Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell Archives

Cobb commissioners adopt FY 2020 budget; Ott casts opposing vote

July 29, 2019 1:23 PMJuly 23, 2019 9:38 PM by Wendy Parker

For the second year in a row, Cobb commissioners are divided on the county budget. By a 3-2 vote, they adopted a $475 million fiscal year 2020 general fund spending plan on Tuesday that holds the line on the millage rate but takes in $21 million more in revenue.

The budget includes a pay raise for county employees (and a bigger one for many public safety employees), eliminates non-profit spending and reduces transfer revenues from the county water department.

(Here’s the budget proposal that was largely unchanged upon adoption.)

While East Cobb’s two commissioners voted against last year’s budget, they split their votes this time around. Bob Ott of District 2 once again voted against the new budget, referring to long-term problems over public safety staffing, pensions and transportation in prepared remarks.

“I am deeply concerned that nothing is being done to address these issues,” Ott said. “I cannot in good conscience vote for this budget.”

Last year, he was joined by District 3’s JoAnn Birrell, who said she couldn’t support the FY 2019 budget because the property tax hike of 1.7 mills didn’t come with any significant spending cuts.

This year, she said, there have been some cuts. “Overall, this is a good budget,” she said in her prepared comments before the vote. “It’s not a perfect budget.”

JoAnn BIrrell, Mabry Park — *JoAnn Birrell.*

Birrell said that public safety “is our number one priority and it’s high time we do something about it.”

She voted for budget adoption this year with commissioner Lisa Cupid of South Cobb and chairman Mike Boyce of East Cobb, who said he was happy with what he called a compromise budget.

The extra revenue is due to growth in the Cobb tax digest, projected to be a record $39 billion for 2019.

County employees who get favorable performance reviews will be getting a four-percent pay increase. Likewise, police officers, firefighters and sheriff’s deputies—who received a one-time bonus this summer to address what many have called a “crisis” in public safety staffing, morale and retention issues—will be getting a seven-percent raise.

Membership fees to use county senior centers—a hot topic in last year’s budget—have been eliminated. An additional $400,000 for the public library system will be used to meet what county spokesman Ross Cavitt said were “critical needs,” including its materials collections.

“This year was all about increased compensation for public safety, and this budget delivers it,” Boyce said moments before calling the question.

Also voting against the budget was Keli Gambrill, newly elected from North Cobb, who questioned the amount of contingency funds in the budget, among other concerns. In his comments, Ott urged county budget officials to indicate the original source of spending when bringing items up for contingency funding.

More emphatically, he said that 95 percent of Cobb DOT funding comes from SPLOST receipts, and worries about how “devastating” it would be for road maintenance and repair should a sales-tax referendum ever be defeated. The next likely SPLOST vote could take place in 2020.

“Opening the libraries an extra day does no good” if the roads patrons depend on to get there are in disrepair, Ott said.

He also noted that county pension obligations continue to mount. In 1997, 95 percent of those obligations were funded, but that figure is only 52 percent today.

While he supports better pay for public safety, Ott also is concerned this year’s seven-percent raise may make it difficult to implement a step-and-grade compensation system that could result next year.

“I want to see that this is going to be worked on starting tomorrow,” Ott said.

Although board members may appear to be on seemingly different tracks about the budget, Boyce praised his colleagues, including those who voted against the budget.

“This board is honest to a fault,” he said before the vote. “How much is that of value to you?”

The commissioners also set the millage rates for the various county budget funds:

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.

The FY 2020 budget takes effect Oct. 1.

East Cobb Elections Preview: District 3 Cobb Board of Commissioners

October 31, 2018 6:16 PMOctober 22, 2018 3:28 PM by Wendy Parker

District 3 Cobb Commission, District 3 Cobb Board of Commissioners — *From L-R: Republican incumbent JoAnn Birrell; Democratic challenger Caroline Holko*

The District 3 Cobb Board of Commissioners race gives voters a distinct choice.

Republican commissioner JoAnn Birrell, first elected in 2010, is a conservative from Northeast Cobb who has cited her votes against tax increases, her work to improve blighted properties in the Canton Road corridor and her push to build Mabry Park.

Democrat Caroline Holko, a first-time candidate, is an admitted “progressive” liberal who favors expanding transit options in Cobb, has been critical of the county’s Atlanta Braves stadium deal and supports more hours for services like libraries.

Birrell, a former lobbyist and consultant, said she brings “a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table.”

Holko, whose family moved to Cobb from New Orleans and who home-schools her children, said “it’s time to do things differently.”

District 3 includes much of Northeast Cobb and portions of the city of Marietta and the area around Kennesaw State University.

Birrell and Holko easily won their respective primaries in May.

Candidates homepages

Birrell and Holko met recently at a forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Cobb-Marietta, and discussed the above issues and others. Joseph Pond, who ran against Birrell in the 2014 Republican primary, and who is running as an independent write-in candidate, was not invited.

Birrell, who supported the Braves stadium financing in 2013, said she understands why people are still upset by that vote, “but I can’t say I regret the decision.”

She cited a recent Cobb Chamber of Commerce fiscal impact study claiming an $18.9 million annual revenue benefit for the county.

Holko noted a recent vote by the commissioners to settle a dispute with the Braves over infrastructure costs.

“I would like to see the entire contract laid bare to the public so we don’t get surprises like this,” she said.

Birrell responded that the Braves-Cobb contract “is an open record” and includes a provision for disputes like this one that go to mediation.

Pond, an East Cobb resident who has clashed with the county over his backyard chickens, is a plumber and organizer of the Backyard Chickens Alliance.

He thinks commissioner seats should be non-partisan and wants to reduce county building code that’s now around 1,400 pages long. Pond also is critical of “corporate welfare,” specifically tax breaks for companies that move to Cobb.

At the League of Women Voters forum, Birrell and Holko supported the acquisition of more green space.

Holko is an unabashed supporter of more transit options. Birrell said that “we need to look at everything,” especially with a county transit study being completed by the end of the year that “will give input to where transit is needed,” followed by a referendum.

Birrell supports the creation of a special tax district to fund Cobb Police operations, similar to what is done for fire and emergency services. Holko said she supports better salaries for public safety employees.

Cobb BOC District 3 map Holko also said she is in favor of opening libraries seven days a week, as recently was begun at regional libraries, and she prefers a neighborhood branch concept to a regional branch concept.

Birrell said the regional library concept “has been around for a long time.” She also said she wouldn’t support closing smaller branches that aren’t close to a regional library.

Holko said she’s proud to be a liberal Democrat, and that “one thing I would be on the board is [provide] a little bit of balance.”

Birrell touted her record of keeping taxes low while preserving “our quality of life . . . If you’re asking for someone who can get things done, my record speaks for itself. I do get results.”

Related coverage

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Cobb commissioners approve Braves settlement that could net county $1.36M

September 11, 2018 2:38 PM by Wendy Parker

Cobb commissioners on Tuesday approved a financial settlement with the Atlanta Braves that could result in the county receiving $1.366 million in infrastructure fees for SunTrust Park.

Joann Birrell, Cobb commissioners approve Braves settlement — *Commissioner JoAnn Birrell said the 2013 stadium deal between Cobb and the Braves “keeps coming back to haunt us.” (ECN file photo)*

The 4-1 vote came after a lengthy discussion that included a brief recess to iron out concerns from two commissioners who tried to table the agreement.

The settlement was reached following a dispute that arose in May, when Cobb sent the Braves organization a notice of default on a $1.486 million bill for overdue stadium development (water and sewer) fees. The Braves fired back with a $4.683 million request, setting off heated legal correspondence and mediation.

Read the Proposed Settlement Terms Here

Technically, the matter is still in mediation, since the Braves have not taken final action on the settlement.

In the settlement, which was discussed by commissioners during an executive session on Monday, the Braves also agreed to pay $380,000 for a signage and maintenance contract for a pedestrian bridge over I-285.

Cobb would reimburse $500,000 in project management fees to the Braves, who agreed to drop any other claims, according to county attorney Deborah Dance.

She also said the $380,000 Braves sum is a credit against the $500,000 amount, reducing the county’s obligation to $120,000.

The county also would pay $326,816 under terms of a 2017 transportation agreement with the Braves. Those funds would be paid out in two installments, of $163,408 each, in October of this year as well as October 2019.

Last year, commissioners paid $11.4 million out of the county water fund as part of a $14 million agreement for transportation matters.

According to information presented by Dance, the county discovered in a review that the $500,000 in project management costs for Heery International Inc. had been paid by the Braves through a project bond fund. The terms were spelled out in a 2014 consulting contract between Heery, the county and the Braves in 2014 (document here).

Joann Birrell, commissioner of District 3 in Northeast Cobb, and District 1 commissioner Lisa Cupid of South Cobb wanted to table approving the settlement for two weeks. They wanted to view the actual settlement document, and Birrell wanted to see proof that other payments had been made.

At one point, Birrell said the county’s 30-year memorandum of understanding with the Braves, adopted in 2013, “keeps coming back to haunt us.” Cupid’s motion to table was defeated 3-2, after which commissioners took a 10-minute recess.

After the break, Birrell, who voted for the Braves deal in 2013, was satisfied with what she was presented from county finance and legal officers.

Cupid, however, said she couldn’t support settlement, calling it a “déjà vu” regarding the original stadium deal. She was the only vote against the the 2013 agreement, and on Tuesday she said the current settlement reflected “the same level of haste, the same lack of organization.”

Commissioner Bob Ott of East Cobb, whose District 2 includes the SunTrust Park area, said of the settlement documents that “this is not something that was hard to go find” and that the staff was well-prepared.

Cupid agreed with the latter point, but said “this has everything to do with us as a board.”

She was the only vote against the settlement, which chairman Mike Boyce said was “a compromise.”

Boyce, who made the process of the Braves deal a key component of his campaign to oust then-chairman Tim Lee in 2016, said the nearly $1.4 million the county is getting is “because this board held its ground. We did the right thing as a board.”

Before the discussion Tuesday, Ben Williams, a spokesman for Cobb Citizens for Governmental Transparency, said the county shouldn’t have to pay any more money for stadium expenses.

That group was founded in 2014 after citizen concerns about the hastiness of the original Braves deal, which was approved only two weeks after it was made public.

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Cobb tax increase, $454 million budget approved for FY 2019 in close vote

July 25, 2018 11:57 PMJuly 25, 2018 11:05 PM by Wendy Parker

Mike Boyce, Cobb tax increase — *Cobb commission chairman Mike Boyce took his call for a property increase to citizens for several months, including town hall meetings this summer. (East Cobb News file photo)*

After more than three hours of public speakers and comments from commissioners, a Cobb tax increase was approved Wednesday night.

The Cobb Board of Commissioners voted 3-2 to approve a property tax hike of 1.7 mills and a fiscal year budget of $454 million for the general fund.

Chairman Mike Boyce, who said he was staking his political future on the outcome, got everything he wanted.

In addition to getting the vote of South Cobb commissioner Lisa Cupid, the only Democrat on the five-member board, he also got the vote of Republican Bob Weatherford, who as it turned out may have sacrificed his political future in the process.

Bob Ott and JoAnn Birrell, who represent East Cobb in Districts 2 and 3, respectively, voted against the budget and the millage rate increase.

While Ott said he wouldn’t support an increase without spending cuts that weren’t presented, Birrell said she would have been in favor of a hike of 1.2 or 1.3 mills but nothing more.

Weatherford, defeated in his re-election bid Tuesday night in a Republican runoff in North Cobb’s District 1 by an anti-tax increase opponent, proved to be the swing vote.

He said after reflecting on his big loss (59-41 percent to Keli Gambrill) that he naturally wondered what had gone wrong.

“It’s what I did right that people didn’t like,” said Weatherford, who will have served only one term. “I made the hard choices and did what I said I would do.”

He said that he’s been threatened and even challenged to a fistfight for his calls for a lesser tax increase than what passed.

“The only thing I’m running for now is the hills, but I do not want to leave the county worse than than when I got here,” he said.

“So I completely support this.”

With that, loud applause broke out in the commissioners’ meeting chambers.

Commissioners to citizens on proposed Cobb property tax increase: ‘We hear you’

July 17, 2018 10:23 PMJuly 17, 2018 9:39 PM by Wendy Parker

A proposed Cobb property tax increase prompted some feisty comments from citizens Tuesday night at a public hearing before county commissioners.

Cobb tax increase — *Commissioner JoAnn Birrell said she and her colleagues “are still looking at everything” while deciding on the FY 2019 Cobb budget. (East Cobb News file photo)*

A good number of those speaking were East Cobb citizens, both in favor of a millage rate increase and against it.

Commissioners also offered extended comments the week before they have to approve a fiscal year 2019 general fund budget and millage rate.

“It’s very close right now,” said JoAnn Birrell, who represents District 3 in Northeast Cobb and who said she is reading everything she gets from citizens on the budget. “I’m hearing you.”

Cobb commission chairman Mike Boyce is proposing a $453 million budget, a hike of nearly 13 percent from the current $405 million FY 2018 budget.

Some citizens suggested a smaller tax increase than his proposed hike of 1.7 mills, which would yield close to $50 million in new revenues.

Boyce’s budget (click for PDF version here) would restore some services to pre-recession levels, including partial Sunday library hours and for Cobb DOT maintenance. It also would fund new police officer positions and purchase body cameras for public safety personnel.

The FY 2019 budget deficit was projected to be $30 million at the current 6.76 mills. Last week, Boyce concluded a series of town hall meetings around the county at the Sewell Mill Library, and his budget proposal got mixed reviews there.

On Tuesday, citizens brought up Braves stadium financing, the county employee pension plan, transit, non-profit funding and other spending and budget issues.

East Cobb residents Jan Barton and Debbie Fisher, vocal opponents of a tax increase, pointed out that the 1.7-mills increase is to pay for the current FY 2018 budget, not the new budget that takes effect in September.

At tense Cobb budget retreat commissioners haggle over millage rate, spending cuts

June 15, 2018 5:39 PMJune 13, 2018 4:21 PM by Wendy Parker

One of the objectives laid out before a Cobb budget retreat on Tuesday was for county commission chairman Mike Boyce to “leave . . . with clear direction from the board.”

That board, the four district members of the Cobb Board of Commissioners, provided him with nearly everything but that in a three-hour meeting at the Cobb Civic Center. Instead, Boyce left openly frustrated as he begins a series of budget town hall meetings next week, starting Monday at the East Cobb Senior Center.

UPDATE: Cobb chairman proposes revised budget, keeping parks and libraries open

He’s proposed a millage rate increase he says will close a $30 million budget deficit that’s projected for fiscal year 2019. During the retreat, told the commissioners “if we want to keep what we have, the bill is 1.1 mills,” a reference to his recommendation to raise the general fund millage rate.

Revealed earlier are draft lists of possible closures of libraries, parks and other “desired” services that have galvanized public pleas to preserve them, and in some cases, by raising taxes.

Here’s a Cobb Budget Journey interactive the county has released to provide background on the budget and millage history in recent years.

Cobb budget meetings begin with commissioners retreat next week

June 15, 2018 5:43 PMJune 4, 2018 4:09 PM by Wendy Parker

The month of June has been scheduled for Cobb budget meetings and a series of town halls, starting June 18 at the East Cobb Senior Center.

UPDATE: Cobb chairman proposes revised budget, keeping parks and libraries open

But before that, the Board of Commissioners will gather next week for a budget retreat.

That meeting is next Tuesday, June 12, at 1 p.m. in the Hudgins Hall Conference/Multipurpose Room of the Cobb County Civic Center (548 South Marietta Parkway).

Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce has advocated raising the millage rate on property taxes as a way for the county to continue to deliver what he calls “five-star” services.

The county government is facing an estimated deficit for fiscal year 2019 of at least $30 million.

Related coverage

Boyce has initially suggested a millage increase of 1.1 mills (which would generate an extra $30 million in revenue) to the current general fund rate of 6.76.

In his weekly video update with county communications director Ross Cavitt (view below), he said that “1.1 mills just puts the finger in the dike.”

A full proposal to fund a balanced budget hasn’t been presented. However, the head of the county library system has proposed cutting nearly a quarter of the system’s $12 million budget and closing the East Cobb Library.

East Cobb’s commissioners generally have opposed property tax increases. Bob Ott of District 2 has said that he wouldn’t support an increase without seeing substantial cuts first. JoAnn Birrell of District 3 won her GOP primary last week after publicly opposing raising property taxes.

Cobb budget meetings, Cobb Millage Rate Chart 1990-2018

In the video, Boyce showed charts illustrating how Cobb’s millage rate has steadily come down over the last 25 or so years, being raised to address the recession. Two years ago, then-chairman Tim Lee, facing Boyce in a runoff, proposed an overall millage rate reduction to 9.85 (and 6.66 for the general fund) that passed, with Ott and Birrell voting with him.

“We have had a lower millage rate although our population has increased by more than 300,000” since the 1990s, Boyce said.

The town hall meetings are scheduled around the county, including another in East Cobb on July 9 at the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center.

Commissioners will hold public hearings on the budget and millage rate on July 10, 27 and 25, with adoption of both scheduled for July 25.

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Cobb commission District 3 candidates discusses taxes, budget deficits and more at civic forum

May 1, 2018 9:50 PM by Wendy Parker

Three of the four Cobb commission District 3 candidates on the May 22 primary ballot turned out Tuesday night for a wide-ranging forum in Marietta, and explained their views on the county budget, spending and taxes, traffic and transit, zoning and development and other issues.

Tom Cheek, Cobb commission District 3 candidates — *Tom Cheek*

The only candidate not present was the person who currently holds that Northeast Cobb seat. Republican JoAnn Birrell, who is running for her third term, was a no-show at the forum, which was sponsored by the Cobb County Civic Coalition.

The other sitting commissioner seeking re-election, Republican Bob Weatherford of District 1 in West Cobb, also was absent.

The event was moderated by Dick Yarbrough, a columnist for The Marietta Daily Journal.

The two Democratic District 3 candidates, James Smith and Caroline Holko, said they favored raising the millage rate to solve the county’s estimated $30 million budget deficit for fiscal year 2019.

Birrell’s primary opponent, civic activist and software account manager Tom Cheek, who described himself as a “ferocious taxpayer advocate,” said he wants to see more detailed figures about how big the budget gap really is.

“No one has convinced me of the accuracy” of the projected budget deficit, he said in response to an audience question posed to all the candidates. “Until we get a grip on proper budgeting . . . I’m not ready to give up the millage rate we have now.”

Cheek advocates taking unused SPLOST dollars for lower-tier projects and placing them in the general fund budget (via a referendum process), looking to privatize some government functions and getting out of “the parking deck business . . . the golf course business . . . and the [Braves] stadium security business.”

The Cobb general fund millage rate is currently 6.76, a figure that was lowered in 2016. Birrell, who has said she does not favor increasing property taxes, voted for that reduction.

Smith, a retired Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority manager who’s involved with the Canton Road Neighbors civic group, frequently cited the lack of pay raises and benefits for county workers in his remarks about taxes.

He noted that salaries for Cobb firefighters and police officers are 12 and 17 percent, respectively, below the national average. “We’re trying to do more with less,” he said. “We’re not giving people a living wage and benefits to keep them here.”

While Cobb rightfully touts itself as having one of the lowest tax rates in the metro Atlanta area, Smith said, “but at what cost?”

Cheek also noted that a starting full-time police officer’s salary in Cobb is less than the pay for a part-time county commissioner, and he would work to change that.

Holko, a former non-profit administrator and home-schooling mother with liberal views, admitted she doesn’t come from a “traditional political background” in a conservative district. She advocates more transit options for Cobb citizens, and opposes proposed cuts in the Cobb library system and increases in fees for senior services.

James Smith, Cobb commission District 3 candidates — *James Smith*

Holko said raising the property tax rate one mill would cost an average Cobb homeowner around $100 more a year. “I can blow that in Target in about five minutes,” she said.

She and her family moved to Cobb from New Orleans several years ago, attracted by the tax rate but also the services they provide.

However, she said, “to watch that continued to be chipped away at is heartbreaking.”

When asked to specify how she would cut the budget, she said “I don’t really support any significant budget cuts.”

Smith said he would like to see the line items in county government departments, and it’s “darn near impossible” to get that information now.

Cobb commission chairman Mike Boyce, a Republican from East Cobb, has suggested a 1.1-mills increase but hasn’t released a full budget proposal. He’s scheduled budget town hall meetings for next month, with budget adoption in July.

Cobb commission candidates forum slated for Tuesday

April 29, 2018 12:26 PM by Wendy Parker

This week may be your only occasion to hear all Cobb commission candidates in one place, in both parties, before the May 22 primaries.

There’s a forum sponsored by the Cobb County Civic Coalition Tuesday, and Democratic and Republican candidates for District 3 in Northeast Cobb and District 1 in North Cobb have been invited to attend.

The forum lasts from 7-9 p.m. and will be held on the second floor of the Cobb government building, 100 Cherokee St., in downtown Marietta.

That’s the meeting room for the Cobb Board of Commissioners, and if you can’t attend the forum it will be shown on the Cobb government access channel, TV 23 for Comcast subscribers.

The District 3 seat is being contested in both parties. Republican incumbent JoAnn Birrell is seeking her third term.

She is being opposed by Tom Cheek, a civic activist who filed ethics complaints against former Cobb commission chairman Tim Lee for his handling of the Atlanta Braves stadium deal. A software account manager, Cheek is a first-time candidate for public office.

On the Democratic side, two first-time candidates are running as well: retired Cobb water system employee James Smith, and Caroline Holko, a stay-at-home mother.

Here are the District 3 candidates websites:

Advance voting for the primaries begins on Monday, and Cobb Elections is looking for poll workers to help out on May 22 and beyond.

Here’s a rundown on East Cobb-area public offices that will be on the ballot, and we’ll have more shortly on those races that have contested primaries.

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Cobb volunteers, officials honored at Keep Georgia Beautiful awards

December 6, 2017 2:34 PM by Wendy Parker

Release from the Cobb County Communications Office, dated Dec. 2:

Cobb County’s tireless efforts to keep the county clean were recognized at the Keep Georgia Beautiful Awards Ceremony in Atlanta. The county’s Keep Cobb Beautiful organization was recognized a half dozen times during the ceremony at the Marriott Century Center.

Erin Mulgrew was recognized as the Keep Georgia Beautiful “Woman of the Year.” Mulgrew was appointed to the Keep Cobb Beautiful Board by Commissioner JoAnn Birrell.

Barry Krebs, appointed to the Keep Cobb Beautiful Board by Commissioner Lisa Cupid, was named the organization’s “Man of the Year.”

The annual program honors individuals and organizations working to improve Georgia’s environment.

Commissioner JoAnn Birrell was recognized as the “Elected Official of the Year,” an award that honors a state or local elected official that strongly supports environmental and community improvement activities. Birrell had served on KCB’s Board for ten years before she was elected to the Cobb County Board of Commissioners.

KCB was also recognized with a Waste Reduction and Recycling Award, the South Cobb Lions received the 2nd place award in the Litter Prevention category, and the local organization received first place recognition as a Keep Georgia Beautiful affiliate.

Created in 1978 by Governor George Busbee, the Keep Georgia Beautiful Foundation is based on a fundamental premise that the environmental interests of the state of Georgia and the people who live here are best served when public and private interests work hand-in-hand to achieve common goals.

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After years of delays, Mabry Park funding finally gets approval

November 14, 2017 5:55 PM by Wendy Parker

Mabry Park Master Plan, funding for Mabry Park — The Mabry Park Master Plan was approved in 2011, but funding wasn’t provided due to budget cuts during the recession.

On Tuesday, after years of delays, the Cobb Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved Mabry Park funding. More specifically, they authorized a construction contract that would convert a slice what was once a large farm spread in Northeast Cobb into a major passive park.

The construction contract for $2.85 million was approved unanimously, in a 5-0 vote, a month after the commissioners delayed the vote.

There was little discussion Tuesday about the contract, which was awarded to Integrated Construction and Nobility, Inc.. The park, which will be built on 26.5 acres on Wesley Chapel Road at Sandy Plains Road, is expected to be completed in 2019.

Mabry Park will include walking trails, picnic areas, a community garden, playground areas and more on land that includes a large pond.

The construction will also include the development of a paved road into the park from Wesley Chapel Road. In 2008, the county spent $4.3 million in funding from the 2006 Cobb parks SPLOST to purchase the former farm land owned by Ed and Sue Mabry.

The the land sat dormant during the recession, although a master plan was released in 2011.

While the construction funding came out of the 2016 Cobb government SPLOST, the yearly cost for operating Mabry Park comes out of the county general fund. That was the reason for delaying the vote in October, right before the commissioners held their budget retreat.

Resolving how to pay for recurring expenses from a SPLOST project was one of the subjects at the retreat. A one-time cost of $22,230 for equipment and maintenance tools will be funded after construction is complete.

Mabry Park’s annual operating cost will be $104,992; of that $72,122 will go for staff salaries and benefits, and $31,800 is estimated for yearly supplies and utilities.

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Mabry Park construction contract returns to Cobb commission agenda

November 14, 2017 6:24 PMNovember 13, 2017 3:45 PM by Wendy Parker

After being delayed last month, a $2.85 million Mabry Park construction contract is expected to be voted on Tuesday by the Cobb Board of Commissioners.

The meeting starts at 9 a.m. in the 2nd floor boardroom of the Cobb BOC Building, 100 Cherokee St., in downtown Marietta.

Approval of the contract was tabled last month at the behest of commission Chairman Mike Boyce until after a budget retreat.

One of the topics at the retreat was how to fund permanent operations out of the annual county budget for projects like Mabry Park that are approved by Cobb voters in the Special Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) referenda.

Mabry Park, which would be built on 26.5 acres on Wesley Chapel Road at Sandy Plains Road, comes with a projected operating cost of nearly $105,000 a year once it opens in 2019.

At the Oct. 24 commission meeting, Northeast Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell, a strong advocate for the Mabry Park project was was formerly in her district, was upset by the decision to delay, as were Northeast Cobb residents who’ve been waiting more than a decade for the park.

Boyce and East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott, whose recently redrawn district includes Mabry Park, said it was necessarily to hold off final approval, if only temporarily.

Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the commissioners will consider proposals to raise fees for a number of county-related services, including business licenses, filing fees for zoning, and for parks and recreational uses, arts classes and other public services.

Another item on the agenda would appropriate $850,000 in county funds for a number of non-profit service organizations, including the Cobb Center for Family Resources, Family Promise of Cobb County, MUST Ministries, Communities in Schools for Marietta/Cobb and SafePath Children’s Advocacy.

Commissioners delayed voting on that funding during its budget deliberations in September.

The full agenda can be found here.

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Cobb commissioners go on retreat to tackle budget issues, facing $20M gap

October 28, 2017 2:34 PM by Wendy Parker

Mike Boyce, Cobb commissioners — *Chairman Mike Boyce’s proposed millage rate increase was shot down by his fellow commissioners in August. (East Cobb News file photo)*

After a contentious year of haggling over the property tax millage rate and the fiscal year 2018 budget, Cobb commissioners are spending Monday and Tuesday on a retreat to figure out future plans for handling spending concerns.

Chairman Mike Boyce and the four district commissioners will be meeting at the Threadmill Complex in Austell for a day-and-a-half of meetings and discussions. Last month the board adopted a $403.4 million FY 2018 spending plan that included the use of $20 million in contingency spending.

The county is facing another $20 million deficit for fiscal year 2019.

“If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll get there,” Boyce said in a statement issued Friday. “What I’m trying to do is bring in a process where we as a Board collectively knows what the issues are then the Board gives me some guidance on how to build this budget.”

The budget battles also sparked conflicts between East Cobb’s two commissioners. JoAnn Birrell suggested closing the East Cobb Library. Bob Ott, whose district includes the library, proposed closing another library in his district and making organizational changes to the East Cobb Government Service Center.

Ultimately, the commissioners voted to close no libraries but delayed funding additional staff for the new Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center until after the budget was adopted.

*East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott voted against a millage rate increase, and vowed not to do so to balance the FY 2018 budget. (East Cobb News file photo)*

For similar reasons this week, commissioners also delayed a vote to approve a construction contract for Mabry Park.

The Sewell Mill Library and Mabry Park cases center around one of the main items on the retreat agenda: Funding recurring operational and maintenance costs for facilities approved through the SPLOST (Special Local Option Sales Tax).

Northeast Cobb residents have waited for a decade for a passive park in their community, and Boyce and Ott in particular pledged that Mabry Park would be built. They also were adamant that new policies for funding continuing expenses have to be ironed out.

It’s a seemingly perplexing position for Cobb commissioners to be in, given that Cobb reported a record tax digest this year of $33 billion.

In the first big test of his administration, Boyce didn’t get enough support from commissioners to raise the property tax millage rate. His proposal to boost the rate 0.13 to fully fund the 2008 Cobb Parks Bond Referendum was voted down 3-2, with only South Cobb commissioner Lisa Cupid in support.

Boyce, who defeated incumbent chairman Tim Lee last year, pledged to support parks funding. But the Cobb Parks Coalition issued a statement before the millage rate vote saying fulfilling the referendum didn’t require a tax increase.

At a heated town hall meeting in July at the East Cobb Senior Center, many residents spoke out against a tax hike, which Ott and Birrell also opposed.

Boyce, who is a first-time elected official, issued a comment at that meeting that has been a common refrain at times during his first year in office.

“I have to pay for what your commissioners passed last year,” Boyce said. “It’s a bill that’s come due.”

Mabry Park construction plans delayed again, will be reconsidered in November

November 8, 2017 2:39 PMOctober 24, 2017 9:42 PM by Wendy Parker

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.

“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.”

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!

Bells Ferry Road cleanup project includes Cobb police chief

October 17, 2017 2:37 PM by Wendy Parker

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.

Former Mountain View Elementary School redevelopment approved

October 17, 2017 11:01 AM by Wendy Parker

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 News post 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 News post here).

Sewell Mill Library funding approved; East Marietta branch to begin closure

October 10, 2017 5:35 PMOctober 10, 2017 12:13 PM by Wendy Parker

After a brief but sometimes testy conversation Tuesday morning, the Cobb Board of Commissioners approved the completion of funding for the new Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center on Lower Roswell Road.

The board voted 3-2 to spend $284,227 to fund five full- and part-time positions for fiscal year 2018 in order to proceed with the opening of the new facility on Dec. 4.

East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott, chairman Boyce and commissioner Bob Weatherford voted yes; commissioners JoAnn Birrell and Lisa Cupid voted no.

Operations at the East Marietta Library, located adjacent to the new Sewell Mill branch, are expected to wind down this week.

The funding includes the transfer of $94,491 from the budget for the East Cobb Government Service Center, which will move some of its business office functions to the tag office in the same building (previous East Cobb News post here).

Ott said he worked with staff from the Cobb library, parks and public services staff to pare down the price tag for the Sewell Mill Library funding from around $700,000 to less than $300,000. The funding source is from “one-time monies” that has become a touchy topic on the commission as it voted this summer not to raise the property tax millage rate and as it adopted the FY 2018 budget with nearly $20 million in contingency funding.

That approved budget didn’t include Sewell Mill Library funding. Ott and Boyce said the county was obligated to move ahead with the transition now due to contractual obligations in demolishing the East Marietta Library building, creating a parking lot for the new library and rebuilding the road that leads into the adjacent Sewell Park.

“The reality is we have a $10 million investment the board has known about for years, and it’s been dropped in my lap,” Boyce said, then veering into a philosophical statement.

“Libraries reflect the culture of our society,” he said. “It is important to open up this facility that residents have been expecting for a long time.”

*The East Marietta Library opened in 1967.*

Birrell and Cupid objected to funding the Sewell Mill Library now, saying they wanted take up the matter at a commissioners retreat later this month. Birrell suggested a delay in opening the new branch until January.

“I understand that we can’t build things like this and then leave them empty,” she said. “My concern is the timing.”

Cupid concurred: “Why this can’t wait another 20 days is beyond me.”

She cited other unmet funding requests—including Cobb non-profits, the purchase of police body cameras and wish lists from other government agencies—as equally valid, and questioned the wisdom of using contingency funding for sustained expenses.

“There’s no way of knowing if we’re going to have this money year after year after year,” Cupid said.

Ott, who had suggested closing another library in his district, the Lewis A. Ray branch in Smyrna, to solve the contingency problem, became visibly upset.

“Don’t sit here and make inaccuracies,” Ott snapped, demanding that Cupid not interrupt him. “You did not reach out to address your concerns.”

Cupid said the finalized agenda item for Tuesday’s meeting came to her late.

Boyce said the vote over Sewell Mill Library funding is “the first of many battles we’re going to have” because the board voted against his proposal in July to raise the millage rate 0.13 mills (previous East Cobb News post here).

Weatherford said that amounts to just $4 million, or one percent, of the overall county budget, so “blaming everything on that vote is erroneous.”

Birrell, who had suggested closing the East Cobb Library during the budget process, reiterated her concerns of getting into a habit of dipping into contingency.

“We’re going to be digging a deeper deficit that we’re never going to overcome with one-time money,” she said.

Cobb fiscal year 2018 budget approved in close vote

September 22, 2017 3:12 PMSeptember 22, 2017 10:09 AM by Wendy Parker

After a lengthy public hearing and discussion and the possibility of not approving a budget today, the Cobb fiscal year 2018 budget was adopted by the Board of Commissioners.

The $403.4 million budget is based on the millage rate of 6.76 set by commission in July, and using $19.7 million in contingency funding—”one-time monies” in budget parlance—to balance the budget. More than $1 million for Cobb community charities was not included in the budget, and representatives of many of those organizations were vocal about keeping their funding.

The new budget includes funding for the East Cobb Library, which commissioner JoAnn Birrell had proposed closing, but does not include funding for the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center, which will replace the East Marietta Library and is slated to open this winter.

Like the funding for the charities, funding for the new library is expected to be taken up by the commissioners in the new fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.

What follows is a live-blog format of the public comment period, both from the public and the commissioners, that was updated as the budget proceedings took place.

We’ll have other matters from today’s commission meeting, including the approval of the Cobb 2040 Comprehensive Plan, posted separately.

We’ll also link to the final budget document once it’s made available online. Here’s the original.

1:41 PM: The budget passes 3-2, with Boyce, Birrell and Bob Weatherford voting yes, Ott and Cupid voting no.

1:28 PM: Chairman Mike Boyce is the last member of the board to speak, saying “budgets are never easy.” Regarding the non-profits, he said many provide services that government should be doing, but they do it better. “This isn’t black and white. The bottom line is we can’t give you what we don’t have . . . money because of the millage rate.”

Carving out a budget based on a 6.76 millage rate includes figuring out how “to provide services this county has come to expect.” He said “we’re a five-star county” and that he hopes conversations over the next few months will result in some kind of consensus from the board in the future.

Boyce makes motion to approve budget, with Birrell seconding.

1:15 PM: South Cobb commissioner Lisa Cupid said the budget situation today is “the direct result of the millage rate vote [from earlier this summer] that I did not support.” She also said that the situation is “not only mind-boggling but somewhat shameful,” and cited cuts in assistance to community non-profits, the continued limited hours for libraries and more.

“This is a not a good situation that we’re in today, to not pass a budget” that will “put us in a worse situation. There are real people with real needs that are attached to” what is tied into the budget.

She also referenced how the needs of the Braves are being accommodated, but not those who benefit from community charities. “I’m just troubled by this whole ordeal.” Cupid said she cannot support the budget proposal.

1:08 PM: The public hearing is closed, and the commissioners are making some opening comments during their discussion period. Northeast Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell said: “Is this a perfect budget? No. But is pretty much a flat budget” and she supports it.

East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott said he would like to see some details on how to deal with the one-time money, but “I don’t see it there.”

1:01 PM: Michael Paris of East Cobb, head of the Council for Quality Growth, spoke in support of the proposed budget. “Go forward and make sure we continue to make this county great,” he said.

12:29 PM: Ray Thomas, a South Cobb resident, expressed concern that the budget proposal includes contingency funding despite an improving economy and rising Cobb tax digest. “What happens when things really get tough? . . . This is very disconcerting.” He said the county has two choices: cut back services or find more revenue, and he cited a rise in the millage rate.

12:23 PM: Dan Daniel, a longtime East Cobb resident and volunteer at the East Cobb Library, pleaded with the commissioners to keep that branch open. If it closes, he said, nearby residents would have to go a great distance to patronize the library system.

12:01 PM: The public hearing on the budget is continuing, but we’re taking a break. This very well may be an all-day meeting, given what else is on the agenda, and what looks to be a commission impasse on the budget. Some very impassioned speakers already, and there are more to come.

11:22 AM: The directors of a number of community service organizations, including MUST Ministries, Family Promise of Cobb County and the Cobb Schools Foundation, are speaking on behalf of continuing the county funding they receive. The proposed budget does not include charities funding.

A retired citizen, John Morgan, asks the commissioners to consider “what will your legacy be?” especially as it pertains to Cobb’s homeless, and cites several Bible passages. The crowd applauded as he concluded.

11:05 AM: The first speaker is East Cobb resident Abby Shiffman, the chairwoman of the Cobb library board of trustees, and she’s urging the commission not pass a budget today, especially as it pertains to the library budget. “How can you pass a budget without specifics?” she asked, noting that the library system has suffered “cut after cut after cut” with no increase in funding, including expansion of library hours, since the recession. The notion of closing a library branch (Birrell has proposed closing the East Cobb Library) “without a true hearing is something I cannot understand.”

BTW: Tonight is the Cobb Library Foundation’s gala dinner, “Booked for the Evening,” featuring East Cobb author Jonathan W. Jordan, that’s one of the year’s biggest fundraising events for outside money to support the library system.

Cobb 2018 budget adoption, 2040 comprehensive plan on Friday agenda

September 21, 2017 12:16 PM by Wendy Parker

A postponed meeting from last week that was to include the Cobb 2018 budget adoption and the Cobb 2040 Comprehensive Plan will take place Friday.

Bob Ott, Cobb 2018 budget adoption — *District 2 commissioner Bob Ott.*

The Cobb Board of Commissioners will meet starting at 10 a.m. in the 2nd floor room of the Cobb BOC building, 100 Cherokee St., in downtown Marietta.

The meeting was rescheduled because county government was shut down due to Tropical Storm Irma. Before commissioners vote on the fiscal year 2018 budget, a final public hearing on the budget will take place.

Cobb commission chairman Mike Boyce has proposed an $890 million budget (PDF here), with $405 million for the general fund, and without a millage rate increase. After losing a battle in July to boost the millage rate to fully fund the 2008 Cobb parks bond referendum, Boyce is proposing to use $21.5 million in contingency funding to balance the budget.

East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott has gone on the record stating he does not support a millage rate increase and called for a budget review to find cost savings (East Cobb News post here).

He’s also been feuding with his fellow East Cobb commissioner, JoAnn Birrell, who has proposed closing the East Cobb Library to help balance the budget. At an August town hall meeting at that same library branch—the second-busiest in the Cobb public library system—Ott said he would propose closing an “underperforming” branch elsewhere in his district but has not publicly elaborated since then (East Cobb News post here).

East Cobb residents spoke out loudly at a previous public hearing before Birrell defended her proposal to close the East Cobb Library. More than 5,000 people have signed an online petition to keep it open.

Addoption of the Cobb 2040 Comprehensive Plan is on Friday’s agenda, which reflects “Cobb’s vision, policies and goals based on the existing plan and community involvement,” according to documents explaining the plan update process.

Hearings, revisions and other work going into the 2040 plan have been ongoing since 2015. The final draft was completed on Sept. 5, with final revisions explained here.

Several East Cobb citizen activists have been critical of the proposed Cobb 2040 report, concerned about the influx of high-density development in the East Cobb area.

The county is required by the state to adopt a plan and submit it for review by the Atlanta Regional Commission.

Also on Friday’s agenda are the following East Cobb-related items:

A change order to approve $194,700 in funding to resurface Dickerson Road, located off Lower Roswell Road, where a new subdivision, Crossvine, is being built by Lynwood Development;
An appeal by the owner of a proposed bar in northeast Cobb whose application for a liquor license was denied. Naseeb Rana of Kasbah Corp. wants to open an establishment in the Sandy Plains Village shopping center called Paprik’a which would have outdoor seating close to residential homes. Citizens from the Chatsworth and other subdivisions have strongly protested the application, saying the noise and late hours are incompatible with the community. They also said other establishments in the area serving alcohol are all-indoors and that Rana has not been responsive to community concerns;
East Cobb resident Ross Cavitt is expected to be appointed Cobb communications director, after more than 20 years as a reporter at WSB-TV (East Cobb News post here.)

Despite protests, Birrell defends proposal to close East Cobb Library

August 23, 2017 10:59 AMAugust 23, 2017 6:06 AM by Wendy Parker

JoAnn Birrell, Cobb Commissioners — *JoAnn Birrell—speaking here to a business group last week—says closing the East Cobb Library would reduce duplication of services. (East Cobb News photo by Wendy Parker)*

After several East Cobb residents objected to the possibility of closing the East Cobb Library on Tuesday, the Cobb commissioner making the proposal strongly defended her position, and laid out a detailed set of numbers in making her case.

JoAnn Birrell, who represents Northeast Cobb, said at the end of a long Board of Commissioners meeting that “this has never been a personal agenda” but instead addresses what she terms as an issue of duplication of services.

She said she’s proposing the East Cobb Library closure because of the new Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center that will open before the end of the year, replacing the adjacent East Marietta Library.

The two libraries are located five miles apart on Lower Roswell Road, and carry some expensive operating costs, Birrell said. (That’s also about the same distance between the two East Cobb-area libraries in her district, the Mountain View Regional Library on Sandy Plains Road, and the Gritters branch off Canton Road.)

The East Cobb Library opened in the Parkaire Landing Shopping Center in 2010, after being previously known as the Merchants Walk Library and relocated when that shopping center was redeveloped.

“This is about being a responsible steward of the taxpayers’ money,” Birrell said, reading from a written statement, adding that budget decisions will be made by the board, not one commissioner.

The East Cobb Library closure plans were first made public last Thursday, at a town hall meeting held by East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott, who said Birrell “has been relentless” in proposing the move (East Cobb News coverage here).

Birrell said her proposal “was just one” cost-saving suggestion as the commission was presented last week with a proposed FY 2018 budget of $890 million, including $21.5 million in one-time reserve funding to avoid a property tax increase.

After hearing protests to the closure plan earlier Tuesday at the first formal public hearing on the budget, Birrell said the consolidation of Cobb libraries has been “years in the making,” and referenced the 2011 budget crunch. In the wake of the recession and a steep decline in the Cobb tax digest, then-commission Chairman Tim Lee proposed permanently closing 13 of the 17 county library branches, including East Cobb and East Marietta.

But he backed down after vocal public opposition. While no branches were closed, library hours and staffing levels were reduced.

Most of the funding for the new 8,600-square-foot Sewell Mill library complex, which will include an amphitheater and other cultural arts space, comes from the 2016 Cobb government SPLOST (special local option sales tax) approved by county voters.

Birrell said the new library will have annual staffing and operating costs of roughly $732,000. The East Marietta Library currently costs around $524,000 a year to run, according to her figures.

The East Cobb Library, she said, not only has annual staffing and operating costs estimated at $771,000 a year, but another $263,000 a year, ($21,961 a month) is paid out in lease costs at Parkaire Landing.

For that kind of money, Birrell said, the county “could hire three police officers” as part of a larger recommendation in a recent police chiefs’ report that Cobb add 60 more officers to meet current public safety needs.

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