All right, good evening.

Good evening, everyone, and welcome to today's Cobb County Board of Commissioners meeting this April 28th of 2026.

Today I'm pleased that we have Father Papa Giorgio of the Holy Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church.

He will be providing today's invocation, which will be followed by the pledge, and that will be brought by Officer Alexander Brown.

For those of you willing and able, please stand for both our invocation and our pledge.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

I mean call for the spirit of truth present in all places and feeling all things, the treasure of blessings and the giver of life.

Come and dwell in us and bless us from every stain and save our souls, a good one.

Cally God, Callimighty, Callie Mortal, a merch in us.

We offer Thanksgiving to you, Lord, for all your gifts and blessings.

We come to you and us that you may send upon us your heavenly spirit to enlighten our hearts and minds.

Give us your wisdom and knowledge.

Help us to know your will for your people whom we serve.

Guide us in all our decisions to do what is best for them.

Help us to shine with your love and compassion.

Grant us your peace and your love.

For glorified is your name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit now and always and unto the ages of ages.

Amen.

If you will please join me the Pledge of Allegiance.

Hi, Pludge Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

And to the republic for which it stands.

One nation.

Thank you, Father Papa Giorgio and Officer Brown.

Before we begin today's meetings, I just want to make an acknowledgement.

I don't know if any slides were received for today.

The top of the meeting.

Not necessarily.

Well, you can use this one if you can just scroll through.

I think continue.

Oh, okay, we can start there.

We can go back.

Just want to remind everyone of what our mission here is in the county, and it is to make Cobb the best place to live and work through an efficient, effective, and responsive government that delivers quality services.

And this is something I'm going to remind us of at the top of our meetings, just to show that we are in alignment in how we are serving.

And we can continue, we'll have to go past a few of these.

Continue again.

Yes, go back.

If you did not know, advanced voting started today.

All my days are running together.

That's a very long day.

Started yesterday.

And leading up to this, we were led by none other than our interim elections director, Michael Dietree, who has done an outstanding job.

He has had six elections under his belt.

And I want to make sure that I thank him publicly for his service to this county and in making sure that we are providing elections that are fair and that are accessible to our voters.

So please join me in thanking Michael today.

She just started yesterday, and we're hoping to have her at our next Board of Commissioners meeting, but we can certainly show her via video a warm and welcome Cobb County.

Um Cobb County welcome.

So please help me in just acknowledging her.

Not easy.

We have 800,000 residents.

And it's a lot of work to provide about 150 polling places throughout the county.

And I look forward to her doing a good job and Michael helping her through her on board here.

And I want to commend our elections board because they have done a lot to ensure that we have equitable voting throughout the entire county.

So you will see that each portion of the county from north, south, east, and west, they all have Sunday voting options as well as a drop box option.

And we also have that option available at our main office.

Still, um, you can vote at any of these locations.

You don't have to vote at the location nearest you.

During advanced voting, you can vote at any of these locations at any of the scheduled times that are there.

And if you would like to get direct access to this, you can just use the QR code on the screen, and it will take you to our Cobb election site.

So with that, thank you so much, and we'll go ahead and call our meeting to order.

We do have four presentations that are a part of this meeting.

The first one is to recognize our youth commission graduates.

For any of you who are here as a part of this portion of the program, please join me up front.

All right, we'll have tall people in the back and less tall up front.

Okay.

First, I want to congratulate all of our youth commissioners for being a part of this year-long program and making this our best class ever, and our largest class ever.

Some of you benchmark your ideas from different jurisdictions.

Some of you reached out to state leaders in these areas of study.

I was so impressed.

And so our research savvy award will go to the Stormwater Project.

For those of you who are part of that, please join me and get your stormwater research savvy award.

All right.

So we're gonna have to make some more of these.

But let's we can get a photo of you here.

Let's get in the center.

Book it in the center.

Yes.

All right.

Their project partnered with different community groups to provide a system that would filter water before it went down our storm drains.

And so I look forward to sharing that with our water systems director.

The way that they research this, their project looks actionable and effective in making sure that we are clearing debris before it gets into our water rays.

So I want to thank you for your effort.

All right.

Yes.

So proud of you.

And he talked about the different tools, the different finances we can use to do it.

I mean, you're a very convincing young man.

I was very impressed.

I look forward to us sharing that information with the fellow board members and to us seeing what we can do to break down this very complex issue in our county.

Thank you.

And not only by the data and the research, but you backed it up with the passion.

This research savvy award addresses voting precinct inequity.

Congratulations.

Thank you so much.

I look forward to you presenting to see how we can make sure there's opportunity for all precincts to have high voting participation and to look at some of the factors that could be contributing to inequity across our precincts.

Such a bright future here.

Looking at how we can find ways to keep all areas of the county cool with short-term, long-term fixes with minimal investment, some things requiring significant investment.

The amount of research done to come up with this award, please.

Our students who were part of the urban heat map project, please join me up front and be recognized for your research.

Now they're shy.

Congratulations.

You get the promise award.

Yes.

They made a they looked at how Cobb County can be more healthy.

They actually developed an app, guys, for people who have minimal exposure to health and fitness to people who are more fit.

They connected you to different parks based off of the type of workout that you would like to do here in the county.

And I want to connect you with Cobb Douglas Public Health so you could share that idea.

I think they could be a strong partner for you.

But you get our promise award.

Thank you so much.

All right.

Passion awards.

These are projects where it's one thing to present data and ideas, but when you bring your whole heart into what you do, that is convincing and it's it can have an impact.

And it certainly impacted me.

And so first up, I want to recognize the young voter participation project.

If you can join me up front here, yes.

Watch out for this young lady.

She is going to make sure that every person under the age of 35 votes.

Yes.

Very passionate about this.

All righty.

You're welcome.

Next up again, Miss Addie Choi.

The data was there, but also the heart behind your research was there.

Very impressed by your presentation.

You get a question.

Thank you.

Then another one that really touched my heart was the Cobb CareSconnect, making sure that anybody who needed mental health services knew how to get them here in the county.

Please join me up front for this project, young man.

All righty, let's go.

Let's go.

Let's go.

High impact award.

These were project ideas that were complex in nature, but should they be implemented would have a high impact here in the county.

Again, I'm gonna get these quickly because we've already recognized some of these.

These go to the student protest, Addy Choi.

All the awards, affordable housing, IO.

The Bike Path Award.

Yes, our students here for the bike path.

Yes, outstanding.

Could definitely have a high impact here.

Making sure we have safe bike paths for to traverse the county.

And again, our young voter participation award.

Yes, ma'am.

That's for you.

You're welcome.

Okay, a policy equalizer award goes to our student that presented school choice busing.

For those of you who are part of the school bus program, or excuse school choice program, you have to find your own transportation to go to these programs.

And she had an idea that could help provide an accessible way for these students to traverse the county.

So please join me up front.

Thank you.

Congratulations.

Our first policy equalizer award, our second policy equalizer award goes to a project that was already recognized, and that is for voter precinct inequality.

Goes to you, my dear.

Okay.

All right.

These are all actionable ideas.

And so I'm gonna go through these quickly because there are a number of you, but these are items that I want to give to staff because I think they can be implemented.

And that was one of the areas of focus that we had when we looked at the rubric of how these would be assessed is to look at can these things be implemented.

The first one goes to something that already is implemented in our county, but we need to make sure the area of interest gets highlighted in the community, and this goes to light synchronization.

You can join me up front, Mateo.

Yes.

So our DOT does synchronize light, but they need to synchronize it where you saw there was opportunity.

So very happy to see you.

Present that project to us.

To Wesley again.

We do have a fine help program.

And so there may be an opportunity to better communicate the program so people know that it's there.

Another Clare Path Award goes to the Cobb Care Pantry that will put up pantry sites in different parks and libraries around the county.

I thought this was doable.

So you get the Clear Path Award because you laid out how we can get it done.

All right.

Was there somebody else in your team?

All right.

Another Clear Path Award goes to our ideas around recycling here in the county.

Please join us up front.

Looking at very practical ways that we can introduce them publicly through our parks.

So appreciate your project idea.

All right.

Another ClearPath Award that was already recognized for tonight pertains to stormwater because you've laid out how this project idea can be implemented.

So where's our stormwater crew?

Right behind me.

Something else I thought was great that we are doing here in the county, but may have opportunity to better publicize it, has to do with pet microchipping.

You may join me here for the award.

Yes, thank you.

Okay.

Community partnership award.

I think all of you are recognized.

So I'm gonna give this to pet microchipping projects that focused on community partnership, stormwater, cop here pantry.

And the tri sweep initiative also focused on partnership.

All right, we're almost there, guys.

These projects get the Cupid Heart Award because they actually emphasize areas that are great interest to me.

The first one has to go to the Bike Path Award, and that's making sure that we have a safe experience for our pedestrians.

You get the Cupid Heart Award.

All right, you already got a picture.

Our one on focusing volunteer efforts on the parts of the county that have the greatest need.

Whoever presented that project, are you here this evening?

All right, well, recognize oh yay.

Yes, that's after my own heart.

Yes, come on up, Anise.

Yes.

Yeah, we have another photo.

Yes.

Their project focused on aligning volunteer efforts to the areas that have the most need so that people would know where their support would have the greatest impact.

So appreciate your project.

Oh, that's for you too.

All right, so the big kahuna projects.

Three of them get the Cupid Champion Award because these are project ideas I'm going to champion over the next year.

Meaning it is going to be my goal to see how we can implement it.

The first one has to go to someone who we've already recognized.

It's a project that just blew me away.

And again, it's dealing with voting precinct inequity.

Please join me up front.

The next program combines two groups.

One group had a wonderful project idea called Cobb After Hours and seeing how we can utilize our public facilities to provide places for young people to study and to get things done after the work day.

So our Cobb After Hours group, please join me, and I want to put you in conjunction with the youth program fair.

That's lady and your brother for your project.

I will see how to implement these together because I think they can work well together.

So congratulations.

Thank you.

All right.

And the last idea which is near and dear to my heart, I already received two awards here tonight.

That I'm going to see how we can get implemented is the Stormwater project.

Please join me up front.

All right, thank you so much.

Ladies and gentlemen, our future is very bright here in the county.

White students, we have committed families to make sure that they got here, and we have a wonderful trajectory for Cobb County, knowing that we have these dedicated young men and women who took their time to come here every month, sometimes twice a month to learn about this county to use it to have an impact in the world around them.

I am so proud of you and so grateful for this experience.

So with that, we'll take one final picture.

Three, two, one, three.

All right, guys, thank you.

Thank you for making Cobb look so good.

Thank you.

Appreciate you.

Thank you.

I would be remiss if I did not thank the many departments that were part of the youth commission.

Thank you so much.

And to my team.

Thank you.

Thank you all.

All right.

All right, guys, we do have additional presentations, so I'll ask if you can carry your conversations outside the meeting room and we can attend to our next three presentations.

All righty, if anyone is here for this next presentation, I will ask that you join Commissioner Gambrel up front, and that is with respect to designating April as National Child Abuse Prevention Month.

Thank you for being here.

Whereas child abuse remains a serious and widespread issue in the United States, affecting children across all backgrounds and often resulting in lasting trauma.

Whereas in Cobb County, Safe Path Children's Advocacy Center Incorporated plays a vital role in supporting child victims and their families by reducing trauma and coordinating a comprehensive response to abuse.

Whereas through partnerships with the community and a multidisciplinary approach, Safe Path addresses cases involving neglect, physical and sexual abuse, exploitation, and other forms of harm.

Whereas accredited by the National Children's Alliance and a member of the Children's Advocacy Centers of Georgia, the organization has served thousands of children and caregivers since 1995.

Therefore, in recognition of these efforts, the Cobb County Board of Commissioners proclaims April as Child Abuse Prevention Month and commends Safe Path for its ongoing commitment to protecting and supporting children.

This is the twentieth day of April, twenty twenty-six.

I won't say much.

Next up, I'll ask for those who are receiving certificates with respect to four H to please join Commissioner Allen up front.

See, some of our youth commissioners are doing double duty tonight.

This is actually kind of makes you feel good about the future of Cobb County with all the kids who we've we've been celebrating tonight.

But we're here now to celebrate the incredible success of our Cobb County 4 H students.

These young leaders have competed at the highest levels, providing their expertise in the essential skills that drive our economy and our communities.

This competition is a game of life that tests knowledge and consumer rights, personal finance, health and safety, and environmental and the environment and workforce development.

Our JB teams are back-to-back powerhouses, winning both the Georgia State and National 4-H competitions for two consecutive years.

That deserves a round of applause.

And this level of consistency is truly remarkable and once again deserves a round of applause.

We also want to highlight our specialist in cotton bowl and consumer judging.

This program teaches students how to make wise marketplace decisions, develop logical reasoning, and master the art of public speaking.

This team didn't just win, they dominated.

They are our state champions and the 2026 national championship team taking home top honors for overall performance, placing, and group thinking.

To all the students here today, and if there are any that could not attend, I want you to know that your hard work reflects great distinction on the UGA Cobb County Extension Office and our entire county.

On behalf of the Board of Commissioners, I want to congratulate you on these world-class achievements and many, many more to come.

So with that, we're going to pass out and I've solicited some help.

First up, Camille Days.

Navee Nadaraja.

Malhar Rajoli.

Joy Patadia.

Navi Natarajan again.

Back to back.

Joy Patadia.

Tara Manakaraj.

Kylie Mullins.

Summerboro Stayvalt.

Shabam Bhave.

Phoebe Burroughs stable.

A Jay Monikaraj.

Hareet Jaevel.

Preushi Paddy, she can be with us this evening, but congratulations to Krayushi.

Arche Gunjal.

Natik Mashwari.

Shibam Bhave.

Cartake Ashukula.

Summer Burroughs stay bald.

Phoebe Burrough stable.

Aquia Wusi Hussio Afrier.

Congratulations.

Thank you, Kathleen.

Do you want to say a few words?

Well, thank you, Commissioner, for this opportunity to showcase the great work that our 4-Hers are doing.

I also want to acknowledge my team because this could not be possible without the help of our team, Miss Kathleen, Miss Colleen, Miss Kennedy, and our 4-H agent, Mr.

McHale.

They are an awesome team to have.

Thank you.

Hello, hello.

Let me just turn this microphone.

How are you?

It's good to see you.

Yeah, we are joined by Principal Jennifer Woods, who represents Whitville Academy.

Whereas Whitville Academy, a premier Christ centered preparatory school situated on one hundred acre campus in Smyrna, serves more than nine hundred and fifty students from PK, pre-K through twelfth grade, dedicated to boltering Christian families and raising young people who pursue learning, service, and a vibrant faith.

And whereas the college board's AP School Honor Role recognizes institutions that successfully strengthen a college-going culture, provide students with opportunities to earn college credit, and maximize college readiness through rigorous coursework.

And whereas Whitfill Academy has earned the platinum distinction on the AP School honor roll for the third consecutive year, the highest possible level of recognition, reflecting an exceptional commitment to academic excellence grounded in biblical truth.

And whereas through a robust curriculum of 21 AP courses, Whitfill Academy has achieved extraordinary results with the class of 2025, in which 100% of seniors took at least one AP exam.

47% took five or more, and 96% scored a three or higher, demonstrating an elite standard of scholarship and participation.

Now, therefore, we the Cobb County Board of Commissioners hereby recognize and commend the students, faculty, and administration of Whitville Academy for earning the third consecutive AP Platinum Distinction, celebrating their unwavering commitment to academic excellence and vital contribution to the educational landscape of the community.

This the 28th day of April 2026.

Congratulations.

I would just like to thank you and to the Board of Commissioners for recognizing Whitfield Academy, and we attribute this to the good work God is doing at Whitfield and people who are clearly called to a mission and bolstering Christian families and rearing young people who go on to love learning, love the Lord, and love serving others ahead of self.

So thank you so much for this opportunity.

Absolutely, and congratulations.

It certainly has been about the youth this evening, hasn't it?

That concludes the presentation portion of our meeting.

We do have two public hearings.

The first one is to conduct a public hearing with respect to the record zones, and we will hear from our public safety director for this item.

Good evening.

You'll need to turn the microphone on, Director.

Okay.

Yes, this better.

Good evening, Madam Chair, uh Board of Commissioners, County Manager.

The purpose of this agenda item is to conduct a public hearing regarding proposed changes to the fee schedule concerning Cobb County record zone holders.

The fee schedule for towing services was last amended in 2022.

The current fees do not reflect the economic changes that have occurred within the last four years pertaining to operational, administrative, and other associated towing cost.

A comprehensive review was conducted concerning the current record service requirements, which show the cost of meeting towing requirements have increased significantly.

As authorized by the Board of Commissioners on April 14, 2026, a notice of the required public hearing was advertised in the Marietta Daily Journal on February on Friday, April 17, 2026, and Friday, April 24th, 2026.

Notice of the public hearing was also sent via U.S.

Postal Service to all affected records on holders.

One public hearing and notice to the record zone holders is required by Section 126-62A of the official code of Cobb County.

With that, the Department of Public Safety recommends that the Board of Commissioners hold a public hearing for the proposed record zone fee schedule changes.

We'll take an unlimited number of speakers again to address the proposed changes to the fee schedule for the Cobb County record zone.

Each speaker will have three minutes to address the board.

It doesn't say what they were and what they're going to be, and it would be great if you would include this when you do have these public comments and state exactly what you're changing, and not just we're gonna do it.

Nobody knows what's happening.

I mean the whole room.

I bet you ask anybody here.

What were they?

What are they gonna be?

So I mean for transparency.

Thank you.

You know, if we're gonna change something like this, we're to consider also the other end of it is that you know people are being pressed, and they're gonna get hit with charges, possibly they can't, you know.

So how do we know what where the numbers for for us to look at?

Uh how do we know what uh what's been proposed and whether this is reasonable or not?

I think this will be put off and told the public is had a chance to look at it with the transparent numbers.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Are there any other speakers?

Okay, not seeing any, we'll go ahead and close the public hearing.

And I would like to address comments with respect to seeing the actual substance of the record zone changes.

If you looked at our agenda item online, there was a proposed fee schedule included.

The substance of agenda items are included when they're posted, but I do have a copy here, and I have no problem with the public seeing it.

You just want to put it on the screen.

Do you want to give okay?

And director, if you can share how long it's been since these fees have been modified.

Um they were modified in 2022, and before that, I think it was 2014 or 2016.

Okay, thank you.

All right, so I just wanted the public to be aware.

Commissioners, you have any questions for the director.

Okay, not hearing any.

We do have a motion before us to consider.

And our my motion is that the board approve the proposed changes to the fee schedule for Cobb County record zone holders that perform tolls within the police districts, and that will be effective June 1st, 2026.

Second.

Is there any further discussion?

We'll call the question.

The vote passes 5-0.

Thank you, Commissioners.

Thank you, Madam Chair, Commissioners.

Okay, we have our second public hearing, and that is with respect to the launch of our comprehensive plan.

And we will hear from community developments.

Good to see you, Philip.

And he will provide this presentation.

Good evening, board, county manager, members of the public.

Uh thank you for this opportunity to be up here to um go into uh brief you all on the comprehensive plan update that we have coming up.

Uh, these things come around every five years.

And uh before I go any further, I just want to congratulate uh all the the kids and the youth that came up here to get their certificates, and uh we definitely can use their their ideas and their solutions through this process.

So if they're still here, I think we've got some bookmarks back there, and then uh also at the end of this presentation, uh they can get connected through our website and social media.

I know how kids are with social media these days, so that's one of the good things that we've got going on here.

But so let's get started here.

Uh, we're excited to begin this process, um, which uh will be developed entirely in-house uh by county staff leveraging their knowledge, expertise, and dedication to the county.

Doing this, we'll be able to take a more hands-on collaborative approach to ensure that the plan reflects uh the the local priorities in a cost cost-effective way.

Tonight, the purpose is to inform the community of the process, inform them how they can get involved in the process, and of course, open up the public hearing so that we can get feedback on the process itself.

Before I get into the presentation, I do want to just take a step back and ref uh refamiliarize everyone of what a comprehensive plan is.

It is essentially a long-range policy guide that guides growth and development.

Typically, that range is 20 years.

Thus, we've got the 2050 comprehensive plan.

It includes a vision statement, goals, policies, as well as a community work program that all work together to strive for that for the vision that is created by the community.

Some of the benefits include engaging with the community, predictable predictability between residents, developers, and businesses, and obviously a decision-making tool for the elected officials.

And it's also important to note that this process is required through the Georgia Planning Act of 1989.

And for us to maintain our qualified local government status, we need to make sure that we remain eligible to receive state funding.

So we want to make sure that we keep our qualified local government status.

So our certification expires October 31st of 2027.

So we need to make sure that we get this done before then.

And just to reiterate this process is not only strategic, but it's necessary.

Getting into the planning framework, starting from bottom up, each planning element will follow a consistent, coordinated and collaborative approach to include each of the visionary elements you see here: the needs, the goals, the community work program.

These visionary elements align each will align each of the planning elements, and they'll all work together to move us to achieve that vision in 2050.

We also are going to make sure that the goals and policies align with the Cobb County Strategic Plan to ensure that our long-term vision matches up with our short-term actions and fully coordinated and moving the county forward.

The process is more of a structured cycle.

Very clear that we start with the implementation.

We've been in implementation phase for about three years.

Late last year, we started updating the plan.

Earlier this year, we started data collection, existing conditions, and we're starting to move into needs assessment, getting involved with the community.

And then our implementation strategy is a five-year action program that will actually be actionable items that we look to take on for the next five years.

And of course, the plan adoption later next year.

Then once the plan is adopted, we go back into the implementation phase, and then we don't update the plan for another five years.

So it's it's a big cycle.

One of the big components of this, as you see, uh is community engagement.

This is centered all around community engagement.

It's all part of the entire process.

You know, this plan is not done in isolation, it is done by the community and for the community.

Oh, let's see.

I think I skipped a missing slide.

Oh well.

Sorry.

Um, I do have a slide here that talks goes a little more detail with community engagement.

So we have three different engagement series.

We have engagement series one, two, and three, a total of 16 community meetings that we're going to be carrying out over the next year.

Uh, engagement series one will focus on uh needs assessment, uh, looking at going out there, finding out what the priorities are in the community.

Uh engagement series three, uh I'm sorry, engagement series two will uh be the visioning, the forward thinking.

That's where we get the community to develop goals and and a vision statement.

And uh engagement series three is sort of a review, though those will be open houses and carrying out once we have our goals and policies developed and and a vision uh created, uh, we'll come back to the community to make sure that they they like what we've got as sort of a check and balance the situation there in uh engagement series three.

So those are all our our inner personal or in-person interactions that we'll carry out.

We also um will have a website that will include a survey uh that uh we'll we'll open up this summer as well as a crowdsource reporter.

This is a sort of an innovative um technique that allows input through mapping.

Uh so you can go on the website, go to this crowdsource reporter, draw out uh you know uh a comment that you might have on on a uh on a map, and then you can make that comment.

Other folks can come in and they can see the comment, they can like it, they can dislike it, whatever they want.

We just want to make sure that we were respectful and kind through that process as we carry out uh this engagement process.

Um, and one of the bigger uh things that we're doing this year or this time around is pop-up events.

Uh, we're gonna go out into the community and reach the community where they are.

Uh, we've already got some scheduled to go out into uh the community and uh these festivals, farmers markets, uh concert series, uh maybe show up on a par at a park on a Saturday and just start talking to the community and finding out uh uh what it is uh that uh they would like to to see in Cobb.

So that's our community engagement.

Uh who's involved, technical advisory team.

Um, this is our workhorses.

These are the uh the guys and the gals that um put do the day-to-day work and put all this together, and then uh we have the project management team which will coordinate and collaborate, um, making sure that our planning elements and our goals within those planning elements are aligned.

Stakeholder advisory group, this is a diverse group made up of uh community members that will provide their unique perspectives, and then of course the most important is the community and having the community come out uh come out to uh provide their input.

Outreach tools.

Um we have collaboration and outreach.

So collaboration is that interaction and getting the information.

Uh we have interviews, surveys, uh website, uh, a ton of different uh different collaboration uh tools that we're gonna be using pop-up events on the outreach side.

We're looking at press releases, uh, district newsletters, temporary road signs uh when we have our community meetings, email blast, cob TV, and our biggest uh our biggest one now that we're sort of uh in the past we've kind of meddled around in so social media, but we're taking that to the next level, and we're gonna be using social media a lot more through this process.

As far as our schedule, this is a very broad schedule of our engagement tonight.

So here we are in spring of 2026, kicking off our public meeting or public hearing process and kicking off our community engagement.

Um the month of May is gonna be focused on stakeholder engagement.

We're gonna get those up to date and and meet with them and do it start start working on one-on-one interviews, and then we'll follow up with our engagement series one, uh, which will be this summer, six meetings, and then we'll follow that in the fall and this in the winter with engagement series two and three, and then we hope to anticipate a an adoption in the summer of 2027, well ahead of our October deadline.

So that is our uh process in a nutshell.

Uh I know you've seen a lot of QR codes here tonight, uh, but here's three more that uh that are important.

Uh we have our website here off to the left.

Please uh go to our website.

There is a feedback or there is a feedback box that you can provide feedback right now.

There's also you can enter your email to stay informed, keep you updated uh as we update the website and as we schedule meetings and so forth.

Also on the right, we have our social media platforms.

Uh you can connect uh to our community development uh social media page, which will have a lot of uh Cobb County comprehensive plan 2050 comprehensive plan information.

Um so that's big.

And speaking of social media, um we've got a couple of folks here that have been a social media gurus, and they've been putting together videos and reels, I guess, of outreach.

And so I want to uh just do a quick 15-second video uh that they put together and conclude my presentation with that video, and um we'll go from there.

Cloud county will very different by 2050.

More people homes, more traffic.

So how do we plan for it?

2050 comprehensive plan, cob thread map for growth.

And it shapes how we live every day.

This only works with you.

Share your input online, in person, or at a meeting.

What should Cobb look like in 2050?

So that's uh the video, and again, thank you for the opportunity to speak with y'all tonight, and we look forward with the conversations with the community uh to make sure that we can shape this cob shaping cobs tomorrow together.

Oh I was gonna get that.

Thank you.

Thank you.

What we'll do is go ahead and open up the public hearing to an unlimited number of speakers that can address the board on this matter and this matter only, which is the comprehensive plan update, and each speaker will have three minutes.

Just ask if you are new to speaking at our meeting to please state your name before your comments.

Thank you.

Um good evening, commissioners.

And I mean, I've been seeing these things for over 30 years, but today there's they're talking AI, they're talking water, they're talking electricity, and you're talking about bringing more people in building in, but the AI is going to eliminate jobs.

And right now, the H1B visas that are a lot in Cobb County are programming the computers that are gonna eliminate them.

So first thing is water.

We need water for the people we have now.

We've had a drought for a month.

South Georgia's burning, Florida's burning, North Carolina, and it's like you can't control the weather.

You just gotta assume it's gonna be very sparse sometimes.

So that's the plan.

And you don't need more density.

You don't need the reason there's a housing shortage is mass illegal immigration.

You resolve that and the problem resolves.

But this thing is like the Chamber of Commerce, you got it set up where you're gonna dictate to the people that we're gonna be bigger, we're gonna have more traffic, more people, more this, and guess what?

You're not asking the people first.

Like how do the people, and it's democratic and in uh Jonesboro, and they've just built two data centers there, and the people aren't happy, and it's a it's a non-partisan thing.

Everybody that lives here needs water.

So are you gonna tax you know the infrastructure more?

And I I remember not too long ago where you're raising the rates and limited how much people could use in water and all that, and if we hadn't had the rain today and yesterday, you would have been talking about that the next meeting, and so we need to plan ahead.

You need to ask the people first, you know, and you need to ask the people that have lived here the longest, you know, and and it's it's more like yeah, everybody wants to see some cheaper house or something, and I'm I've noticed what's being built all through Metro Atlanta, and they look like Soviet era lock housing now, and you know, right off 285, you can see them.

You know, it's it's not quality of life, but like I said, we all keep drinking and peeing in the water, and guess what?

You know, the the water quality ain't that great.

So thank you.

And just ask the people first, don't plan it and then say you like it.

Mr.

Harfoot, thank you.

Hi there, JT Jackson.

Uh as we think of this comprehensive plan, uh I know towards the end of the video uh more traffic was mentioned.

Uh, more traffic is a choice.

There are plenty of strategies to combat that that have worked all over the world for 70 plus years at this point.

The information is there, it's at our fingertips.

There's things we can do in this county to combat traffic.

We have a lot of subdivisions that have one way in, one way out.

If we provide people with a way to traverse those neighborhoods, a greenway, not even connecting those neighborhoods for a car, just giving people options to move outside of a personal vehicle, adding frequency to cobbling, doing things like expanding uh the bike network that we have in the county.

I've spoken many times about how I love Mountain De River, I love the Silver Comet.

On how they can live their life.

I know many of us probably don't even have the opportunity to walk to a grocery store if we need to go get milk or eggs.

Doing things like having zones or zoning where you know a neighborhood has quicker access to something like a grocery store, uh, someone that lives on West Sand Town, you only live a what like a mile from a public, but there's no sidewalk to walk there, even if you wanted to.

Uh so you know, when we talk about traffic, we have to realize that's a choice.

There are options that we have to combat that, other than just widening roads or adding new roads.

We have to give people choices on how they want to traverse this county.

Thank you.

Okay.

And just to continue with that thought, uh, I'm a 30-year-old man living in Mapleton.

And it talked about the future of Cobb County being an importance of this comprehensive plan, uh, saying what's Cobb County is gonna be different in 2050, and there's gonna be all these changes.

The people who are going to be living in Cobb County in 2050 are people my age and younger.

And so that just shows how even more important it is to consider their thoughts on what would make a better Cobb County.

And consistently across the board, all of them have said more variety and more accessibility to forms of transit.

What not just roads, not just cars, but bicycle lanes, uh walkways, greenways as mentioned.

So I just wanted to reaffirm that point is that if we are wanting to look to the future, the next generations, transit should be the priority.

Thank you.

My name is Joseph Beckworth.

I'm a single father, I'm 28 years old and I live in East Cobb.

Um as to the previous point, how Cobb County would look in 2050 is a choice, and it's gonna be dictated by people like us under uh 35.

We want variety, we want more greenways, we want more bike lines, more buses.

Density is not bad, it's only bad because we do not have the infrastructure that can sustain it.

Thank you.

My name is Roby Mitchell, and I serve as board president of a better cob where we advocate for a variety of things to make Cobb a better place.

Uh and I really appreciate the transparency in which uh your staff has shared uh the the steps of the plan for uh 2050.

Uh I'm really impressed by by the level of transparency and by the detail in which uh we were uh shown.

So thank you for that.

Um I do want to also note that you know, as a fellow younger person, technically for now still, I guess, uh 30.

Uh, you know, in 2050, uh, I do still hope to call Cobb home.

And uh it is uh really important for me and my my household, I'm married, uh, for me and my husband to think about how we uh will be living in Cobb County in 2050 uh for those of us who will be around in Cobb then.

Um I I did also want to uh ask a question, uh just something for consideration, uh not just how will uh public input be solicited for uh for people who will be here in 2050 for younger folks, but as far as the public comment and uh you know input goes, uh will there be a way for um the the county to to comment uh in objective terms uh when the discourse is getting more into the uh non-factual or subjective uh with the solicitation process.

Um it was mentioned earlier that uh immigrants are the reason why housing is so unaffordable in cob.

And I get that there's a lot of subjectivity in different debates, uh things are very complex and nuanced, but uh just the facts are not that there's not that many uh people who are uh foreign-born as a percent of population in Cobb County that's just objectively false by census data.

So when it comes to you know public uh discussion and forums, uh, I really want a fact-based conversation in 2050, so I'm just curious how we uh add objective facts so we don't you know go too off the rails uh based on feelings uh that may or may not be rooted in truth.

Thank you.

Good evening, Cobb County Commissioners.

I wasn't going to come today because I don't feel good at all.

My excuse me, my name's Kathy Saw, but I'm glad I came because I didn't even know there was a Cobb County comprehensive plan.

So now I know.

In 2050, I could be an assisted living or memory care, okay?

I'm 39 and holding, okay.

So that's all I'm saying, okay.

But as the commissioners know, because I haven't been doing meeting for a while, but I'm here now.

I'm a very active 39 and holding.

So when I moved here, I said, where do I wanna live that has sidewalks?

I'm a cyclist, I'm a spinner, I lift my weights.

I just, and I don't like driving.

I like a more European approach, okay.

Roswell's a very good example, okay.

I go there a lot to walk, but I don't like sitting in traffic, fortunately retired, okay.

Cobb is great, not perfect, we got our problems, but very diverse.

We have a lot to offer.

We're Smyrna Mary out of the various cities.

So I just ask that you really publicize the public input, okay.

As you have, I I've gone through a lot of those, so that we of all ages below 39 and 39 and holding.

I don't think any of us like sitting in traffic.

I think we wanna walk on sidewalks or sometimes in my case, run on sidewalks, bike lanes, things of that sort, activities, but I don't think anybody wants to sit in traffic and no matter whatever your your family is, okay.

I I think we all kind of want the same things, and I just ask that you be very transparent and publicize when we can give our input in person, and some people, 39 and holding are not real great with computers.

I'm I'm very good with computers, but some people are.

So maybe in person, uh computers, things like that.

But thanks for all you do.

Thanks for giving us time to speak right now and look forward to participating.

Thank you.

Good evening, Denny Wilson District 4.

Okay, I'm gonna bring it home for you guys tonight, because that's what we need to talk about homes.

Um, I don't know what your comprehensive plan is gonna display when it comes to housing, but I know what the city of Mabelton's comprehensive plan that they just paid all of this money for.

The plan only goes to 2030, but it's called the 2045 comprehensive plan.

Inside of that plan, what really caught my eye was they're saying that the average income to own a home in Cobb County by 2030 is gonna be a hundred and sixty-five thousand dollars a year.

This is in their comprehensive plan.

Now, you guys a few years back just raised the living wages for county employees to 17 an hour.

And that and as I told you guys when I came to speak then, that's only $35,000 a year.

If you're continue to allow these developers to build homes for four and five hundred thousand dollars, how can somebody making thirty-five thousand dollars a year afford those homes?

So what you've do, what you're doing is you're you're getting you're gonna start getting employees from outside of the county.

Because the homes that are going up, they're not gonna be able to afford those, not on a $35,000 a year salary.

And I'm talking about, I guess that's your minimum salary.

I know that that can't be the max, but even your minimum living wage people are gonna have to move out of this county.

I met a young lady who's an EMT in Cobb County.

She lives in Fayetteville, but she drives to Cobb County every day to work, because she can't afford to live here.

So if you guys sitting in those positions, if you don't stop these developers from building these expensive homes, and I know you can't tell people what they can build on their land.

But you guys have the ability to reach out to these corporate employers and say, hey, we need people employed.

We need people to be able to buy homes.

Because as one of the young men said about their age group, their age group won't even be afforded to live to it, won't even be able to afford to live in Cobb County.

If these houses continue to go up at the price, they're going up.

We got a developer now looking at Mabel to build million dollar homes.

And what do you think that's gonna do for our homes once those million dollar homes start coming in there?

I mean, so all I tell you is in your comprehensive plan, look at how people are gonna live.

I don't even know if by 2030 I'll be able to pull in my house if the taxes get your time has run.

Thank you.

Hi, Sam Foster.

Um I'm glad uh that we're doing a comprehensive plan.

Uh one thing I wanted to note is uh making sure that we follow through on whatever that comprehensive plan says.

Uh we have a problem throughout the entire Metro Atlanta region where we come up with these beautiful plans that say we're going to do X, Y, and Z by X day uh by Y day, and it just never happens, or the administration changes and the plan changes, or they completely ignore the plan.

Um I hope that we have similar minded individuals uh when the plans uh come to fruition or when they're ready to break ground.

Um but if that is not the case, uh that would be uh deeply unfortunate.

Um but you know, even when we have uh you know simple steps that we can take in certain plans, uh we kind of have an aversion to doing them sometimes.

It's like we have this nice uh PDF that we were told to write by the state, and then it just sits there and collects dust and doesn't do anything.

Um so I think it's a great opportunity, especially since we'll probably be at a million people by then to make sure we're aggressively approaching different areas when it comes to transportation, when it comes to housing, uh, when it comes to revenue generation.

Uh so I look forward to what conversations we're going to be having uh during that process.

Um and I think it's especially important because there are a lot of things that the state is doing right now uh where they are trying to take the control away from us.

Uh so it's gonna be another opportunity to come up with creative solutions on how we are going to continue to maintain the services we have, uh build on what we have, and and uh you know do some of the projects that we want to do going into the future.

Thank you.

Christine Rosman, Marietta.

Um I think that the comprehensive plan definitely is needed.

So I mean having a plan is always good.

Um but whose vision is it?

Is it is it the community's vision or is it more of Metro Atlanta's vision?

And the way in which we are the trajectory is that it's more of Metro Atlanta's vision, not Cobb County's vision, and you have people that are not going to be able to afford to stay in Cobb County at the rate in which our taxes keep going up.

We have a Sploss, we have all kinds of things that are being we're spending money on that don't need to be spending, and it's strapping the people here, and especially when you have retired people that are on a fixed income, and then they can't afford their taxes.

So yes, of course, to a comprehensive plan, but if it reflected what our values were more than Metro Atlanta or I think uh Chrysalis Lab was the one that spearheaded more of this before, it didn't reflect Cobb County citizens, so let's bring it home.

Thanks.

Okay, we'll take our next speaker.

Hi, uh, my name is Andre.

I live in East Cobb.

This is the first time I've ever been up here.

Uh I sorry, Andrew, do you have a last name?

What?

Did you say your last name?

Morris, Andre Moraes.

Thank you, Andre.

Um I cannot get here without a car.

Believe me, I've tried before.

I've tried I there was a bus stop near to where I live, 20 minute mock away.

It would have taken me somewhere nearby.

Too bad it closed back in 2008, so it wasn't an option.

Um I could try biking.

I like biking.

I've been biking uh around East Cobb, and biking is uh pretty fun so long as the sidewalk exists.

Um technically you're supposed to cycle on the road, sharing a road of cars.

Um I average around 10 to 15 miles an hour on a bike if I'm really trying.

Um most cars go at 35 miles an hour, 45 miles an hour.

A lot of times they go over that, not very safe.

Um so I try to mainly stick with the sidewalks, uh, which is not a very not very good because the sidewalks, you know, to share them with pedestrians, so even though not a whole lot of people are walking, some people are walking, you have to go around them and also not exactly super smooth, quite bumpy.

Uh and the worst part is that uh they don't exist sometimes.

If the side buck doesn't exist, it doesn't exist.

Uh and uh the route that I would take to drive to get here from my house uh bike car is not the same route that I could take by biking because the sidewalk just disappears.

I have to take a 40-minute detour along some other small roads to get here.

And assuming that it would have already taken me 40 minutes to get here by bike, add it doubling that time just so that I could get here safely, kind of unreasonable.

And so if we want to call this a comprehensive plan, um definitely they have comprehensive walking and biking infrastructure so that people can uh just get around without having to take extra detours just to be safe uh while getting around, and especially if they don't want to get around in a car, like I don't want to always get around in a car.

Oh god, they take the car if I need to, but sometimes I don't want to, especially considering that the price of gasoline is going up for some journeys that I don't want to have to spend uh money uh the extra money on.

I would like to be able to make those journeys without spending money on gasoline uh to get there with a car when I could instead be getting there on foot or by bike or by bus.

Thank you.

We'll take our next speaker.

So this started out with this people coming out with their microphones proclaiming what what we are gonna have to have.

But nobody ask us.

You did this before even ask us.

That's not the way that that's not the way you do this.

You ask us first because maybe we've got some different information.

Um there's lots of requests here tonight for spending on lots of different things.

People come up here and said we wanted transit, and we have to pay for it, but the voters said no.

People say build sidewalks, but they have no idea how many men per mile it costs to build sidewalks.

The population isn't projected to be more in 25 years than it was the last 25 years.

Yet we managed without you know all of the all of this uh sp new spending and on and changing the way we live.

And it's even the kids come up here and even said disrespecting the elders that they're not gonna be here, but what they forgot is they're gonna be paying for this stuff between now and 2050.

It's not about just 2050, it's about paying for it to 2050.

And the thing is, they don't realize this.

Raising these things cost money, and raising taxes to pay for these things raises rent, and it raises the cost of housing.

It's not free.

The the government just doesn't have a big pool of money to spend, it's free.

Every time you do these things that they're clamoring for, it cost people their livelihood.

It costs people, makes people can't afford to live and pay rent.

So this isn't this isn't this isn't such an easy thing that we just have lots of money to spend for everything.

It impacts people, and so therefore I call each commissioner to have town halls in their district and get real input and not these not these uh come and look at the the board thing.

I made a real town halls where people get to give feedback and and there's conversation.

So uh please do that.

Thank you.

Okay, we'll take our next speaker.

Okay, not seeing any, we'll go ahead and close the public hearing.

Commissioners, do you have any questions for Phil before we conclude this hearing?

Go ahead, Commissioner.

Phil, if you don't mind, I don't have a question for you, Phil, but this is just kind of a comment, and this comes back after the feedback that we had from the SPLOST is that folks didn't like the fact that they could say no.

No was never an option for them to fill out a category, and there was never an area where they could offer something different.

So, in the survey that we're gonna do, are we going to have it a little bit more open-ended where if people see it differently, they will be able to make that comment instead of just clicking a certain pre labeled box that we have?

Yes, uh, the challenge with the surveys is making sure that it's short and and uh making sure that everyone completes it.

But yes, we're gonna have a combination of open-ended questions as well as the you know selecting different things.

Well, we'll have agree, strongly agree, dislike, strongly dislike, so forth.

Okay, but what if there's uh a situation where they like a part of it but they don't like a part of it here?

Are they gonna be able to say, you know, hey, we like this, we don't like this aspect of it instead of lumping it together?

Uh I'm I'm not sure if I understand your your question.

So um we heard about subdivisions with interconnectivity.

So, what if there's a group that wants subdivisions with interconnectivity, but the interconnectivity they want is only through bikes, not necessarily traffic.

So when you say, you know, do you want interconnectivity between subdivisions?

Are you gonna allow them to say only for bike and pedestrian paths or for vehicle or both?

We can set it up that way.

Um, we might offer basically offer the interconnectivity question and then offer um vehicular access, pedestrian access, bicycle lane, so forth.

And we can do an open-ended at the end, like other, and then they might be able to include their get specific with their uh feedback.

Absolutely.

That would be a suggestion to just have a box where people can provide some clarity for anything, maybe at the end.

And and there is a there will be a survey, but we also even right now, if you go on our website, there's a feedback box that you can provide.

There's nothing, you just provide us your feedback, and they can type anything they want.

Respectfully, I don't you can ask.

Okay, are there any other comments?

Yes, Commissioner Burrow.

Thank you, Phil and Mandy and your staff that are here to that have put this together.

Um that's what I was gonna say is after the strongly agree or disagree, a comment box to put their comments of what they do or don't agree with.

We can certainly do that.

Um then this this vote tonight is just to launch the program with the I think you said 16 different or yeah, it's it's not necessarily a vote.

There's no voting, you don't need to vote on anything.

It's just we're just informing the community.

Um it is a state requirement that we carry out this kick-off public hearing, um which you know we would have done anyway, but uh this is uh just kicking off the the program, the project, and uh informing the community of how they can get involved and and putting it out there so that uh be looking for our community schedule, our community events um and community meeting schedule, and that will be an opportunity that the community can come out and have conversations with staff, and uh it's not just boards and everything like that.

It is we actually have exercises where we try to pull feedback.

A lot of times they don't give us info information kind of quiet, but we have ways to pull that information out of them.

Right.

Um task force or committee to we appoint yes, that's the stakeholder group.

Yes, we they um we have a list and we we plan on focusing on them in May.

Or this is coming up next month.

And then when will the community meeting start?

June.

We we're we're kind of tentatively uh looking at I think three or four meetings in June, one of them being virtual.

Um most of them will be um in person, uh, but we are we found out the last time we did this was kind of during that COVID time frame, and we got a lot of got a lot of good in feedback virtually, so we wanted to add a virtual meeting.

Uh also it provides a variety, so if folks can't make it to a meeting, um, they can attend virtual.

So, yes, we'll have um meetings each district, and also we'll have one here in the in the boardroom for record recording purposes, and then a virtual meeting.

June, July.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

Are there any other comments or questions, commissioners?

Thank you so much.

Appreciate it.

Thank y'all.

This concludes the public hearing portion of our meeting.

We are now at public comment.

I'll turn things over to our county attorney to help walk us through the speakers.

Thank you.

As the board provides the podium for public comment, it's appropriate to review the related meeting rules.

Please state your name and if you are speaking on behalf of an organization.

All comments should be made to the commission as a body and addressed through the chair.

Public comment is not a dialogue with the board, but an opportunity for speakers to provide their comments to the board.

Comments should not be slanderous.

The board encourages, regardless of the topic, for the audience to be respectful and courteous to all speakers.

Everyone attending this meeting should give others the right to both listen and be heard by treating each other with civility.

Statements made during the public comment portions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the board or the administration of Cobb County government.

A timer is on the podium for you to track your three minutes, and our first speaker is Amanda Seals.

Good evening, Chairwoman Cupid and members of the Board of Commissioners.

My name is Amanda Seals, and I serve as the executive vice president of advocacy and government relations for the Cobb Chamber of Commerce, representing our 2500 member companies that call Cobb County home.

The Cobb Business Community stands firmly in support of the 2028 SPLOSS renewal, and here is why.

First, SPLOSST is simply a smart tax policy.

It spreads the cost of major capital improvements across everyone who shops and does business in cob residents, visitors, and commuters alike, rather than placing that burden solely on property owners.

That keeps our millage rate low and our business climate competitive.

That matters enormously when companies are deciding where to locate and invest.

These are not luxuries, these are recruitment tools.

And finally, as proven through the continuous renewals that this county has enjoyed, Cobb voters can trust this investment.

The Citizens Oversight Committee ensures accountability and transparency, which we support and welcome.

We look forward to educating the public on the SPLOSS renewal as well as advocating for its passage.

Thank you.

Thank you.

We'll take our next speaker.

The next speaker is Monica DeLancey.

Good evening.

Monica DeLancey.

We thrive in Riverside Rental Association.

District 4.

The housing crisis in Cobb County is about more than invisible homelessness.

It's also deeply tied to how quickly renters are pushed out of their homes.

Homeowners get behind their mortgage, but there are counseling refinanced options and other options to keep them in a home.

However, renters can have six weeks from the time they are behind on their rent to being evicted.

I had a call this morning from a lady who said she was only late this month for rent, and she already have a court date for May 8th in Cobb County.

Cobb County evictions are held on Fridays at 9 a.m.

and 1 30 p.m.

And 90% of the people in the victory court in Cobb County are black women.

Many long-term tenants living in corporately managed properties are being evicted after falling just one or two months behind the rent with little opportunity to recover as meaningful alternatives.

While rental assistance programs exist, there are often short-term solutions that fail to address the long-term stability of families in need.

Over the past 19 years, I have had the on-ground research.

I have witnessed troubling parents, elderly residents, including grandmothers who had lived in their homes for over a decade, have been evicted after brief financial setbacks.

I have also seen corporate landlords refuse rental payments from tenants who raise concerns about unsafe or neglected maintenance of conditions.

In some cases, these corporate landlords sent attorneys to court every time to hold up and defend their position.

And you know, lawyers cost $300, $400 an hour.

But they sit there and never repair those broken windows, never cut the grass, and then other residents who didn't even pay their rent for year, let their rent got um piled on, and then the corporate landlords did a mass eviction of 50 families this past um at the beginning of this year.

That's a form of discrimination.

Some of those families had to move to hotels so they can stay in the riverside area so they can keep their children in the schools.

This instability contributes to higher student mobility, disrupts educational outcomes, and place additional strain on already vulnerable households.

Although these programs exist, reparable housing, eviction prevention, multi-the-home, there are still barriers.

Sometimes people find themselves living in apartments that have little or no modernization, and they have painted over plywood over broken windows.

If Cobb County is truly committed to supporting families and strengthening communities, there must be a more intentional and balanced approach.

This includes engaging corporate landlords and meaningful dialogue about eviction practices and encouraging policies that prioritize housing stability.

Housing cannot remain a one-sided system.

It must be inclusive, fair time has structured in a way that reduces displacement, supports educational continuity, strengthens economic development.

And the proof of your time has you.

Thank you.

Hi, Sam Foster.

It's been over a year since there was a serious crash at KSU involving Alyssa Stringer, who was at the time a 19-year-old KSU student.

She was standing waiting to cross the street at a pedestrian island at the Skipskons connector slash fray road intersection and was hit by a car while waiting there.

As a result, she had to have her leg amputated.

I've talked about this a number of times.

I know the board is aware, Cobb DOT is aware, and there were meaningful improvements implemented at that intersection closer to the time period when uh the incident happened.

Uh sadly, over a year later, conditions on that road still largely remain the same.

And I don't think that's at the foot of any one person.

I know we all care about safety.

Uh, but we're in a real scenario right now where the resources we have are not adequately able to deal with the conditions of danger that we have on our road for pedestrians and cyclists.

And there have been many other incidents where pedestrians have either been severely injured or they have been killed on many roads throughout the county, and we do not have the tools within the current toolbox we have to deal with these crashes.

So when this crash happened, uh a better cob, we set out to analyze it.

Uh, we we thought this was the perfect opportunity to look at this one because it's under complete county control, which uh gives us more power to do the things that we want to do uh at this intersection.

And we put together a panel with two uh engineers and and two community members from this area uh to come up with a report that would give some recommendations on what we can do in the short term, what we can do in the near term and what we can do in the long term.

And these recommendations are focused on cheap but effective steps that we can take to meaningfully change uh safety at this intersection.

Uh they are as follows.

First, we think that the intersection for skip span connectorslash red road should be turned into a scramble crossing.

There's a high amount of pedestrian traffic in that area, and one of the biggest problems I saw when I've gone there multiple times is that the cars are turning into the crosswalks while pedestrians are crossing.

Uh and that creates uh more conflict points where pedestrians could potentially be hit.

Uh Atlanta reprogrammed uh walk set walk signals in a traffic signal to do a pilot project for a scramble crossing in midtown.

You might know it as the rainbow crosswalk.

Uh and after they tested it out, they made it permanent after they decided that the safety improvements were meaningful enough to make it permanent.

And secondly, we believe that this intersection should be uh we should be using temporary build materials to reconfigure the design of the road.

That could be using flexiposts, that could be using traffic cones, that could be using even uh potted planters decatur.

They made a bike lane protected temporarily with potted plants until they were able to get the funding to lay down actual concrete to make it a protective bike lane.

And at this intersection, we have traffic cones put up, reducing the travel lanes, approaching the intersection during graduation on the busiest time of the year.

Uh and lastly, we uh would encourage the creation of some sort of committee that is dedicated to analyzing serious crashes around the county and presenting recommendations uh just like we are here doing today.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Jared Brand.

Excuse me, you know what?

I'm sorry.

Thomas Weaver.

I want to call him in order.

I apologize.

Yes, sir.

Thank you, Madam Chair, for recognizing me to speak to the benefit of the members of the board and in approbation of your rules of procedure.

My name is Thomas Weaver, and all comments will be addressed explicitly through the chair in the highest of esteem for this chamber.

I will also obey decorum.

Thank you, Madam Chair, for recognizing me to speak.

Members should meet with your approval.

This truly is a case of please don't shoot the messenger.

I have some upsetting news.

It's going to be very uh jarring.

Governor Kemp decided recently that he's going to ink into law new legislative measure that took effect immediately, preempting the authority of cities and counties to regulate livestock on private property and on public roads.

Believe it or not, I'll say it again.

In fact, I will read it to you verbatim.

You ready?

It's jarring.

No county municipality, consolidated government or other political subdivision of the state shall adopt or enforce any order, rule, regulation, resolution relating to or pertaining to crop management, animal husbandry, or any livestock, get a load of this located on any private property or any livestock on any public road.

Congratulations.

I know that's not what you want to hear, but that's what the Georgia General Assembly has cobbled together and has set out before you.

The only reason why I'm aware of it on this particular legislative measure was I was reading this measure on a different matter, and I saw in the newspaper that the county has a two-acre ordinance requirement for livestock on private property.

If it should meet with your approval, Madam Chair, and an approbation of your peers on the board, I would invite you and beg leave to please direct your county manager and members of her professional staff along with legal counsel to investigate the veracity of my clause of my claim as a matter of law.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

And with your explicit permission, may I please present this to Miss Maverick for professional dissemination to the board and to the government of Cobb County.

Yes, sir.

Thank you.

You're very welcome.

And now the next speaker is Jared Brand.

Uh good evening.

Uh I'm Jared Brand, and I'm currently an engineering student at KSU, and I've lived in Kennesaw for the past about year.

I was in Marietta for a couple years before that.

And tonight I'm here with a better cobb to speak around the road safety surrounding KSU's campuses and really any educational campuses in the county.

And while we're here tonight specifically to talk about Frey Road, um, where students tragically lost their leg, um, I want to mention that Frey Road is not an outlier when it comes to how dangerous the roads around both campuses are.

Uh tonight I want to advocate specifically for three things, but road safety, especially in high traffic areas like college campuses, needs a ton of work across the board.

In terms of what we can do, um, as mentioned by Sam, uh, first we want to advocate for a scramble crossing uh at that intersection of Frey Road and Skip Span connector.

Um, second, we need to deploy quick build safety fixes.

Um, with a tragic situation occurs, uh, it makes no sense for us to wait years to implement a true solution, um, a permanent solution when we can act now.

Um, even if we want to make it better in the future, um, there's no reason we can't put something temporary in uh before we get the funding and engineering done for that.

Uh and then lastly, uh, we want to establish, you know, Cobb County to establish a crash analysis committee to look at incidents and similar incidents to this and to push for for timely fixes before more people get hurt.

Um that's all I have.

Thank you for your time.

Uh thank you.

The next speaker is Amelia Jackson.

Hi everyone, uh, my name is Amelia Jackson.

I'm an alumna of Kennesaw State University, and I lived in off campus housing in 2018.

Also lived on campus in 2019 and 2020, and at about a mile radius from campus for two years post-graduation.

Um I now live in Cumberland, and I really enjoy the Bob Callan Trail and other really protected greenways in that space.

Um, so today, along with a better cob, um, we are asking the board to please make the roads around Kennesaw State, and as Jared mentioned, the Marietta campus as well.

Um, but specifically the Frey Road skip spam connector, that's the one with the mountain over the uh I-75.

That's pretty cool.

But um, not pretty cool is that Frey Road is really it's a very curvy road, very fast-paced, um, connected right from the interstate, and pedestrians kind of feel like an afterthought at this intersection, despite it being a key location for the convocation center, the shuttle parking lot, off-campus housing, and the sports and rec center.

Many of the visit many visitors use this intersection during graduation and sporting events, in addition to the thousands of students that are there.

All this to say, a ton of people walk in that area.

And we'd love to see some changes on this road to avoid future life or limb injuries for students and visitors in Cobb County.

Um, there's currently three slip lanes at this intersection.

So not only do pedestrians have to cross five lanes of traffic, they have an additional sixth lane of incoming turning traffic that they have to avoid as well.

And removing those slip lanes would prioritize pedestrian safety, reduce blind spots for drivers, and also make Frey Road more accessible and less cumbersome for walkers, students, visitors, and everybody.

Um, also converting the intersection into an all-direction scramble would once again prioritize walkers and cyclists getting onto campus so that they can cross the road without vehicles interfering with them or coming over that blind hill over the bridge and making a left turn and they're not paying attention that there may be pedestrians.

Um there's a lot of motion happening in this area.

Um and giving the right-of-way back to the people instead of cars is really important to such a hub in the community.

Thank y'all.

The next speaker is JT Jackson.

Hi there, JT Jackson, uh District 2.

Uh as the speakers before me have mentioned uh Frey Road, that intersection is really dangerous.

Uh it's manifested multiple times in people being hurt, uh, losing limbs.

Uh I'm not as familiar with Frey Road.

I didn't go to KSU, uh, but I do live in Cumberland.

Uh, and an intersection that could also really benefit from a scramble crosswalk is that intersection of Windy Ridge and Interstate North Parkway, uh, right by the Tommy Novas Center.

Uh that's a huge traffic point for folks going to the Braves game.

Um, and even when it's not a Braves game, that's an intersection for uh the trail system in Cumberland.

Uh, you know, when I'm on my way to Smyrna, I'm using that intersection all the time.

Uh so I would love to see uh that programming of a scramble crosswalk there.

Um then one thing I really would like to maybe have more information about uh unrelated to the crosswalks, but really impacting the Cumberland neighborhood.

Uh I know that GDOT has plans for uh expressways on the Peach Pass lanes on 285.

I've looked at the plans, I've kind of followed uh what the videos are showing for that area.

Uh and living on Acres Mill Road, there's a piece of Acres Mill Road Trail that is right up against 285.

Uh and I really hope it's not true, but it looks like you know, if those peach passes come to fruition, we would lose that part of our infrastructure uh, which is really the life of the street that I live on.

Uh you know, there's not sidewalks on the other side of Acres Mill Road uh to take you places and having that separated bike path uh really just opens the door for letting me and my neighbors move through the neighborhood how we want to.

Um so if there's any information about you know what GDOT's plans are in regards to uh the peach pass lanes that are going up on 285, and if there's anything we can do before it's too late to save our trail problem, you know, to save our trail.

Uh I'd love to get the ball rolling on that.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Cameron Hood Cree.

That's why who do I give a copy of my speech to?

Okay.

Good evening.

My name is Cameron Hood Cree.

I'm a state at Kennesaw State student at Kenneshaw State University, and I am here to talk about also here to talk about the pedestrian safety at the intersection of Frey Road at Skip Span Connector, which last year someone got seriously injured, like and and and others have said the story.

What the full story while crossing the street, and we need to make sure this doesn't.

Sir, hold on.

We have some feedback and it's interfering with us hearing you.

Just one moment.

It's okay.

Okay, it's okay.

Just sorry.

No, we're sorry.

Give us a moment.

Should I start over?

Yes, please.

Okay.

Just not yet, though.

Let us quiet this noise down.

Will my time be cut?

No, sir.

You will get your time back.

Okay.

Good evening.

Hold on.

Hold on, sir.

Let it.

We're gonna reset the clock and then you can begin again.

Okay.

Good evening.

Okay.

My name is Cameron Hood Cree.

I'm a student at Henneshaw State University, and I'm here to talk about pedestrian safety at the intersection of Frey Road and Skip Span Connector.

Last year, someone got seriously injured.

Other people have said the full story about it while crossing the street, and we need to make sure this doesn't happen again.

Hundreds of students cross the street at that intersection each day.

There are a few potent a few potential solutions.

The county could add a signalized crosswalk at like similar to one on South Meredith Parkway by the transfer center.

The county could also build a pedestrian bridge or dig at Pestrian Underpass.

There may also be other options that have not been studied yet.

Please work with KSU to produce improved pedestrian safety and walkability around the university, particularly on Frey Road where all the interstate traffic is redirected during rush hour and interstate highway closures.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Hello again, Christine Rosman, uh Marietta.

So I want to talk about a couple of things.

One, um, I did go to the zoning meeting last week about the drones.

And it became very apparent to a lot of us that it didn't matter that a 51 of us, I guess, were here to say that we didn't want them, as well as many people probably emailing you all to say that they didn't want them.

And for very valid reasons.

Um, because Cobb Counties had a very good reputation for having safe neighborhoods, quiet neighborhoods, um, having some privacy, and that we basically had some real concerns about that.

And we kind of felt like after we made our comments, not we, the several people, the 10 minutes of what why we didn't want them.

You made chairwoman of a pretty bold statement that hey, you're not getting them today, but they're coming and get with the times.

And um, again, it's kind of that tone-deaf thing that really upsets us that there's such a disconnect of what we want and what you're like kind of saying, yeah, that's fine, but you're not going to get it.

And um, because what we did see that you were really in alignment with that company wing, uh wings or whatever that does that drone delivery service, and it was really kind of disconcerting, very upsetting.

Um the other thing I wanted to bring up too is that with this recent um in the MDJ about this blossom, and then like, oh hey, well, why don't we go ahead and do five million and build this track and then take five million from the whatever?

I mean, because that's gonna end up being like tens of millions of dollars, right?

It's stuff like that, which is like it's great, it would be awesome to do it, but it's not in a plan.

You know, that's called scope creep, you know, when it's like, hey, we can do this, yeah, but we could do this too.

And if when you do this, that means our taxes get jacked up, and then you're really disconnected from what we, the people of Cobb County, actually want.

Maybe somebody else wants it.

Maybe that's somebody else's agenda.

It ain't ours, you know.

A lot of us like to stay within our means.

Thank you.

And the last speaker for this segment is Matthew Tosina Rory.

Okay, sorry about that.

I got the T.

That was about it.

Hi, Chairwoman Cubid, members of the board.

My name is Matthew Tuceroni, and I'm here today, along with my better cobb members to talk about pastry and safety.

Um, they've all covered the fray road, skip span intersection, uh, I think in detail, and the report that Sam put out is incredible, and I definitely recommend watching uh reading through it if you haven't already.

Um, but I want to talk about last summer there was a young man named Prestonville who was trying to cross the road, uh, Jamerson Road up in North Cobb, and he got hit by a car.

He survived, uh, which is incredible.

Uh he got airlifted to the children's hospital of Atlanta.

Um, and I it's a little hard to do a follow-up on that, uh, but I'm I'm pretty sure he uh we would have heard if something went bad.

So I'm pretty sure he's recovered, but it's still it's an awful story, and it's a very common one that we have kids that live near schools and they can't go to their schools without having to be driven.

And I think that Cobb County could do a lot to make these roads safer, make drivers going slower, make more paths that are near without uh without going directly alongside of roads.

Uh just today I was driving over to this meeting, actually, and I saw uh a young boy uh walking along Whitlock Road, and I hate that my first thought wasn't wow, there's a kid that's walking outside on his own.

That's great.

My first thought was man, that kid's in a lot of danger.

And that shouldn't be the way that we look at kids trying to be independent.

We should try to encourage that and to make the world safer for them, uh, not just for the people that are driving them.

Thank you.

Before we go into consent agenda, I'm gonna have us take a five minute break.

Good evening and welcome back to our Board of Commissioners meeting this April twenty-eighth, two thousand and twenty-six.

We are now at our consent agenda.

And the items on the consent agenda have scrolled on the screen prior to the meeting.

We'll scroll on the screen afterwards, and all the matters on consent are voted on at the same time or in bank.

To authorize execution of the necessary documents by the appropriate county personnel.

And just to give you some history, as you know, we started this process back in February of twenty twenty-five.

So all that information is important to note as we move into the next phase of this, which will be our intergovernmental agreements with the cities that we'll bring back, as I said, on May twelfth.

So with that, before I read the recommendation, does the board have any questions?

Very good.

Okay.

So with that, I'm asking the board of commissioners to approve the Cobb County SPLOSS renewal project list for the inclusion in the 2028 special purpose local option sales tax, SPLOSS referendum and intergovernmental agreements with the municipalities conditioned upon the Board of Commissioners' approval of a referendum and intergovernment intergovernmental agreements at a subsequent meeting, which will be May 12th.

So moved as presented.

Second.

Is there any discussion?

Yes.

Um but I don't support removing five million out of DOT, resurfacing countywide for an indoor truck.

Thank you.

Are there any other comments?

Okay.

We'll call the oh, yes, I'm sorry.

I didn't ma'am.

I'm sorry, I didn't see your hand.

As Bill said, we started compiling this project list in February of 2025, where all the commissioners had the opportunity to weigh in, and then the final list was done in October of 2025.

And when this went out to the community for review, the project that now has been added was not included, and that was because it didn't have support.

So I think we are being very disingenuous to the public by making this change.

Now I don't know what happened amongst the board because again there was not a majority support prior to this going out to the public.

So I do not know what has changed, but I cannot support this change.

I do believe the voters have the right to vote on this referendum, but I also think the voters need to be aware that we are now putting a project on there that is not properly funded.

We have also removed funding from resurfacing, which is a critical infrastructure need in our county.

Yet we did that with the justification of well, we'll get future grants.

So I think it's very disingenuous to justify removing money from DOT, which is a critical infrastructure, which many of our speakers here today were speaking on the need for road bikes and improvements for safety.

Therefore, while my vote is will be no, I do believe the voters have the right to have the final say.

Thank you, Commissioner.

I'll address the comment.

Um the SPLOS project was put on the 2016 SPLOST.

And similarly to how it was done today for this BLOST.

I've been here for this is my third SPLOS program.

Without the color of something perhaps nefarious in this approach.

And even in the prior one, it was known that additional monies would be needed to bring that project into fruition.

And that is not the first time that projects have been put on the SPLOS program, knowing additional funding would be needed to bring a project into fruition.

It does, however, provide some funding to attract or to build upon additional funding that may come available over future years.

And I'm very fortunate that there have been some times where we have found a little bit of money to add towards this project.

I do have an example of a recreational project, which was the Milford Osborne Center.

When it was first put on the SPLOS, it was not adequately funded the first time.

We waited till the second SPLOS to add additional funding, and I'm very fortunate, and though there was a change in the district commissioner seat to have the support of the district commissioner to do that.

In past SPLOS, a lot of the SPLOS program has been initiated and generated in its character by the chair.

Diluted.

At that time, there was not majority support of the board to put the project in there, and that I was aware.

When I've learned that there were two others in support of the project, I went back to staff and I said this project needs to go back into the SPLOS program.

Please help find some other funding for it to go back into the program.

This is not a new project for the community.

In fact, there are members of this board that spoke with the paper the first time that I tried to propose it in this BLOST.

So the persons claiming there's no transparency are the ones that put a very glaring light on this project at the beginning of its consideration.

So to state that it's no transparency, I don't necessarily believe is true.

As was shared in a prior agenda item for this meeting in the public hearing, they were stating that they did not see a schedule for the towing.

But I stated in our agenda book that is where you see those items.

To say that there's no transparency for this change is to say there's no transparency for any change that would occur and be reflected in the agenda book.

I have not tried to hide this.

I've worked with commissioners to get support.

I've worked with staff to get support.

A commissioner had a question from legal.

I went to legal to response to that.

I'm doing my best to move forward a project that prior members of this board have committed to supporting, and that the community was committed to supporting, and that we'll need the community's additional support to bring a project that can help add to the recreational portfolio of this county.

As it takes three votes to have this project on the list, there's nothing that precludes still three people modifying the SPLOS up until the day that we vote.

It always takes three out of five.

There are no other administrative hurdles beyond this board.

Are there any other comments?

We'll call the question.

Thank you.

Thank you.

That now takes us to our transportation tab, and we'll hear from our DOT director.

Good evening, Chairwoman, Commissioners, County Manager Drew Ressler with DOT.

We have five items for your consideration under the regular tab this evening.

Our first item is to recommend the board of commissioners to approve a contract with advanced sports construction LLC in an amount not to exceed 149,760 for drainage system repairs on Meadow Wood Court.

Project number B 22188.

Commissioner Burrow.

Motion to approve.

Second, is there any further discussion?

We'll call the question.

The motion carries five zero.

Thank you.

Our next item is to recommend the board of commissioners to approve a contract with Hogan Construction Group LLC in an amount not to exceed $4,500 for construction manager at risk services related to the COVID Department of Transportation and Signal and Sign Shop.

Project number B 2421 authorize a corresponding budget transaction and further authorize the chairman to execute the necessary documents.

So moved.

Second.

Is there any further discussion?

We'll call the question.

Thank you.

I'll also want to thank facilities for their support in that project.

Our next item is to recommend the board of commissioners ratify previous action by the county manager authorizing emergency drainage repairs on Nelly branch in response to a sinkhole.

Approved project number B22199 to the 2024 county wide user price contract with Chaffield contracting incorporated and amount not to exceed 186,707 and 50 cents for said repairs, authorize a corresponding budget transactions and further authorize the chairman to execute the necessary documents.

Commissioner Sheffield.

So moved.

Second.

Are there any comments or discussion?

We'll call the question.

The motion carries 5 zero.

Thank you.

Our next item is to recommend the board of commissioners approve the revised budget and current schedule for the 2022 transportation improvements program, funded primarily by the 2022 special purpose local options sales tax and authorized the corresponding budget transactions per the 2022 SPOSS Transportation Improvements Program booklet attached.

So moved.

Second.

Is there any further discussion?

We'll call the question.

The motion carries five zero.

Thank you.

And our final item this evening is to recommend the board of commissioners approved a contract with advanced sports construction LLC in an amount not to exceed 188,037 and 60 cents for drainage system repairs on Trotter's Court.

Project number B 22130.

Authorize of corresponding budget transactions and further authorize the chairman to execute the necessary documents.

Commissioner Burrell.

Motion to approve.

Second.

Is there any further discussion?

We'll call the question.

The motion carries five zero.

Thank you.

Thank you.

That now takes us to our second public comment.

Yes, and there are six speakers in the second segment.

Okay.

Thank you.

The first speaker is Joseph Beckworth.

Hello again and good evening.

I'm Joseph Beckworth.

Uh I'm here with a better cob and also independently uh the DSA.

Uh here in Cobb County alone.

We have 400 members, and uh our goals do align quite a lot.

So, anyways, uh KSU, uh the span connector and uh Fray Road.

A young woman lost her leg there for just simply standing on a island, and it's unacceptable.

Um, we do not have the proper infrastructure to have these children really just walking around on these main dangerous roads.

We need to cut down on just general traffic.

We have a car-based economy and infrastructure, and it's it's not working out.

We have more people.

So, anyways.

We need to come up with uh some sort of system in the meantime where we can get we can discuss this issue.

It's it's it's happening so much just anywhere, not just in this one instance alone.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Matthew Peck Hello Commission.

Uh, my name is Matthew Peck.

I'm a fourth year student at Kennesaw State University.

Now I had a long script planned, uh, but last minute I decided I didn't like it.

So instead, I'm gonna do something a little bit more from the heart.

Um I have walked on Fry Road, like you've heard uh a better cob and friends speak on for a while now.

Um I walked on Fry Road, I walked across the bridge to get to Fry Road.

I lived on an apartment complex, the retreat uh for several semesters.

Um over the summer I would walk to class because there's no bus service there.

And even with the reduced traffic, reduced foot traffic, reduced car traffic, I still felt unsafe walking down that road around like 9, 10 p a.m.

I had my headphones on, and there was this giant truck that came moving like super fast right by me.

I remember that moment.

And I remember waiting at the crosswalk for the lights to change, they did not change.

Now a few years later, this problem was resolved, and I'm very grateful for it, but even then it felt too late because some fellow classmates, you know, got hit.

There were accidents there.

I remember as I went across Fry Road in the crosswalk, I would see bumpers, glass, remnants of car crashes, you know, for either people coming off the interstate or fellow classmates or teachers, or just people in the city of Kennesaw.

And I really wanted for there to be a change.

I went to the school and they said, we'll do the best we can.

We can't promise much.

It's the county's road.

And I didn't stop.

I came here.

Uh I was here last year.

Um, and there was eventually a study done by this uh commission by this county government, and I'm still waiting for uh more long-lasting results.

Uh you heard Sam Foster and some others speak on a crash studio analysis.

I was a community expert on that panel, full of engineers and other community experts, and I recommended scramble crossing, widening the medians, lowering the speed.

Mr.

Peck, your time has run.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Stephen Matson.

Good evening.

My name is Steven Mattson.

I live in Smyrna.

Uh, you've heard a lot of words tonight about Frey Road, and you heard uh about some inspirational projects from youth about bike paths and great things like that.

Um I like to bring it home uh with a personal story, my experience.

Um I used to live in North Marietta, about Kennesaw Towns area, so not exactly around Frey Road, but I would like to commute to work often.

And I was biking commute to work one day, and I saw a Ram 1500 truck uh at an intersection with fast approaching traffic.

And I was biking down a hill on a multi-use path, a dedicated multi-use path, and there was no indication that this this RAM 1500 truck was moving.

And so I cautiously entered the intersection, and at the last second, the driver presumably floors it, and I am in the middle of intersection, I cannot stop.

I grab my hand brakes, I yell out, and he just keeps going and takes my bike out.

Um he hit my front wheel and I was thrown off my bike.

He kept going until presumably, I guess his wife let him know that he just hit somebody.

And I was extremely lucky.

Obviously, I'm standing here tonight.

I had uh ripping my pants, some blood running down my um leg, and I did get a free e-bike out of it, so that was nice.

Um obviously, if it had been a second later, I might not be here, or it might be another person with an amputated leg.

Um and I now live in Smyrna.

I think it's a bright bike to Braves games, and I love doing that.

I break the downtown Smyrna, it's great.

I'd bike on Spring Road.

Um, but the same fear is still there of when a driver is at an intersection, and you don't know when they're gonna come out on a right turn in particular, right?

There's just no way of telling, right?

You can you can look at them and and say, I I think I see you, but you just don't know.

Um, and so I uh firmly support all the things that have been spoken tonight about pedestrian and bike safety.

Um I'm very grateful to be here, and I I look forward to seeing that progress.

Thank you so much.

The next speaker is Kimora James.

Good evening, chairwoman, and good evening, board of commissioners.

I'm Kamora James, and I'm from District 3.

Today I want to talk about something fundamental to our democracy: access to voting, and how in Cobb County that is at that access is not equal.

Voting is supposed to be simple, it's supposed to be fair, but for many black and Hispanic voters, this reality looks very different.

Take a look at the data.

In the Fair Oaks community, one of the most diverse areas in the county, the numbers tell a very powerful story.

There are 3,500 black voters and 2,600 Hispanic voters compared to about compared to the 2,400 white voters.

This means that the majority of voters in this community are people of color, and yet the same community has a voter turnout rate of 58%.

This is not just a coincidence, this is a warning.

And an example of the community, you are separated into seven different voting precincts that look like this.

These maps cause confusion.

Your neighbor can vote in a different location than you can, and this directly resulted in two in 606 provisional ballots being casted in the 2024 presidential election.

In Cobb County, the confusion uh confusing at polling locations leads to longer lines and overcrowding for voters in communities like Fair Oaks.

That means waiting hours just to cast a ballot are extended.

This takes away from taking care of their children.

This takes into the time that they could be at work, and takes it means that it's going to, they're gonna spend longer times rather than residents at polling locations like East Cobb, where their precincts look a lot different.

They look like this neater, where no part of a neighborhood is left out.

This is a problem that needs to be addressed.

It is disenfranchising black and brown voters in Cobb County, and I would like to see um these maps be redrawn to include these lower income communities and black around communities because they are able to see they're able to include people that in richer communities in richer places, but not the communities where there are a lot of people in poor areas like apartment buildings and low-income housing.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Lawrence Miller.

Then if I assume he's not here, so Mr.

Craig Harfoot, please.

Um commissioners, my name's Craig Harfoot, and I'm the cleanup batter.

Now we heard all these great young people speak about an intersection at Kennesaw State.

I've been around long enough when it was a junior college, and you drove there from your home that you lived in Cobb County.

That was a good idea.

No student loan debt.

And then I was here when they all the political connected, say, oh, we're gonna make it a university, and then we're gonna they build all those apartments up there, you know, and now the apartments are on the wrong side of the road because no planning, and it goes back to the comprehensive plan.

You know, it's like and then they want you know this bad intersection where somebody got hurt, and there's a lot of them all over the place.

But we build wider and wider roads, bike lanes, paths, and it makes it worse.

It absolutely makes it worse.

It's like Lower Roswell Road, they stopped it.

They they've well, they've destroyed one business property, they got no parking now, it's not even done.

And that was a splost, and it was you know, it was interesting because she was talking about how they gerrymandered all our districts at the state, and that's where you gotta address it.

Is it the state?

Yeah, they drew districts and they changed my commission.

I used to be in two, now I'm in three, and uh then this the county wanted it to be um they drew their own maps, and Jericho Richardson voted for this SPLOSS project to continue, and somebody will get killed.

Mark my words.

They widened the road, and it already happened on the part they widened.

Little girl people ran across the road and got hit by a car.

Wasn't the car's fault, and these intersections, nobody much crosses at them at all right now.

And I told them they should have bought the guy's property and build a bridge across the road.

All that costs too much.

Well, these SPLOSS projects are all for the benefit of the Chamber of Commerce and the development interests in this county.

They don't care about you, they don't care about us, and uh as long as they keep the money rolling, they get these people elected and they keep voting in these splots, and it and it's you know, you're not gonna solve this problem.

I got hit by a car crossing at a four-way stop on a motorcycle when I was 22.

If you're smaller, don't think that you got the right of way on a bike.

Don't think you got the right of way on a thing.

Yield to the thing that'll kill you, Mr.

Harfoot.

Your time has run.

Thank you.

That was the last speaker.

Thank you.

That concludes our public comment.

We will go to the commissioner's public address and begin with Commissioner Gamble once the slides are on the screen.

The Cobb Parks Fishing Rodeo returns.

You can join us from 9 to 11 a.m.

on Saturday, May 16th at Lost Mountain Park, which is at 4845 Dallas Highway in Powder Springs.

The fishing rodeo is open to children's three to six children's ages three to sixteen prizes.

Will be awarded for the biggest fish with first, second, and third place winners recognized.

Registration is five dollars.

You can click on the QR code to register for the fishing rodeo.

And thank you to everyone who came out to support and participate in this year's Coed Doubles pickleball tournament.

A total of 20 teams competed for the 2026 championship title.

Congratulations to our winners, Jonathan Jenke from the police department and Pam Willeford from the Procurement Services Department.

Donations are still being accepted to contribute.

Call 770-528-5355, or you can visit my newsletter for more information and help support Neils on Wheels.

Thank you.

Thank you.

We'll now go to Commissioner Allen.

Thank you, Madam Chair, and I don't have any slides tonight because I want to make sure I look at uh all of the men on the camera and everywhere else.

Mother's Day is May 10th.

Uh so to all the mothers, uh, happy Mother's Day.

We won't be back before then, but to uh to my fellow uh men, May 10th.

This is a PSA.

Uh don't forget.

Uh but on a serious note, I also want to thank all of the uh the speakers uh that came tonight uh regardless of the the issue that they talked about, but especially uh the young people and the people from um looking at the intersections and and mobility and how we move freely through Cobb.

Uh just know that data and facts win.

So continue to use your voice.

Uh, continue to do the research, continue to advocate, and we will continue to listen.

So thank you for that.

And to Kamora, very well done presentation.

Um, just to put some things in perspective.

Our precinct maps are drawn by the county, has nothing to do with the legislature of the state.

So for anyone that thinks this had anything to do with home rule or any map, this is a choice that we make at Cobb County, and I appreciate you for bringing uh that to everyone's attention.

Um, and elections are in motion.

We have early voting that is already started.

Uh make sure you make a plan to vote and execute your plan.

Early voting runs for the next three weeks and ends on May 19th with Primier Election Day.

So thank you and happy Mother's Day.

Since this is your district, would you like us to?

Oh no, I have to say, okay.

We'll now go to Commissioner Burrell.

Well, I am very excited, as is our Canton Road community.

Uh Fire Station 12 is ready to go.

We will have an open house on Saturday, May 2nd, 8:53, Chastain Corners Road and Canton Intersection.

Come out, meet the firefighters, explore the station.

We'll have tours, food, and fun.

So hope to see you there.

And there's some flyers in the back too.

Um last Wednesday.

No.

Thursday.

Last Thursday.

Um, we had the honor and privilege of opening the South Bear Reliever 3.

When this project started, um, it was in District 3, and now it's in District 2.

But it's um it was a collaboration of partnerships with the town center CID, state funding, all kinds of um partners to bring this this uh to fruition, and it's gonna help immensely relieve the traffic on Bear Parkway.

Also on Saturday, um, I first did a cleanup with the East Cobb Civic Association for their mile on Johnson Perry, and then I went over to the Tim D.

Lee Senior Center for medication disposal take back day.

Um the results for district three were 134 cars, 22 bags of medication, and the total weight of 537 pounds.

So I think we um hit the mark with being the most traffic and uh collection there.

It's a great event.

Um had a great turnout, and it helps get medicine disposed of properly.

Um we had police officer there that took it all down to the incinerator safely so it doesn't get in in the water system and in the wrong hands.

So thank you to all those that supported that.

Keep copytiful, senior center, uh DOT and police, and then also on Saturday, um Hyde Farm hosted the first rodeo of the year, and so I'm putting out the challenge to all the other districts for their fishing rodeos.

The largest fish, the spass right here, three and a half pounds, right, Michael, 19 inches.

So I want to see who can beat that because I'm gonna get the trophy.

Actually, he got the drop.

They're not 16.

Okay, hide farm.

We're the winner.

That's all I have now, Chair.

Thank you.

We'll now go to Commissioner Sheffield.

Thank you, Chair.

District 4 news and updates.

The annual taste of Maplet is this Saturday, May 2nd from 9 a.m.

to 4 p.m.

at the Mabel House Complex, located at 5239 Floyd Road in Maple 10.

The celebration kicks off with a lively parade featuring local marching bands and cultural performances, followed by live music.

15 plus food vendors, a kid's zone, and a vibrant marketplace of local of local artists.

Excuse me.

Hosted by the Mapleton Improvement Coalition.

This is one of Mapleton's favorite traditions, and you don't want to miss it.

Bring your family, bring a friend, and come and enjoy the day with us.

Cobb Travel and Tourism invites you to experience the energy and creativity of South Cobb through an upcoming tourism and arts engagement tour on Friday, May 8th at 8 30 a.m.

beginning at the Riverside Epicenter in Mapleton.

The tour will take participants on a curated visit to some of the area's key tourism and arts destinations.

Here updates from elected officials and community leaders as they share insights into the area's growth and vision.

Transportation and lunch are provided.

Seating is limited and available on first come, first served basis.

Register by May 4th at travelcob.org.

In celebration of National Small Business Week, local entrepreneurs and aspiring business owners are invited to connect for coffee and conversations.

Cobb County's economic development department will host the event and bring valuable tools and resources to help grow and strengthen businesses.

Attendees are encouraged to arrive by 7 15 for check-in.

And finally, we honor the life and legacy of Congressman David Scott, a devoted public servant representing Georgia's 11th and 13th district for more than two decades.

Congressman Scott passed away on April 22nd at the age of 80, leaving behind a remarkable legacy of leadership, advocacy, and service.

With the footnote of his support of 1.3 million dollars in federal matching funds for the South Cobb Transit Transfer Station, his impact on Georgia and beyond will be felt for generations to come.

Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner.

That was very thoughtful of you.

And share your condolences.

In fact, I think that it's going to take this type of recurring advocacy for us to not only hear you, but then to listen and respond.

And it is not acceptable.

And I agree.

And for some reason, we cannot shift our investment to reflect that sentiment.

Other than looking at another vehicle other than the SPLOST, which would be my next consideration.

Because back when I was a commissioner, when we had a prior DOT director, to build out that complete streets program for funding, probably in the mid-2000s, it would have taken 750 million dollars in those dollars.

The prices of sidewalks have almost doubled.

And that doesn't take into account just general inflationary costs increases that would occur over time.

I'm saying it loud, and I don't want to because my request was for this to be a pedestrian focused bloss.

So since my voice is not heard behind the scenes, I'll make it very known now to echo yours.

It takes three.

Thank you for giving me hope.

Thank you for every youth commissioner that has done that.

I look forward to supporting you to make sure that we address that inequity and championing you and that work to make sure other voices are uplifted so that more people have the opportunity to determine who the leaders of this county are.

Thank you for everyone's time here tonight.

Our meeting is adjourned.