Public Comment, Windy Hill Road, Tax Breaks: Cobb Commissioners

COBB COUNTY, GA — Amid public outcry, the Cobb County Board of Commissioners voted to table a proposal that would shorten the county's public comment period at last week's board meeting.

The board's meeting drew out dozens of residents, some of which spoke during the public comment period of the meeting last Tuesday. All of the speakers asked the board not to change its policy.

The proposed changes would limit the number of speakers to 10, rather than 12 total; would shorten the speaking time from five minutes per speaker down to three minutes; and limit the public comment period to 30 minutes, rather than an hour.

Salleigh Grubbs, chair of the Cobb County Republican Party, was one of the speakers. She read a letter she pre-wrote to the commissioners.

"How can you do this?" she said. "This is a nonpartisan issue. You are at the service of the public. All of the public. ... it is unfair and intolerable to take more freedoms away from the very people who elected you and who pay your salary."

As the agenda item came up, Board of Commissioners Chair Lisa Cupid said the item had been pulled to give commissioners more time to consider the policy change. They've been discussing this policy change and "streamline this [public comment] process" since January, she said.

"The timing of this matter is quite poor," Cupid said. "But unfortunately, there's no good time to bring this forward. It's going to spark some ire whenever there is change ... but we are trying to better streamline this process and there still is some further discussion that we'd like to have before we vote on this."

Here's what else you need to know from the meeting:

1. More road projects, including a bridge on Windy Hill Road over Cobb Parkway, are underway.

Commissioners approved the following transportation-related items:

• An intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with Paulding County for intersection improvements on Burnt Hickory Road and Stout Parkway/Brownsville Extension, part of the 2016 Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) project list. The Georgia Department of Transportation will fund up to roughly $1.5 million for the project, and both Paulding and Cobb counties will pay approximately $234,000, according to the IGA.
• Drainage system repairs on White Circle Court.
• Ranking of the three most-qualified firms for a scoping study on Cobb Parkway at Windy Hill Road. This project includes adding a new bridge on Windy Hill Road over Cobb Parkway, allowing through movement on both roads to proceed without a traffic signal intersection.
• Agreement with Kimley-Horn for transportation and transit planning services for proposed project lists for potential SPLOST referenda.
• Drainage system repairs on Forest Brook Parkway.
• "No parking" zones along both sides of South Gordon Road between Mableton Parkway and Dodgen Road.

2. Construction on the recently-damaged Fire Annex on Austell Road could start soon.

In March 2021, the Fire Annex at 3200 Austell Road, Suite 120 in Marietta experienced "catastrophic roof failure due to excessive heavy rain," according to city documents. The affected areas included mostly office spaces, and those employees were relocated.

"The roof and office spaces were deemed a total loss and require a complete rebuild," Fire Chief Bill Johnson and Agency Director Randy Crider wrote in city documents.

Commissioners approved a contract with John W. Spratlin & Son Construction for the $360,000 project. An exact construction timeline was not provided.

3. The developer for a mixed-use development in Powder Springs will get a 10-year tax break.

Novare Group, the developer of a mixed-use project in downtown Powder Springs, will get a 10-year tax break on the development. The $42.5 million development is set to include multifamily residential, retail and office components, as well as green space.

The tax abatement incentive will go as follows:

• 100 percent of the taxes shall be exempt for the first five years.
• 80 percent of the taxes shall be exempt for the next two years (years six and seven).
• 60 percent of the taxes shall be exempt for the next year (year eight).
• 40 percent of the taxes shall be exempt for the next year (year nine).
• 20 percent of the taxes shall be exempt for the final year (year 10).

The abatement, or tax break, will end after 10 years.