LAST WEEK: SHOULD STOCKBRIDGE TAKE OVER ITS OWN POLICING?
Henry County government and Stockbridge city government continue their negotiations regarding police services. For more than three decades the county has been handling the policing in Stockbridge, now the largest city in the county and the only one without its own police department.
The negotiations have been contentious of late, with the county wanting to raise the city’s annual fee for this service as much as fourfold before more recent proposals which were considerably less.
The attorney for Stockbridge told the Board of Commissioners last week that by law it must honor the existing agreement until a new one is in place and that the matter must go to mediation if a deal cannot be struck. At one point a month ago, some commissioners seemed content to let the current agreement expire and allow Stockbridge to fend for itself.
Stockbridge has considered starting its own police department and came close to doing so in 2013 before a new mayor and some new council members took office. City officials have said the issue will be explored again but only with considerable citizen input.
There is little doubt that starting a police department from scratch will cost the city several million dollars and likely necessitate a tax increase.
Here’s what some readers had to say:
I'm not sure how I feel about this. I think the system we have right now has worked well, but as we grow, we do need to have a better handle on expenses and what we get for our tax dollars. I think the issue needs a lot more debate. I'd hate to change anything on a whim. But I'd also hate to get stuck in a rut. — Deb Smith
If it ain't broke, don't try to fix it. — IJS
Some people go looking for problems. We have a pretty good quality of life here in Stockbridge. I say we work on keeping it that way. — Anonymous
Monroe Roark for the AJC
A few cities in Cobb County have been in the business of acquiring historic houses - some tearing them down, some preserving them.
For instance in February, Smyrna demolished the 1850 Hooper-Turner House at 5811 Oakdale Road in Mableton - even though the house was on the Cobb County Historic Register and was in the center of a line of Civil War trenches and forts west of the Chattahoochee River.
Owning the house for about a decade, Smyrna officials had been unable to find a buyer to invest in its restoration, but officials with the River Line Historic Area were hoping to use the house as a possible visitor center if they could have raised the money for its renovation.
Since then, Smyrna officials have spent around $300,000 to buy another house on Atlanta Road in recent months with plans to possibly use it to house the Smyrna Library’s genealogical resources.
Built in 1923, the 3,600-square-foot Bodiford House at 4355 Marietta St. in Powder Springs was bought by the city for $175,000 about a year ago.
The final cost will be $765,000, which includes that purchase price.
While many believe it is important to preserve history, is it the place of local governments to use taxpayer dollars to keep up properties that don’t generate enough revenue to sustain them or at worse put a drain on the municipal coffers?
Older buildings require costy upkeep such bringing them up to modern safety codes, structural damage and just general neglect.
Should local governments buy historic houses to restore them or destroy them or even acquire them at all?
We want to hear from you. Send comments to communitynews@ajc.com.
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