r/kennesaw

The Data Center Moratorium was the first thing up. Zoning and Planning said that they could use a 6 month moratorium while they create zoning rules to handle a data center should one come up. They can extend if they need it.

Councilman Guiterrez-Leon asked why it was for 6 months and not a year. The city attorney said that it's easier to fend off a challenge if it matches what staff actually needs to work up a set of rules. "No, because we don't like it/you" isn't a valid stance that will hold up to scrutiny, so getting the full year without needing a full year could theoretically give some developer an excuse to sue. Councilor Orochena noted that there was an error in the agenda notes, which the attorney sheepishly noting that it was made and they'll get it fixed.

They voted on the Moratorium and passed it 5 - 0.

Another moratorium popped up as well. This one is for Freestanding signs. Like campaign signs and signs advertising businesses. As there have been a couple of major court cases the laws on the books might not be strictly speaking okay any longer. So, staff needs some time to rewrite the rules, and so they voted a 60 day pause on any new signs to give them a chance to permit new ones properly. This won't affect campaign signs that are temporary and thus not regulated under the previous ordinance.

This also passed 5 - 0.

There's a liquor license up. This one is for 41 Package, a new store in with the Olde Towne and Cigar Cellar just south of Summer Street on Cobb Parkway. It passed the distance requirements so there was no reason to deny.

It passed 5 - 0.

Now we got some Public Comment.

First up was History Kid. The Kennesaw Police Department moved from City Hall to the new Public Works building late last month, so he wanted to know where the KPD was based throughout Kennesaw's history. Turns out "nowhere" from the founding of the city to 1936. The first ~50 years they shared space. In 1936 they got two whole rooms, one for the officers and one as a lockup, in the city hall of the time. They used those two rooms until 1973. Between then and the first dedicated PD building in 1980 they were somewhere, but records aren't clear on where exactly. The little building at Cherokee and Main only lasted until the current City Hall building was expanded in 1988, and they finally moved out last month. Hopefully, they'll last in their new digs for more than eight years.

A Main Street Mom spoke next. She pointed out that there a Flock camera pointed at the only entrance/exit to her street. So she feels as though people can track her from the moment she leaves to the moment she gets back. It's a camera contracted by the city, too. Recent court cases have also ruled pretty aggressively against Flock, too. A camera that sees a single person on the street equals a bystander and legal. A network of cameras that track a person everywhere they go equals a stalker and that isn't. The city has shown deep deference for rights in the past (between the 2nd Amendment rules and the lack of action on Wildman's) so what is different here? The cameras don't make her (and others) feel safe, quite the opposite. The contract for the city's cameras are also expensive, totaling more than a hundred thousand dollars in some years, so how can the city include that easily in the normal budget while not including things for families like the parks and the natural playscape.

It turns out the Woodland Park Guy was unable to attend. So he asked the Lady Lion to speak on his behalf. She noted that Councilman Jones didn't explain the reason for his vote on the budget, or the discrepancy between what the city had claimed (reserves for 18 months) and what was listed in the budget (reserves for 13 months). She told the councilman who the Guy's barber was and asked for better accounting in exchange.

Mr. Lion was next to speak. He wanted to know why lengthy (and circular) discussion of data centers was a priority when the damaged sidewalks, the problems associated with walking to Kennesaw Elementary, and park issues passed by without comment. He went on to note that Woodland Park Guy was adopting the stream behind the Woodland Park, thus getting access that the city previously denied.

There was a vote to fill the vacant Interim Assistant City Manager until the position can be filled. The vote was on the Police Chief, which makes sense as he has experience running a large department and has strong working relationships with city's other departments. They voted to give him the temporary role with a 5 - 0 vote.

The Interim City Manager announced that they are going to be presenting some contracts for Woodland Park in the upcoming week. They have actually been working on it all this time, they say. The bollard that replaces the chain might take longer, though.

The Cobb County Disaster Plan was also approved through 2030, so the city now has access to block grants should we face flooding or tornadoes or any such crisis. This is good news, since it not being approved would make recovering substantially slower since everything would have to go through the normal process.

Also, one of the ladies on an advisory board moved and it turns out that she's no longer inside city limits. As a result, she's no longer permitted to be on the board. RIP. The council voted 5 - 0 to accept her resignation.