My name is Jody Furr. My mother, Glenda Furr, applied in 2008 for our old family home place to be considered for the 2008 Cobb Parks Bond land for purchase. It is the Lewis A Furr trust property at 4570 Old Westside Road Austell. It is 14.6 acres with a lake in the valley. It has been in the Furr family since 1933, purchased by my grandfather, Grady Furr, in 1933. He ran the Furr Grocery Store in downtown Powder Springs from the ’40s to late ’60s. Some of the land was used for the Food for Freedom program through the US government to supply food, both vegetables and pork, for the war effort during World War II. My grandfather, Grady Furr, also bought and donated some separate land for the very first fire station in Powder Springs; and he built the fire station after someone lost their life due to a fire in Powder Springs. There was no fire station at the time. He and my grandmother, Elsie Furr, loved the Powder Springs/Austell community and gave back to it throughout the years. My uncle, Frank Furr, was also mayor of Powder Springs in the 1950s. My father, Lewis Furr, inherited the land when my grandmother passed in 1997. He had a talk with me right before he passed away in 2006 about wanting his land to stay like it was forever, to not be developed into a subdivision.
My mother, Glenda Furr, also felt strongly about the land staying as it was and not being developed. She was very happy to learn for a way for our land to be saved from development — the 2008 Cobb Parks Bond. That is why she applied our property for the 2008 Cobb Park Bond. She called me when the land nominating committee left and was so happy that they seemed to like the property and what she said about its history. She put so much thought into how Cobb County could use the land; she even suggested that maybe Cobb County could let veterans, especially those with PTSD, fish at the lake to help their anxiety. She got the letter in the mail saying that they had nominated it in the final list of properties for the 2008 Cobb Parks Bond. She was so happy that day. We all thought that it would possibly be preserved forever as greenspace.
Then, the economy went bad, and she was told that the park bond had been put on hold. Unfortunately, my mother, Glenda Furr, died of a massive stroke at age 70 in the fall of 2012. Now, we have a chance at making my grandparent’s and parent’s wishes come true. Our family hopes that our land can be saved as greenspace. We ask you to please vote to fully fund the 2008 parks bond and purchase our property since it was on the original list of nominated properties and is still available.
I am writing to urge the Cobb County Board of Commissions to increase the amount of greenspace in Cobb County. As the minister of a congregation with many members who deeply connect to nature, this is a crucially important issue. It is about quality of life and spiritual connection.
Toward this end, I am asking that the Board of Commissioners honor the will of the people who overwhelmingly voted for the Park Bond in 2008. It is time to fully fund the $40 million ALREADY approved by the people.
I would like to encourage Chairman Tim Lee and Cobb County Commission, to honor the 2008 Park Bond referendum in its entirety.
I would like to point out the opportunity to purchase historically significant sites, not just more low lying, unbuildable flood plain for another passive use park.
Please consider using a portion of the funds to purchase some of the last remnants of Civil War sites with surviving earthworks.
These threatened historic treasures are some of the oldest man-made features we have in this part of the world, and we should want to safeguard what little is left for future Cobb Countians, Georgians and Americans alike.
There are areas near Pine and Brushy Mountains, Mud Creek and the Chattahoochee River, that have managed to survive war, logging, farming and development, thus far, but for how much longer?
On occasion, some of us in the historical community have spoken up when these sites have come up for development and have been able to help persuade the preservation of “token sites” with small buffers. This is often due to the generosity of some developers wanting to do right, and along with some Cobb officials.
It would be much better to have 5, 10 or 30 acre sites saved where you could actually stand and get a historical perspective of what happened there without looking at dozens of rooftops on either side of the 25’ buffer and the visual integrity largely lost.
These sites contain infantry earthworks, artillery lunettes, redoubts, and Shoupades, and were constructed by Confederates, Yankees and, in the case of the Chattahoochee River line of defenses, impressed slaves.
Preserving some of these last sites would help “fill in” the narrative of what happened here in the summer of 1864, one of the most climatic times in the history of this county, state and nation.
Please consider the goal of meeting the desired percentage of greenspace in Cobb County and being a responsible good stewart of our oldest historical resources.
The Cobb County Board of Commissioners has stalled for seven years on fully funding the 2008 Park Bond. The $40 million bond was approved by 67 percent of voters in 2008.
“Cobb County, combined with city, school, state and federal entities is fortunate to be home to an abundance of parks, covering more than 16,000 acres of land in our great community.”
The 16,000 acres falls far, far short of the County’s master plan of 10.5 acres of park space per 1,000 residents. To reach that goal, Cobb County needs to purchase 8,326 acres in the very near future.
In 2000, Cobb County partnered with the Georgia Greenspace Program to preserve 20 percent of all county land. Cobb has less than 6 percent of land preserved as parks or greenspace; not even one third of the goal.
The longer the delay, the less open land remains and the more expensive it is. Many properties on the original 2009 list are gone — flattened and paved over.
Parks and recreation enhance communities. Citizens of all ages and incomes benefit year-round from more parks and greenspace. Families and groups gather to socialize and connect with nature. Access to parks and recreation create a sense of identity and community pride.
Cobb voters expect the Commissioners to announce significant movement toward fully funding the $40 million 2008 Park Bond at the Board of Commissioners meeting today.