and an ice cream social on Tuesday.
The campmeeting began in 1837, five years after Cobb County was carved out of Cherokee County, on land east of Marietta on Roswell Road.
Visiting ministers came in the summers, before there were many organized churches, and many of the longtime campmeeting families lived in tents during the revival.
They include names familiar to East Cobbers today—Sewell, Garrison, Murdock, Lassiter, Allgood, Hamby and other families who farmed in the area.
Many of their descendants continue attending today, as the Marietta Campground is now part of East Cobb United Methodist Church across the street.
That’s where overflow parking is available for attendees. The main parking lot is between the Arbor and Roswell Road, at the Campground entrance at 2300 Roswell Road.
All events and services at the Marietta Campmeeting are free and open to the public.
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Motorists who travel through the Post Oak Tritt-Hembree Road intersection will have to wait a few months longer for the roundabout project underway there to be completed.
Cobb commissioners on Tuesday approved a request by the contractor, Glosson Enterprises, to push back the scheduled completion date to March 31, 2020.
Cobb DOT director Erica Parrish said the delay (summary here) was caused by utility and weather issues.
“I am ready to see this finished, and so is the public,” said District 3 commissioner JoAnn Birrell. “I appreciate the public’s patience.”
In other transportation-related action Tuesday, commissioners approved a contract for $308,901 with Tri Scapes Inc. for an eight-foot wide sidewalk with curb and gutter on the west side of Bells Ferry Road, from the Noonday Creek trailhead driveway to Big Shanty Road.
The total length of the project is approximately 0.32 miles. The funding comes from the Cobb 2016 SPLOST.
The county also will be saving $145,460 from the final cost of intersection improvements at Bells Ferry Road and Barrett Parkway. Glosson also was the contractor for the $1.86 million project, which has been completed.
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The following East Cobb restaurant scores from June 24-July 5 have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing to view details of the inspection:
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Today’s a special day around here: On July 8, 2017, I published the first post on East Cobb News, as I pushed the button on a venture I couldn’t have imagined not long ago.
I’ll admit I was a bit anxious as I pushed that inaugural publishing button, about the Skip Wells Memorial Ride at Sprayberry High School.
I’ve been a reporter for a long time, but not like this. I’ve covered my community before, but not with this ultimate objective:
To report the news for the East Cobb community, and not just about it.
There are plenty of news outlets that do that, when there’s a crime or a fire or a wreck or a storm or a controversy or a novelty.
And then they’re gone.
That credo sounds simple, but as I’ve learned over these last two years, it’s a lot more difficult to carry it through.
My focus all along has been to make East Cobb News distinctive, and not just because this community is my home, where I grew up.
Over the past year, as I built on my first year of publication, I got plenty of encouragement from readers, citizens and many others.
One of the things I heard on occasion was: You don’t have an agenda.
What they meant was that they thought the stories they read here were straightforward and objective.
While that’s certainly something I aim for with everything I post, there are times when it’s important to state a clear perspective about something important going on here.
The East Cobb Cityhood issue certainly fits that bill, and the next few months will be very important ones in the future of this community for that reason.
This time a year ago, we didn’t know there would be an effort to carve out a part of the community for a new city.
That effort, which we’ve reported on extensively, has galvanized the public like nothing in quite a few years around here. It figures to garner even more scrutiny as the legislature is set to act on a bill that could drop a referendum in East Cobb voters’ laps next year.
The truth is I do have an agenda, as noted this time a year ago, and it bears repeating: To “meet the news and information needs of this dynamic community we all call home, and to promote local businesses who help make it better.”
In this third year, as East Cobb News reaches around 30,000 unique visitors a month—a healthy number for a young, locally focused publication—my chief objective will be to help local businesses grow with us.
If you run a local business or organization, and want to reach community-minded customers, please check out our advertising philosophy, which includes flexible rates and options for any kind of enterprise.
We have a business directory that’s ideal for new businesses, solopreneurs and mom-and-pop shops that includes a 25 percent discount for display advertising on East Cobb News.
I realize that readers and advertisers have other options. This a competitive market for news and advertising, but only East Cobb News is totally devoted to covering news and events every day, as they happen.
If that’s important to you, I ask that you have a look around the site, if you’re not familiar already, and see for yourself.
I also encourage you to sign up for the East Cobb News Digest weekly e-mail newsletter, which comes out every Sunday. It contains all of the past week’s top headlines, plus calendar listings, a community guide and so much more.
It’s free and easy to sign up, all in one click below.
Thanks to all of you for visiting East Cobb News, subscribing to the newsletter and following us on social media. We’re excited for what Year Three has in store!
As always, feel free to get in touch with feedback and questions: [email protected].
The U.S. Census Bureau is presenting 2020 Census Job Information Sessions this summer at Cobb County Public Libraries.
A Census official will discuss 2020 Census job opportunities and answer questions about applying during the free sessions. Area Census Bureau positions include assistants, clerks, office operations supervisors and census takers. Pay ranges vary based on location and position.
The upcoming 2020 Census Job Information Sessions at Cobb libraries include:
Each Tuesday afternoon through July 23 from 2 pm to 6 pm at Powder Springs Library, 4181 Atlanta Street, Powder Springs 30127. 770-439-3600
Wednesday, July 10 from 4 pm to 7 pm and Monday, July 22 from 11 am to 4 pm at Mountain View Regional Library, 3320 Sandy Plains Road, Marietta 30066. 770-509-2725
Friday, July 12 and Friday, July 19 from 10 am to 3 pm at South Cobb Regional Library is located at 805 Clay Road, Mableton 30126. 678-398-5828
For information on applying for 2020 Census jobs, including application requirements, visitwww.2020census.gov/jobs and click Apply Now. Potential applicants seeking information and assistance may call 1-855-JOB-2020 (562-2020) or use the Federal Relay Service at 800-877-8339.
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That’s the scene from a Georgia 511 camera at Roswell Road and Old Canton Road about 2:55 Friday, as Cobb Police and Cobb Fire are investigating a crash in a busy intersection that’s blocking eastbound traffic on Roswell.
UPDATED 3:40 PM: Cobb Police say all lanes of traffic are now open.
Police are urging motorists heading east on Roswell (the traffic in the right of the photo) to find an alternate route; there’s no word as yet on injuries.
We’ll update this story when more details are available.
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Word is coming from Sprayberry High School that Jim Frazier, for many years a member of Yellow Jackets football coaching staff and a legendary figure in the school community’s history, died on Thursday.
“Our school and community will forever be grateful for the contributions made by this wonderful man,” was the message posted on the school’s Facebook page Friday afternoon.
We’ll have more later, but here’s a summary of Frazier’s tenure at Sprayberry, which went far beyond what his teams did in sports:
Frazier came to Sprayberry in 1959, a few years after it opened as East Cobb’s first high school.
While he was an assistant football coach, the Yellow Jackets won two county and two region titles in and three times finished the season in the state’s top 10.
He also coached baseball at Sprayberry before retiring from teaching in 1986, and served on the school’s football and baseball committees for nearly 50 years.
The Sprayberry football stadium is named after Frazier, a native of Tennessee who played football at Carson-Newman College and earned a master’s degree from Peabody College at Vanderbilt University.
Last August, his wife, Wilma Quarles Frazier, died at the age of 85. She taught at Sedalia Park Elementary School for 27 years.
The Fraziers were married for 61 years.
In 2015, State Rep. Don Parsons of East Cobb sponsored a resolution that was passed by the Georgia General Assembly to honor Frazier for his service to Sprayberry and the community.
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Next Saturday, July 13, is the second tour in a series of four at East Cobb’s Hyde Farm that includes a cooking class.
The 1840s-era homestead is at 721 Hyde Farm, located off Lower Roswell Road, and on the second Saturday of every month is open for 45-minute tours that are free and open to the public.
The 135-acre Hyde Farm, located near the Chattahoochee River, is also close to forests, agricultural fields, pastures, an orchard, meadows, a home and farm outbuilding sites.
Those tours begin at 10 am. and noon, and registration is required by visiting the Cobb PARKS website or by calling 770-528-8840.
In between the tours, Cobb PARKS, the UGA Cobb Extension service and the American Community Gardening Association will be conducting a class, “From Seed to Table: Cooking With Superfoods.”
It covers the basics of growing and cooking food from a garden. That class also is free and spots may be reserved by calling 770-528-4070.
More Hyde Farm tours and cooking classes are scheduled for Sept. 21 and Nov. 9.
Hyde Farm’s pond (above), built on Mulberry Creek, is the habitat for geese, ducks, herons, turtles, beaver and fish.
On Aug. 17, Cobb PARKS will hold another fishing rodeo at Hyde Farm that’s aimed for kids 3-16. Trophies will be awarded for the biggest fish (see calendar listing here).
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Even though we are enjoying summer, the Cobb Police Department Community Affairs Unit is already hard at work to support our students when they head back to school. Book Bag-Palooza is an effort to gather as many book bags and school supplies as possible. Donations will be distributed to county students in need at the beginning of the 2019-2020 school year, which is only one month away. Donations can include new book bags, paper, folders, pencils, crayons, glue sticks and markers. Any items that a student, from elementary to high school, would need to start the school year out prepared and ready to learn. Donations can be dropped off from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday-Friday (excluding holidays) at any of the Cobb precincts:
Precinct 1: 2380 Cobb Parkway NW, Kennesaw
Precinct 2: 4700 Austell Road, Austell
Precinct 3: 1901 Cumberland Parkway, Atlanta
Precinct 4: 4400 Lower Roswell Road, Marietta
Precinct 5: 4640 Dallas Highway, Powder Springs
Headquarters: 140 North Marietta Parkway, Marietta
If a business or club collects a large amount of school items, one of the Community Affairs’ officers will be happy to arrange pick up. For more information, call Sgt. Jeff Tatroe at 770-499-3981.
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UPDATED 4:36 p.m.: Piedmont Road has reopened after an East Cobb car crash earlier this afternoon.
Shortly before 2 p.m. Thursday Cobb Police said Piedmont Road is closed at Sprayberry Drive due to a single-car crash that took down power poles and knocked out electricity in the area (that’s just west of the Piedmont-Sandy Plains intersection and Sprayberry High School).
The car overturned and the crash prompted several small fires, according to police, who said the driver suffered minor injuries.
Will update this story with more information when we get it.
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With the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission coming up on July 16, a special PBS miniseries will be airing to commemorate the event. On Friday, the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center (2051 Lower Roswell Road) will be screening a portion of that series, entitled “Chasing the Moon.”
The screening is free and will be held from 6-7 p.m. in the Black Box Theatre and unlike other film screenings there, no food or drink will be allowed.
Here’s more about the PBS “American Experience” miniseries, which airs on July 8-10, and what’s in store during Friday’s screening:
Chasing the Moon, a film by Robert Stone, re-imagines the race to the moon for a new generation, upending much of the conventional mythology surrounding the effort. The series recasts the Space Age as a fascinating stew of scientific innovation, political calculation, media spectacle, visionary impulses, and personal drama.
Our selection is taken from “Part Three: Magnificent Desolation.” It takes a look back at the tension and excitement surrounding the launch of Apollo 11 on July 16, 1969, all the way up until the lunar module finally lands on the moon.
On Monday, July 16, a celebration of the Apollo 11 event will take place from 7-8 p.m. at the Mountain View Regional Library (3320 Sandy Plains Road), featuring NASA Ambassador Chris Thompson. Here’s on tap for that free event for those age 18 and above:
Mountain View patrons will join the history books by being able to touch space rocks just like Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. Lunar and space meteorites and other NASA memorabilia will be on display for patrons to look at and touch. Mr. Thompson will also discuss the history of the Apollo missions and the future of NASA and space exploration.
Chris Thompson is a human resource professional who also shares his love of Astronomy and Space in his role as a NASA Ambassador. Mr. Thompson conducts workshops and lectures to adults and children. He is also the president of the Meteorite Association of Georgia and a member of theInternational Meteorite Collectors Association, (NASA, 2019).
For more information, call the Mountain View Regional Library at 770-509-2725, or visit the Adult Reference Desk.
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Richard Solomon, an East Cobb resident who graduated as a Wells Scholar from Indiana University in 2018 with a B.S. and B.A. in international studies, political science and philosophy, completed the Arabic Flagship program in Meknes, Morocco this past May as a 2019 Boren Fellow.
Richard has studied Arabic at Bethlehem University and Hebrew University, and with the National Security Language Initiative for Youth in Morocco.
A recent CASA (Center for Arabic Studies Abroad) Fellowship recipient, Richard moved last month to Cairo, Egypt where he will continue to receive advanced-level training in Arabic language and culture for a year at the American University in Cairo.
Richard’s research interests include bargaining theory, institutional analysis, and literature.
After a year in Cairo, Richard plans to pursue a PhD in political science or Middle Eastern studies.
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Phone/text: 404-219-4278;
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If you’re leaving a news tip (especially about a crime, fire, accident, emergency or severe weather event) please provide contact information so we can confirm and follow up. Messages sent via phone, text and e-mail are preferred; please limit social media messages to breaking news only.
East Cobb News understands the need for confidentiality in some cases but we cannot publish information from totally anonymous sources.
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Since Thursday’s July 4 events in Marietta go on from mid-morning and well into the night, here’s what the police department has put together in terms of schedule, where to park, streets to avoid and more (illustrated above in city-provided map):
10:00 AM Parade The “Let Freedom Ring” parade begins on Roswell Street at Victory Drive. The parade will continue West on Roswell Street into the square, then turn North onto E Park Square and continue North on Cherokee Street all the way to the Cobb County 911 building at North Marietta Parkway. (86) different entries have registered to participate in this year’s parade! Road closures for the parade will begin at 9:20 AM.
10:00 AM until 9:00 PM: Festival in the park activities (art/craft vendors, food trucks, concession stands, carnival games and kids play areas with large inflatables etc.) • 12:00-2:00pm: Concert featuring Scott Thompson • 2:00pm: Bell Ringing Ceremony • 2:30pm: Concert featuring Atlanta Concert Band • 7:00pm: Concert Featuring Chris Stalcup • 8:00pm: Concert featuring A1A – Jimmy Buffet Tribute Band
Dark (somewhere around 9:30 PM) FIREWORKS! Fireworks will be launched from the parking lot of First United Methodist Church (Whitlock at the loop). Due to state fire law, all of that parking lot will be unavailable for public parking the entire day.
IMPORTANT NOTES from MPD:
1. ROADS ON THE PARADE ROUTE WILL BE CLOSED 40 MINUTES BEFORE, AND DURING THE PARADE. 2. THE ROADS SURROUNDING THE SQUARE WILL BE CLOSED ALL DAY. 3. Please consider using a ride sharing service to drop you off and pick you up with ease. 4. If you park in one of the parking decks, we have some helpful reminders for you:
Please back into the parking space so your exit will be easier and quicker;
Fireworks are NOT allowed to be used on any of the parking decks near the Marietta Square;
Open alcohol containers / consumption are not permitted on the parking decks.
5. Local businesses and restaurants will be open on their own normal holiday schedules. 6. Parking will be challenging, especially with the First United Methodist Church parking lot closed. PLEASE CONSIDER USING A RIDE SHARE SERVICE. 7. UBER/LYFT drivers will take you anywhere, but the city has DESIGNATED an easy intersection to give YOU quick access with limited walking as well as give the drivers easy access so they can keep moving and minimize your ride costs. PLEASE use the intersection of Lawrence Street and Waddell Street as your drop off and pick up locations. 8. It is supposed to be ABOVE normal temperatures, please stay hydrated and plan accordingly. 9. Pets can NOT cool off as quickly as you can. PLEASE keep them hydrated and guard against having them standing for too long on hot pavement.
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This has been anticipated for a few months now, and it’s official: The Rose and Crown Tavern on Powers Ferry Road has announced its temporary closure.
The last remaining survivor of “Restaurant Row” will close next Saturday, July 13, for a two-year period as the cluster of restaurant buildings makes way for a new mixed-use development.
Rose and Crown will be part of that project, with expanded space in a retail component in a 578,000-square foot complex that will include a 280-unit apartment building and 171 senior-living units.
Ground is expected to be broken this month for the project. The apartment building is being called Elan at Powers Ferry, and the senior homes will be called Overture Powers Ferry.
Miguel Ayoub opened Rose and Crown in 2010 with his wife at a former La Madeleine restaurant at 1931 Powers Ferry Road. In the new development, the Rose and Crown space will take up 6,000 square feet of a planned 10,0000-square foot retail center.
The property is near the Wildwood Office Park, but other restaurant concepts nearby have come and gone: A Sal Grosso Brazilian steakhouse, TGI Friday’s and Famous Dave’s.
While Rose and Crown is shuttered, the Ayoubs will be running Mojave, a casual Latin restaurant at the former Ray’s Rio Bravo at 6450 Powers Ferry Road, just across the river in Sandy Springs.
A late July opening date for Mojave is planned.
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Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce isn’t proposing a millage rate increase for fiscal year 2020 like he did a year ago. But growth in the county’s tax digest means public hearings will be necessary specifically for the millage rate.
That’s because under state law, local governments and school boards that don’t assess a “rollback” millage rate to counter that tax revenue increase are in effect imposing a property tax increase, and are required to hold public hearings.
Last week Cobb Tax Assessor Steven White declared that the 2019 Cobb tax digest will be a record $39 billion, surpassing last year’s total of $36.2 billion.
The county announced Tuesday that those public hearings will take place on the same dates and at the same Cobb Board of Commissioners meetings in which FY 2020 budget hearings have been scheduled:
The property tax “increase” amounts to 4.52 percent from last year’s general fund revenues.
The Cobb Board of Education also holds millage rate hearings in similar situations. It hasn’t upped the school millage rate of 18.9 mills in years, but tax revenue growth has meant it also has had to hold the same hearings.
This year that tax revenue increase for Cobb schools is 4.88 percent. A recent history of the schools millage rate levy can be found here.
Next Wednesday, the school board will hold its first public hearing on the tax digest at 11 a.m. at the Cobb County School District headquarters, 514 Glover St., Marietta. Additional hearings are in the same location on July 18 at 12 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., with millage rate adoption scheduled for the same day at 7 p.m.
The Cobb schools fiscal year 2020 began on Monday.
The proposed FY 2020 Cobb government millage rates are as follows:
General Fund, 8.46 mills;
Fire Fund, 2.86 mills;
Debt Service (Bond Fund), 0.13 mills;
Cumberland Special Services District II, 2.45 mills;
Six Flags Special Service District, 3.50 mills.
Citizens can speak on the budget and millage rate proposals at the meetings listed above. They will be held in the second floor board meeting room of the Cobb government building, 100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta.
Here’s more from the Cobb Tax Commissioners Office on the county’s millage rate history, and the millage rates compared to the six cities in the county.
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The July zoning calendar is light on cases in East Cobb, but one that will be getting first hearing Tuesday before the Cobb Planning Commission involves a retail proposal on Ebenezer Road at the intersection of Canton Road.
UPDATE: This case has been delayed to August for notification reasons.
That 1.7-acre tract, close to the Noonday Baptist Church and the eventual Ebenezer Road Park, is being sought by SAW Holding, LLC from neighborhood shopping to neighborhood retail commercial.
There’s a vacant office building on the site now, but the applicant wants to build a 2,241-square-foot center for restaurants, a grocery store and offices, with the businesses open from 8 a.m. to 12 a.m.
According to the application (case file here) about a half-acre was cleared along Canton Road without approval, and it contains part of a the state water buffer and the FEMA 100-year floodplain.
The county zoning staff is recommending approval with several conditions, including a final site plan (not yet submitted) to be approved by the Cobb Board of Commissioners.
The agenda item Z-48 will be heard on the regular agenda since there’s opposition.
Not far away, a rezoning request for a light industrial category for automotive services on 1.1 acres at 4921 Canton Road is being recommended for denial by the zoning staff (case file here). The land currently houses warehouses but the proposed rezoning does not conform to the Cobb land use plan and the future land use plan.
A proposed rezoning at 3140 Johnson Ferry Road, at the site of a former bank building, would convert that space into retail use. Komorebi Holdings, LLC, is seeking neighborhood retail commercial designation for the 1.3 acres in front of the Wal-Mart store (case file here).
The devlepment would include 5,541 square feet of space, the same as the vacated bank, with business hours proposed are Sunday 12:30-6:30 p.m., Monday-Thursday 10-10 and Friday-Saturday 10 a.m.-11 p.m.
The zoning staff is recommending approval, and Z-37 will be heard on the consent agenda.
The Planning Commission meets Tuesday at 9 a.m. in the second floor board room at the Cobb government building, 100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta.
Its votes are advisory. Final zoning decisions will be made by Cobb commissioners on July 16.
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U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, a Marietta Democrat who represents East Cobb, was one of 129 House Democrats to vote for $4.6 billion in supplemental funding this week for humanitarian aid for migrants along the U.S.-Mexico border and to address overcrowding at detention centers there.
The House supported the measure 305-102, after the Senate passed the special appropriations 84-8 (with Georgia Republican senators Johnny Isakson and David Perdue voting in favor).
The Senate had earlier rejected a different House version of the bill.
The second House vote on Thursday was contentious, with more progressive Democrats accusing moderates in their caucus of child abuse. In one instance, there was a confrontation between Democrats on the House floor over heated social media messages.
The only Georgia House member to vote against the bill was John Lewis of Atlanta.
The Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Humanitarian Assistance and Security at the Southern Border Act of 2019 (summary here) would fund operations for the departments of Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, Commerce and Defense in the following ways:
$2.88 billion for the HHS Unaccompanied Alien Children program for the safety and welfare of children under its care;
$1.1 billion for migrant care and processing facilities, medical care and transportation, and data systems;
$793 million for establishing and operating migrant care and processing facilities to improve conditions at border stations and ports of entry;
$220 million to hire additional personnel to expedite immigration court proceedings;
$209 million for medical care and transportation of unaccompanied alien children and migrants between facilities, counter-human trafficking operations, detention alternatives and migrant processing;
$145 million for Defense operations and maintenance in support of multiple missions at the border.
The bill is awaiting the signature of President Donald Trump, who is in Asia at the Group of 20 Summit.
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