First Day of School=First Substack?!
County Budget Passed, Multi-use Trails Edition
Today was Andy’s first day of Kindergarten. To all other students and parents out there, here’s to a great school year! To everyone else, you might want to add 10-15 minutes to your morning commute.
As the school year starts, I’m moving the weekly newsletter/update to Substack so it’s easier to share and publish. Please share the link to anyone you know who is interested in our advocacy topics (transit, bike lanes, land use, sustainability).
Last week’s recap
Board of Commissioner’s meeting
Noonday Creek Trail Extension Town Hall
Environmental Justice meeting
Upcoming Advocacy Events
Upcoming Board of Commissioners’ Meetings in August
Tuesday, August 9th @ 9:00 AM
Tuesday, August 23rd @ 7:00 PM
Town halls/Public Meetings
Austell-Powder Springs Trail, Thursday, August 18th at 6:30 PM
Advocacy Meetups
Board of Commissioner’s Meeting Recap: 7/26 @ 7PM
We had one of the more longest, contentious, and climatic County Board of Commissioners meetings last week as the Board adopted the $1.1 billion budget for 2023. Clocking in at OVER 4 hours, here are the highlights:
Millage rate was approved keeping the rate the same (with a shift from the Debt Service Fund to the Fire Fund)
2023 Budget was approved which included 140 new positions (mostly judicial and transportation)
Staff compensation changes were approved which raised the starting salary to $17/hour
A study to focus on the realignment of McCullom Parkway was approved (this is a huge project…)
Bonuses for transit staff were approved
A new Unified Development Code will be created (this is a big opportunity…)
Public hearing/comment overview
McCollum Road Study Hearing
1 Comment (1 NIMBY)
Millage Rate Hearing
15 Comments (14 NIMBYs vs 1 Progressive)
General Public Comment
8 Comments (5 NIMBYs vs 2 Progressive, 1 Neutral)
NIMBY comments were mostly anti-tax and focused a lot on inflation, raised gas prices, Green New Deal/AOC (windmills?) and a rant against the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion position proposed by the Chair.
Progressive comments were led by William Parker, who spoke about how the county needs to fully fund its staff to provide services, and myself, who changed my topic to discuss the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion position.
Click here to see an overview of the data regarding public comment. Since I’ve been keeping track, NIMBYs have made 53 public comments to 10 Progressive comments.
Your next opportunities to attend a Board of Commissioners’ meeting will be next Tuesday, August 9th at 9:00AM and Tuesday, August 23rd at 7:00PM.
Public Meetings on Bike Trails
We had a group attend the virtual meeting for the Noonday Creek Trail Extension. Although a couple of local landowners spoke out against the project, Tyler B. spoke up about how more bike connectivity is needed. The NIMBYs were adamant that they did not want the trail and one said they will be forming a “Lifestyle Preservation Committee” and another said they would pursue legal action against the county.
Overall, this trail is actually a great project which would extend the already popular Noonday Creek Trail from Bells Ferry Road to Shallowford Road. The county already owns the Right of Way and property for the majority of the trail.
You can review the deck they shared with us here: Noonday Creek Trail Extension
Another opportunity to provide public feedback on an upcoming Multi-use trail is for the Austell-Powder Springs trail. Attend the meeting at the Threadmill Complex on Thursday, August 18th at 6:30 PM. This is another great trail project that is a priority for the county and I highly recommend attending if you are able!
Upcoming Advocacy Strategy Meeting
On Saturday, August 20th at 10AM, there will be a strategy meeting for Cobb Streets for All and Cobb 4 Transit. I’m hoping to get a meeting room reserved at a library, but am finalizing a location. The meeting will kickoff with a general update and a couple of combined discussions and then split up into focused discussions on bike and transit advocacy. By the end of the day we will have platform, strategy, and priority projects for both groups! Please sign up here: RSVP Link For Strategy Meeting
Quicklinks/News
Atlanta City Council to propose lowering parking maximums (CBS 46)
MARTA weighing options in Clifton Corridor (Hint: It’s gonna be Bus Rapid Transit) (AJC)
Dangerous By Design Annual Update (Study by Smart Growth America)
Complete Streets: How Streetscapes, Bike Lanes, and Sidewalks can spur economic development (HBJ)
Music Midtown cancelled due to not being able to restrict guns (AJC)
Do you have any news, research, or data that should be shared with our group? Let me know!
I’ll end with a photo of Andy taking a form of public transit on his first day of school! Have a great week!
-Matt
Is someone proposing windmills in Cobb County?
Who said SPLOST was "open ended" and "goes on forever"?
I have a really hard time following what these folks are talking about.
Did they contact their school board representatives or attend a school board meeting to complain about the $1.4 billion (yes, with a "b") CCSD budget and the board's decision not to reduce the millage rate for schools? Or is that okay because it's a Republican majority?