Ads on CCT Buses? Commissioners Will Decide

After a drawn out process, the Board of Commissioners is expected to approve the revenue-generating venture.

The Cobb County Board of Commissioners are expected to approve a contract that will allow advertising to be placed on the windows of Cobb Community Transit (CCT) buses to generate additional revenue for the county. As reported by The Marietta Daily Journal, the process to approve a contractor for this project has taken roughly a year due to the lack of competitive bidding. In May, the county invited representatives to examine the dimensions of CCT buses, which caused two more companies to submit bids. The contract was won by Signal Outdoor Advertising, of Orlando. The ads are expected to bring in at least $60,000 in the first year, at least $70,000 in the second year, and at least $80,000 in 2015, when the project is slated to end.  This …

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Byrne: 'Hell No' to Raising Taxes

The former Cobb commission chairman and challenger vowed at Tuesday's candidates forum never to be like "a damn Democrat” to expand Cobb government services.

The controversial TSPLOST took center stage during Tuesday night’s Cobb County Commissioner Chairman forum. All three challengers opposed the special purpose local option sales tax aimed at funding transportation projects in metro Atlanta. “I’m running to do everything I can to defeat TSPLOST,” said Bill Byrne to applause from the audience. Mike Boyce cited the TSPLOST as one of the four taxes imposed over the last 19 months by the current commissioners. “I’m running to bring conservative government to Cobb County,” Boyce said. “Four new taxes in 19 months, that’s not a Republican. That’s not conservative.” Incumbent Tim Lee listed off the numerous accomplishments during his tenure as the current chairman. “Cobb County has the lowest …

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Cobb Support Services Agency to be Reshuffled

Several positions will be eliminated and others will be promoted in a move to improve efficiency.

Cobb County's Support Services Agency is getting an overhaul to increase operational flexibility and to keep the agency up to date with current technological standards. A presentation was delivered by Support Services Agency Director Virgil Moon during the Cobb County Commissioners meeting on Tuesday morning outlining the proposed changes. According to the presentation, the Support Services Agency worked hand in hand with the Finance Department and the County Manager to ensure that the reshuffling was budget neutral; in fact, the plan will bring some savings to the county. Under the proposed changes, agency information services will take on the additional responsibilities of records management and mail services. Moon said that because …

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POLL: Is the TSPLOST Ballot Preamble Biased?

The TSPLOST ballot preamble is being criticized for its possible bias. What do you think?

On July 31, voters in Cobb and the rest of the 10-county metropolitan region will cast their ballots on the Transportation Investment Act to decide whether to establish a one-cent special transportation sales tax on themselves to fund various transportation projects. The phrasing of the ballot preamble has been criticized by some for being biased. Larry Savage, who is running for Cobb County Chairman, feels the preamble to the ballot question, not the ballot itself, is an attempt to sway voters. Savage asserted this claim at a candidate forum sponsored by the Cobb Republican Women's Club. According to the Marietta Daily Journal, to prove a point, Savage attempted to show the audience a mock ballet which extolled his virtues, but this …

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Justin Ove

7:41 pm on Monday, July 2, 2012

Ms. Jones, Thank you for catching this. It turns out that Mr. Savage (who we didn't even identify in the original story) was criticizing the preamble of the ballot, not the ballot question itself. I have corrected the article. Thanks for keeping us honest! Best, -Justin   more ›

Cobb to Fill Four Department Leadership Positions

The move is intended to streamline county operations.

Local Bridge May Finally Get Built

A project to build a new bridge on Mark Avenue that crosses a tributary of Noonday Creek in Northeast Cobb may get a contractor.

Trickum Road Subdivision Approved

The project for 11 single-family houses passes the Cobb commission without opposition.

The Cobb County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved an 11-house subdivision on Trickum Road south of Eula Drive on Tuesday. No one opposed the rezoning of the 5.42-acre site from R-20 to R-15 to allow Southeast Real Estate Acquisitions to build the houses. Lawyer John Moore, representing owners Alice and John Bostic, credited the cooperation of neighbors in the Christopher Robbins subdivision and other homes in working through issues the past couple of months. The biggest issue was the detention pond used to handle storm water in the neighborhood. Southeast Real Estate Acquisitions will install a pipe to carry storm water from the pond to a creek running through the site and will build a swale and plant a line of trees to help …

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Trickum Road Subdivision Seeks Zoning OK

The Cobb County Board of Commissioners also faces an electronic billboard and an outdoor merchandise display as part of its zoning agenda Tuesday morning.

A 12-house subdivision, an electronic billboard and an outdoor merchandise display are the Northeast Cobb items on the agenda for this morning’s zoning meeting of the Cobb County Board of Commissioners. Alice and John Bostic, operating as Southeast Real Estate Acquisitions, are asking to rezone 5.42 acres on Trickum Road south of Eula Drive from R-20 to R-15 so they can build 12 single-family houses there instead of the nine now allowed. The two-story houses would be at least 2,400 square feet each and sell for $275,000 to $400,000. The Cobb County planning staff recommends approval of the proposal under several conditions, including a system of improvements to relieve Trickum Road traffic. The other two zoning items involved the Canton …

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Cobb Plaintiffs: Trim Birrell's District

The lawyer who brought the redistricting suit wants to lop off a piece of East Cobb, while the county commissioners ask to slice off part of the Kennesaw area.

All of the plaintiffs in the Cobb County redistricting case “are satisfied with virtually all aspects of the court’s initial redistricting plan with one exception.” It’s just not the same exception. The five county commissioners, in a joint filing today, asked U.S. District Judge Steve Jones to tweak the border between Helen Goreham’s District 1 and JoAnn Birrell’s District 3. As discussed during Monday’s hearing in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, they want Jones to move his proposed dividing line east so it runs northwest along Interstate 75 until Chastain Road. The border would run west along Chastain Road and McCollum Parkway to Cobb Parkway, then would follow Jones’ existing line north to the Cherokee County border. That change would …

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