Marietta council approves service-delivery resolution after Cobb–Mableton agreement; several SDS items taken off agenda

The City of Marietta's special council meeting on May 13 concluded with council approval of a resolution to amend the city's Service Delivery Strategy (SDS) and unanimous votes to take no action on multiple agenda items after Cobb County and the City of Mableton reached a temporary agreement.

City staff told the council that attorneys for Cobb County and Mableton had finalized documents late Friday and that the parties agreed to preserve the existing agreements between Cobb and six cities while negotiating a short-term deal between Cobb and Mableton. "We do have a resolution which I passed out, which would be, as the mayor said, 1 of the items that would be after the ones we would ask you to not take action on," said Mr. Bridal, a staff member present at the meeting.

Why it matters: Marietta and five other cities rely on SDS packets and accompanying Form 2 schedules to define which entity provides services (E-911, animal control, water and sewer, etc.) and how those services are funded. The council was told that, without an agreement between Cobb County and Mableton, the cities risked triggering sanctions by the state on June 1 because there was no enforceable SDS in place for all jurisdictions.

Council actions and immediate effects: Council voted separately and unanimously to take no action on the four items listed on page 1 of the meeting packet; language in the meeting record shows repeated motions and seconds and that each motion "carrie[d]" or "carrie[s] unanimously." After those votes, the council approved the SDS amendment resolution that staff distributed at the meeting and authorized the mayor, city manager and city attorney to sign minor, non-substantive changes so long as they did not alter service areas or funding mechanisms.

What staff said: Staff explained that the Cobb–Mableton agreement covers only one year and that payments to participating cities would continue on the previously scheduled timetable (payments expected in November). "What needed to be done was Mableton had to reach an agreement with Cobb in order to have our SDS agreement in total complete," Bridal said. He and others warned council that the one-year arrangement may require renegotiation because the original SD S arrangements were intended to run for 10 years and contain clauses that can reopen terms if, for example, the county adopts a new comprehensive plan.

Remaining items and next steps: Attorneys were still finalizing accompanying maps, Form 2 service schedules and some city-to-county attachments at the time of the meeting. Council formally authorized mayoral signature on the resolution and gave the mayor and staff authority to sign final documents that contain only minor edits. Council members and staff noted that, if DCA (the state Department of Community Affairs) receives the fully assembled packet quickly (staff asked for completion by the following Wednesday), DCA would expedite review to avoid any loss of funding.

Council members emphasized the temporary nature of the Cobb–Mableton deal and that a longer-term agreement would be necessary to restore a standard 10-year SDS cycle. The council removed a separate "legal actions" item from the agenda by motion as well after the parties reached the county-level agreement.