USEFUL LINKS

Lee gets correction, new zoning category may be tough sale, give Cobb super credit and strike freeze for youth baseball/softball

Lee gets correction, and I go back to work

Last week I wrote about a possible SPLOST plan for the arts being considered by the Georgia Legislature. After a visit from Cobb County Third District Commissioner Tim Lee after a commission meeting, I received a light-hearted ripping from the commissioner concerning my comments.

"Your column about the arts tax was wrong," Lee said. "The arts tax would only be one-tenth of a penny, and the rest could be used for other things."

With a long history of beating up on each other, I could only tell Lee I missed that part but still didn't want to see another tax any time soon.

Knowing he had won this round, Lee simply looked at me and said, "You were still wrong, and I didn't say you would see a new tax."

At least he didn't make fun of my shirt, and the next round's mine.

Proposed zoning category has detractors and supporters, but only commissioners have vote

A positive vote Feb. 23 concerning a proposed Neighborhood Compatible Services (see main story this week) is something some local business owners on Canton Road and Lee would like to see, but it may not have legs with Cobb County commissioners. The proposed NCS zoning district is a compromise category that is includes part of a more intense Community Activity Center and a part of a less intense Neighborhood Activity Center on the Cobb County Comprehensive Land Use Map.

A citizens committee came up with ideas for the zoning category. The committee, county staff and Lee have worked to make it the best zoning for Canton Road. The main catch, to some, is the fact it is now being brought forward to be used only in redevelopment areas such as Veteran's Memorial Highway, Six Flags Road, Austell Road and Canton Road. More than one person has said it should be a county-wide category or go away. Others back the idea, saying land owners on Canton Road need more room to develop or sell their properties. There are also those who say it should simply just go away.

Whether someone agrees with him or not, I know Lee has genuine concern for Canton Road and continued improvements on it. I say the same for Carol Brown of the Canton Road Neighbors, who does not want to see the new zoning district go into Cobb Code unless it does so for all areas of the county. While the two rarely agree and take different approaches to the road, both are sincere in their efforts.

But in the end on this issue, the Cobb Board of Commissioners will have the final say, and word right now is it's a tough sale to get a majority on it.

Credit where credit is due to Cobb School District

While it seems many find bashing the Cobb County School District and its Board of Education fashionable, I haven't heard anyone talking about the good call Superintendent Fred Sanderson made during the Feb. 12 snow.

With predictions coming in the snow would begin early, a decision was not made until that morning to keep students in school and release them one hour early. While some parents complained about the lack of being able to plan their day, it must be considered completing school days is the is the first priority, and around Atlanta, dire winter weather predictions usually lead only to cold days.The snow that didn't happen until late. And despite predicitions we would see more snow Feb. 15, we only saw rain.

By only releasing students one hour early, everyone got home before the storm eventually left us with a couple of inches of snow, and a make-up day was averted for the end of the school year.

Wonder what we would have heard if school had been canceled without a flake of snow?

Strike freeze for youth baseball and softball

Must be youth baseball and softball season because it's freezing.

It doesn't take much looking to notice those warm weather sports now start early enough to qualify as sports at the Winter Games. As a child, my baseball season began at the start of April and ran through early June. That schedule fit the drier weather pattern we usually experience in our area in those months, which helped avoid a high number of rain outs.

Weather in the Southeast has been unusually dry for at least the past-10 years. Anyone who took part in fall baseball or softball during 2009 learned we are no longer in that pattern, as rain outs were extensive in number. Now that things appear back to normal, February starts for baseball or softball teams could lend itself to a cold and wet season. That means rain outs, and rain outs mean changing schedules that will require back-to-back nights of playing. With that scenario comes more of the most dreaded happening of all - the pin-drop, quiet 8 p.m. weekday game.

It seems seasons are being started earlier and earlier to accommodate summer vacation and all-star team schedules. Common sense has gone out the window as kids play through miserably cold, windy games, and their parents complain about playing in those conditions. Yet any mention about playing after summer vacation starts brings grimaces and complaints of getting into "vacation schedules."

In the middle of the problem are players who are learning to play a game meant for sunny skies and warm temperatures in anything but that, which can lead to arm pain from throwing and "stingers" from batting.

While it works better than trying to play hockey on a Georgia lake, it's one hell of a way to create a love for the game.