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Parkland Nomination in Place, but No Park Bond Funding Yet

2/9/2016

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Thanks to the citizens who spoke about fully funding Park Bond 2008 at the Tuesday, February 9, 2016 Board of Commissioners meeting.  Many in the audience were wearing green and stood up and cheered for the speakers.
PictureParks Director Eddie Canon announcing nomination process now open for properties to be considered for purchase by Cobb county as parkland.
Next, Cobb Parks Director Eddie Canon made the announcement that the Parks & Recreation Department will be accepting proposals for properties to be bought by the county for parks and greenspace.  Mr. Canon said all previously proposed properties still available from the Park Bond 2008 list will be considered, plus any others nominated.  Here is the link to nominate properties, and the deadline for nomination is April 15, 2016:  
https://cobbegov.org/index.php/potential-park-property-nomination
 
However, we still do not know if the $40 million Park Bond 2008 will be fully funded. This was not mentioned at the February 9, 2016 Board of Commissioners meeting.  Updates will be posted as we find out more information.  Anyone can still email the Commissioners here about fully funding the Park Bond.
 
In the News:

AJC February 9, 2016 article
Cobb to allow residents to sell land for county parks
"
The Cobb County Commission approved allowing the parks department to begin accepting applications from people interested in selling their land to the county for preservation of green space.A committee will evaluate the applications and recommend to commissioners which properties should be purchased. At this point, it is unclear how much the county will spend on the green space. The committee has an October deadline to report back to the commission."

AJC February 10, 2016 article
Got land to sell? Cobb County accepting applications for greenspace
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The Cobb County Parks Department has begun accepting applications from people interested in selling their land for green space preservation.The county has created an on-line form for people to nominate properties. Residents can also print out the form and mail in the application. The deadline is April 15."

News from the Marietta Daily Journal about the Parkland nomination process:  
"...Greenspace supporters cheered the approval of a nomination process and timeline for properties considered for purchase by the county as greenspace. 

According to the process approved Tuesday, members of the public will be able to nominate properties through April 15 using a form posted on the county website, or they may print it out and submit it by mail. They may also attend one of five public meetings about the parks bonds.


Several speakers used the citizen comments portion of the meeting to urge the board to find a way to fully fund the $40 million in parks bonds approved in a 2008 voter referendum. 

Commissioners have not decided whether to issue the parks bonds, but have voted to direct the Parks and Recreation Board to compile a list of eligible properties should they approve them."

Read more: The Marietta Daily Journal - Police study, Parks draw audience approval 
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Parks department to streamline process: Citizens to have three options to nominate properties for review of potential greenspace

2/4/2016

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Parks department to streamline process: Citizens to have three options to nominate properties for review of potential greenspace 
By Meris Lutz
February 4, 2016 in the Marietta Daily Journal

MARIETTA — The Parks and Recreation Department is hoping to streamline the process by which citizens can submit properties for review as potential greenspace if the county goes forward with the parks bond issuance approved by voters in 2008. 

Parks Director Eddie Canon will present a proposal to the Board of Commissioners on Tuesday that would present residents with three options for submitting recommended properties, after his office began receiving calls in the wake of the board’s decision to take up the issue of greenspace once more. 

“We are working as hard as we can to get this up and running,” Canon said. “We need to get the nomination process out to the public so it can be a lot easier.”

Between Feb. 9 and April 15, members of the public will be able to nominate properties using a form posted on the county website, or they may print it out and submit it by mail. They may also attend one of five public meetings about the parks bonds. Canon said he hopes to announce the dates of those meetings soon.

Canon is hoping the new nomination process will make it easier for the public and the Recreation Board, which has to research and select the properties. Once a list of suitable properties is compiled, it will be presented to the Board of Commissioners for approval at a yet-to-be-determined date. The board has not yet made a decision whether to issue the parks bonds.

“Sometimes people will just mail us a map that shows a piece of property on a corner, and we have to go in, figure it out, ask a bunch of questions, so we try to create these forms to help us have a lot more information so it’s a lot easier for us,” he said.

Other times, he said, residents just send in photographs of vacant lots. 

The form asks submissions to include an address, acreage, property owner and, if possible, whether the owner is willing to sell. 

Greenspace advocates have been putting pressure on the county to issue $40 million in parks bonds approved in a 2008 referendum but put on hold with the onset of the recession. 

Last month, Chairman Tim Lee brought forward a motion charging the Recreation Board with revisiting the parks bond issue and compiling a list of potential properties. His motion passed unanimously, but all four commissioners said they hoped to find a way to fund the full $40 million after the county finance director said that due to the passage of time and the language of the referendum, the county would only be able to collect between $19 and $29 million. 

Some critics have accused Lee of shifting millage revenue from the debt service fund to the general fund to pay for SunTrust Park stadium at the expense of greenspace. Lee has denied that he made a choice between the stadium and parks. 

Tuesday’s BoC meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. 

Read more: The Marietta Daily Journal - Parks department to streamline process Citizens to have three options to nominate properties for review of potential greenspace 
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