Issue number 10! Vote Now Edition
Voting day is tomorrow and so is the next Board of Commissioners meeting! We preview that and some trail updates...
Election day is tomorrow. Control of the Senate and House are up for grabs and everyone’s attention will be on races with statewide or Federal importance.
This is where I want to reiterate that as much as we care about the top-ballot results, we need to also pay attention and be active in our local government as well.
I know it seems daunting, but our vision here at A Better Cobb is to highlight what is happening locally and opportunities for you to get involved.
No matter what the result is in the national political landscape, our work locally is just getting started!
(P.S. If you haven’t voted yet, GO! Find your registration status and precinct here: https://mvp.sos.ga.gov/s/
Commissioners’ Meeting Preview
So the county has launched a new file management website, or at least a new interface. You can see the link to the meeting here: https://cobbcoga.portal.civicclerk.com/event/601/overview and the interface is a bit more interactive, though it’s difficult to link directly to the PDF version of the agenda (which you can see by clicking on “Meeting files” and then “Agenda” in the left menu).
For tomorrow’s 9AM meeting, we’ll have some people in attendance, and we’d love for you to join us!
Here’s an overview of the agenda:
2 Announcements honoring National American Indian National Heritage Month and local Girl Scouts
1 Public Hearing to authorize spending $100k or more on engineering services for 3 different SPLOST projects (Unlimited speakers, 3 minutes each):
Big Shanty Road Widening
Chattahoochee River Trail Project Phase 2
Cumberland Core Loop, Segment E
1st half of Public Comment (Up to 6 speakers, 5 minutes each, any topic they choose, first-come-first-called signup)
Consent Agenda includes 21 items
2 Transportation items related to the Bob Callan Trunk Trail (more walkability in the Cumberland/Windy Hill area)
Renewal of the Community Development Block Grant and related programs for FY 2023 with a budget of $3.8 million that goes to various non profits and community programs in the area
Approving the Carry Forward of 2022 reserve funds into FY 2023. Of note, there appears to be over $800k in the tree fund…I’m digging into learn more on that…
Regular Agenda has 11 items to be approved
Transportation has 9 items, with the largest item being approval of planning and engineering for the realignment of McCollum Parkway near the airport (this was one of 3 failed RAISE grants by the way…)
2nd half of Public Comment
Commissioners Announcements
I’m always scared to say this, but tomorrow’s meeting should be relatively straightforward and quick (which means you should join us there!:)
Transit Updates
All of the tea leaves still point to a vote at the meeting on Thursday, November 17th at 7PM. Please mark it on your calendars to be there!
This vote, as mentioned before, will authorize the county to move forward with preparing a Mobility SPLOST referendum in 2024. Still a LONG way to go, but this is an important first step.
The Cobb 4 Transit group is working on two key initiatives:
Attending Board of Commissioner meeting on November 17th
Organize Phone Calls with Commissioners
We have had a few people sign up and you can join the efforts by filling out this form or clicking on the link below.
Trail Updates
I have two key trail updates to share, all of which I introduced in my previous issue focused on bike trails.
Chattahoochee Riverlands Pilot Project is progressing towards completion!
Phase 1 is fully funded and expected to start construction in Early 2023
Phase 2 is the topic of the Public Hearing in tomorrow’s Board of Commissioners meeting
The multi-use trail along Cheatham Hill Road is almost done, construction is underway on the Burnt Hickory Road portion, and construction is about to start on Whitlock Ave.
When complete, the westside of Marietta will begin to have quite the start of a useable bike network. More details here
Received word from the project manager that all 3 trail segments are projected to be done by June 2023!
Other ongoing projects that I’m looking for updates on:
Noonday Creek Trail
Austell-Powder Springs Trail
Mountain-to-River Trail completion
Strategy Sessions This Week
Friendly reminder from the previous issue that there are multiple Public Comment sessions coming up to get feedback on the Strategic Plan.
Here’s a recap of the Strategic Plan: https://abettercobb.substack.com/i/82052067/strategic-plan, which the county will use as a guiding document moving forward.
District 2 Commissioner Jerica Richardson just announced that the previously scheduled town hall on November 10th must be rescheduled, but District 3 and 4 still have their upcoming meetings.
District 3’s meeting is Tuesday, November 15th, at 6PM at the Mountain View Community Center, 3400 Sandy Plains Road, Marietta.
District 4’s meeting is Wednesday, November 16th, at 6:30 PM at the Cobb Police Training Academy, 2435 East-West Connector, Austell.
Remember, you can fill out the survey online and it only takes about 8-10 minutes (only 1 person clicked on the link in the last issue…would LOVE to see a bit more participation this time…)
News and Updates
Slate has an article about how bigger cars are killing bikers, pedestrians, and other drivers
The impetus of the article was this tweet by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS)
Georgia is considering a Vehicles Miles Driven tax to replace the gas tax
Who ya gonna call? GHOST BUSES!! Transit Center shared a report about the impact of Ghost Buses, a common problem in Atlanta transit
That covers this week’s issue. Pretty light in new news with the election tomorrow, but this is an important couple of weeks for transit that could impact the future referendum.
‘til next week!
-Matt