Cobb County park purchases still on hold

Since early this year, Cobb Commission Chairman Tim Lee has said a list of properties for county park acquisition would be ready by the Oct. 25 commission meeting.

No list was revealed at the meeting.

In future weeks, Lee said the commissioners will tour the newly recommended properties “to add to our already extensive county properties” but not release the list “to avoid driving up land values.”

However, no new funding for buying parkland is in the 2017 Cobb budget. Commissioners may choose to change the budget when Mike Boyce takes office as the new chairman in January.

Cobb residents voted in November 2008 to approve spending $40 million for parkland purchases, yet none of the $40 million has been spent to buy new parks.

At every commission meeting since last year, Cobb residents have urged officials to fund the $40 million in bonds to buy parkland since the commissioners agreed to fund nearly $400 million in bonds for SunTrust Park.

As a result, Lee formed a new committee in January to accept parkland nominations from the public and to review the properties already recommended for acquisition by the first committee in 2009.