Ebenezer Road park

UPDATE: New Northeast Cobb park to be named Ebenezer Downs

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Ebenezer Road park, Cobb parks master plan

After the Cobb Board of Commissioners approved a master plan for the new Ebenezer Road park property Monday night, commissioner JoAnn Birrell said the name of the 18-acre park would be Ebenezer Downs.

The master plan approval came on a 4-0 vote (with commissioner Bob Ott absent), and after a brief presentation by Cobb parks director Jimmy Gisi (previous ECN post here).

The land at Ebenezer and Canton Road was two homesteads that features a lake and wooded areas.

The features of the master plan are a fishing lake and lakeside pavilion, walking trails, a playground, a 30-space parking lot. One of the homes would be used for small events, including wedding receptions and private parties, and public restroom facilities would be built.

The entry to the park would be aligned with the Ebenezer Road entrance to Noonday Baptist Church.

Gisi said community suggestions during public feedback meetings in recent months that the county took back to its parks consultant resulted in a better master plan.

“It’s a beautiful piece of property,” Birrell said. “I go by there a lot and people are fishing all the time.”

The master plan approval does not include park construction; that funding would have to approved separately by the commissioners and no timetable for that consideration has been announced.

Proposed Ebenezer Road park master plan

Also on Monday, commissioners approved spending $373,000 in 2016 SPLOST funds for an operations barn at Hyde Farm in East Cobb. Gisi said construction is expected to be completed by next June.

Also approved was relocation of parking space at the Mountain View Community Center, costing $572,000 due to the adjacent Sandy Plains MarketPlace that’s in private development.

The county formerly shared parking with Mountain View Elementary School before it relocated to make way for the retail center.

Commissioners also voted to rename the East Cobb Senior Center the Tim D. Lee Center, in the memory of the late Cobb commission chairman (previous ECN story here).

Lee’s widow and children were in attendance, as was former chairman Sam Olens, who like Lee served District 3 in Northeast Cobb on the commission.

Commission chairman Mike Boyce also presented a proclamation to Tejas Veedhulur of Boy Scout Troop 1776 for his Eagle Scout project cleaning up the Gold Branch of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area off Lower Roswell Road.

The troop meets at the Catholic Church of St. Ann.

 

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Ebenezer Road park master plan meeting to solicit public input

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Ebenezer Road park preview

A second round of public meetings concerning the development of new Cobb parks properties begins this week and continues into August.

The only property purchased in East Cobb with funding from the 2008 Parks bond program is on Ebenezer Road (above).

A meeting seeking public input to guide that master plan takes place on Wednesday, Aug. 7, in the sanctuary of the Noonday Baptist Church (4121 Canton Road), from 6:30-8 p.m.

Cobb Parks previously hosted a series of public input meetings to discuss planning for the future of new park properties purchased through the 2008 PARKS Bond program.

Although there is currently no funding for the development of these properties, public input is being sought in the planning for future development once  funding is identified.

Comments and information from the first meeting involving the proposed Ebenezer Road Park in February can be found below:

The schedule for other Cobb Parks master plan meetings is as follows:

District 1: Anderson property — Thursday, July 18. West Cobb Senior Center, 4915 Dallas Highway, Powder Springs

District 1: Price property — Wednesday, July 31. West Cobb Senior Center, 4915 Dallas Highway, Powder Springs

District 1: Kemp property — Monday, Aug. 5. West Cobb Senior Center, 4915 Dallas Highway, Powder Springs

District 4: Henderson property — Thursday, Aug. 8. South Cobb Community Center, 620 Lions Club Drive, Mableton

District 4: Old Westside property — Monday, Aug. 12. Ron Anderson Recreation Center, 3820 Macedonia Road, Powder Springs.

 

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Ebenezer Road park master plan public meeting scheduled

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Ebenezer Road park master plan

In mid-February Cobb parks officials will be seeking public input as they develop masster plans for green space purchased with the 2008 Cobb Parks Bond referendum, including land on Ebenezer Road in Northeast Cobb.

The session for the Ebenezer Road land takes place Feb. 18 from 6:30-8 p.m. at Noonday Baptist Church (4121 Canton Road).

In October, Cobb commissioners approved spending $89,000 to develop master plans for the properties.

It’s the only land in East Cobb out of nearly 500 acres purchased that’s undergoing a master plan process. The county also purchased 22 acres of the Tritt property next to East Cobb Park.

That’s slated to remain as undeveloped green space for now, so there’s no master plan underway.

The 18 acres on Ebenezer Road is located just off Canton Road, and was owned in two parcels by the Strother family. Last summer, commissioner JoAnn Birrell held a public preview there.

The Ebenezer Park master plan contract is for $14,300.

The other input meetings will take place in February and March.

Related story

 

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Commissioners approve funding for new Cobb parks master plans

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Cobb parks master plans, Ebenezer Road

After a delay, Cobb commissioners last week voted to approve spending more than $89,000 for Cobb parks master plans for newly acquired green space.

That includes more than 18 acres of land on Ebenezer Road near Canton Road that’s slated to become a passive park (above), and that was open to the public this summer at a special preview event.

BIOME Projects, a Decatur landscape architecture firm, will receive around $14,300 to develop a master plan for the Ebenezer Road park, with funding for the construction of the park to come at a later time.

The land, formerly owned by the Strother family, features a lake that may allow for recreational fishing activities.

Commissioners have spent more than $27 million over the last year to purchase nearly 500 acres across the county with funds allocated in the 2008 parks bond referendum.

The only other land bought in East Cobb was part of the Tritt property next to East Cobb Park, which is being left as green space for now and so there is no master plan in the works.

The commissioners vote was 4-1, with Bob Ott opposed. He represents part of East Cobb and Smyrna-Vinings and said there are two parks in his District 2 now that aren’t open because there’s not funding for their maintenance.

“How are we going to pay for the parks we have as we build new parks?” he asked.

Commissioner JoAnn Birrell of Northeast Cobb pointed to Mabry Park, that’s being built on Wesley Chapel Road in what used to be her district (and is now in Ott’s).

It’s a decade since the county bought the land, part of the former Mabry family farm, and it sat undeveloped during the recession. A master plan was developed in 2011, and construction was finally approved last fall.

“We have to have a plan and guidance,” she said. “I support this.”

Also last week, commissioners approved a measure to spend $19,590 to replace a metal roof on the historic Hyde Farm house on East Cobb.

Cobb parks director Jimmy Gisi said the roof has been leaking and the replacement look to match other structures on the property, located off Lower Roswell Road.

The funding comes from the 2011 Cobb parks SPLOST account.

 

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Sewell Park baseball renovations, Mabry Park playground on Cobb commissioners agenda Tuesday

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Sewell Park baseball renovations

Renovations to a concession stand building and some dugouts at Sewell Park are being proposed at Tuesday night’s Cobb Board of Commissioners meeting.

The Cobb Parks and Recreation Department says the upgrades have been earmarked in the 2011 SPLOST at a combined cost of $45,191, based on low bids received.

Needed enovations to the main concession stand building include restroom and storage space upgrades, as well as a new paint job and replacing windows. It overlooks Field 3, the main tournament field for the East Marietta National Little League.

Another agenda item would replace the dugout roofs at fields 5A and 5B, which are used for younger age-level games. Those dugouts currently have fabric tarp roofs that require maintenance and replacement. The proposed new roofs are metal.

Also on Tuesday, another item would appropriate $324,989.80 in existing 2016 SPLOST funds for the installation of a playground at Mabry Park, which has been under construction on Wesley Chapel Road since earlier this year.

It’s considered the centerpiece of the park, and the Mabry Park Master Plan calls for a farm theme for the playground to conform to the surroundings that were once park of the Mabry family farm.

Commissioners also will be asked to spend $89,520 in 2016 SPLOST funds for master planning services for land purchased recently with 2008 parks bond money, including 18.3 acres on Ebenezer Road.

On the consent agenda is an item for the commissioners to approve a new Cobb parks master plan for 2018-2028, an action that was delayed from earlier this summer.

One other item that’s sports-and-rec related: At the start of the meeting commissioners will recognize the Sandy Plains Prowlers 12-under baseball team, which recently had a standout tournament in Cooperstown, N.Y., that we wrote about earlier.

Tuesday’s meeting starts at 7 p.m. in the 2nd floor board room of the Cobb government building, 100 Cherokee St. in downtown Marietta.

The agenda is long and hefty, since a previous business meeting scheduled for this month was cancelled. You can read all that’s on tap here, and we’ll be reporting on some of those actions.

 

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