What The Flock? 182 Cameras in Cobb (Townhall)

Good morning, Cobb.

Somewhere between here and the next light, a camera may have already read your plate. Cobb's Flock system sits at 182 cameras and about 2,000 monthly alerts (Chief Ferrell, via FOX 5), and Tuesday is the last advertised town hall to ask how long that data sticks around. Saturday still stacks hard: Taste of Smyrna, Cool Cars & Cops, free Georgia Symphony movie-music for kids, Annie camp auditions. Tonight: Comp Plan in Powder Springs.

In today's Insider:

182 - Flock cameras in the county system (Chief Ferrell, via FOX 5)

~2,000 - monthly alerts from that system (same press lead)

20,000+ - people Taste of Smyrna is expecting if the weather holds

Up to 4 - free North Georgia State Fair tickets per registered Cobb EMC member household at Saturday's annual meeting

The numbers: 182 cameras are still reading plates, Tuesday is the last advertised night to ask about them, and Saturday still has 20,000 people headed to Smyrna (plus fair tickets if you make the co-op meeting).

Commissioner Keli Gambrill's District 1 town halls on zoning and the 2050 Comprehensive Plan continue tonight, Thursday, September 10, 6:30 p.m., at the West Cobb Senior Center, 4915 Dallas Highway, Powder Springs. The Acworth stop was September 8.

This is a meeting notice, not an ordinance night. No adoption happens at these halls. If you care how the next 20 years of roads, rezonings, and school-area growth get mapped in North and West Cobb, this is the room.

The Planning Commission recommended the county deny Haven at Eastside, a senior living project on Eastside Church's Lower Roswell campus (petition Z-22). That is a recommendation, not a decision. Press coverage cites about 95 assisted-living units plus eight cottages; acreage figures differ by source.

Neighbors have raised density, stormwater, and traffic. The Board of Commissioners hears zoning Tuesday, September 15, 9 a.m., at 100 Cherokee Street. Show up if you have a position. Do not treat the Planning Commission night as the final word.

Cobb County Police Department's final of four town halls on Flock Safety license-plate readers and FUSUS is Tuesday, September 15, 6:30 to 8 p.m., at the North Cobb Senior Center, 3900 S. Main Street, Acworth (Kenworth Park), with Chief Dan Ferrell.

From a prior packed hall, FOX 5 reported the Chief putting the system at 182 cameras and about 2,000 monthly alerts, with monthly public audits discussed. Rewritten policy wording is not confirmed here. This is the last advertised night on the county calendar to ask how long data is kept and who can query it.

The one-cent SPLOST renewal is on the November 3, 2026 ballot. County education sessions begin Monday, September 14, 6:30 to 8 p.m., at the Cobb Civic Center, 548 S. Marietta Parkway SE. Next up: Wednesday, September 16, 6:30 to 8 p.m., at the Tim D. Lee Senior Center, 3332 Sandy Plains Road. More dates: September 22, October 7, October 15, and October 27.

Mableton already ran an open house September 9 at the Riverside EpiCenter (another is set for October 14). Comments: [email protected]. These nights explain the renewal. November is the vote.

Saturday, September 12, Jim R. Miller Park. Registration is 8 to 9:30 a.m. (hard cutoff; they mean it), business meeting at 9:30 a.m. Photo ID required. Mail and online bylaw voting closed 5 p.m. September 9. Eligible members connected by July 8, 2026 can still cast bylaw votes in person.

Registered member households can pick up to four free North Georgia State Fair tickets. Details: cobbemc.com/annual-meeting.

Taste of Smyrna is the lead. Saturday, September 12, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Village Green, downtown Smyrna. Free admission. Twenty-five to thirty-plus restaurants with $1 to $10 tastes, Kids Zone inflatables, live music, beer and wine garden (21+). Soda and water proceeds go to the Smyrna Education Foundation. Organizers are planning for more than 20,000 people if the weather holds. Wear shoes you can stand in.

Morning stack at the Civic Center: Cool Cars & Cops, 9 a.m. to noon, Cobb County Civic Center, 548 S. Marietta Parkway, Marietta. Free for spectators. Cars, trucks, motorcycles, music, food trucks. Proceeds benefit SWAT Santa. Same campus as the afternoon symphony, so you can do cars, then lunch, then strings without moving the car twice.

Adventure Awaits (Georgia Symphony Orchestra), same Civic Center, Jennie T. Anderson Theatre. Free with reservation. Two shows Saturday: 2:00 p.m. sensory-friendly, 4:00 p.m. family-friendly (about 50 minutes each). Movie music (Lord of the Rings, Spider-Man, and friends), instrument petting zoo, costumes welcome. If you have a kid who needs the quieter room, take the 2:00.

No separate restaurant slot this week. Taste covers dinner through 6.

Annie Fall Break Musical Camp auditions: Saturday, September 12, 9 a.m. to noon, The Art Place - Mountain View, 3330 Sandy Plains Road, Marietta. Ages 10 to 17. Register in CivicRec with activity code #55798 for audition materials. Camp week is September 21 to 25.

Also on the calendar: last Flock town hall, Tuesday, September 15, 6:30 to 8 p.m., North Cobb Senior Center, Acworth (covered above).

Which Saturday stop won: Taste of Smyrna, Cool Cars, or the free symphony? Hit reply with one word. We will print the split next week.

Every county has one weekend where three free things and one festival land on the same Saturday. Cobb just called yours.

That's Cobb. See you Thursday.

If someone on your street would enjoy it, forward this.