Austell Residents Can Vote for Sunday Alcohol Sales; One Councilman Says Goodbye

Austell residents will now have the chance to vote on the Sunday sales referendum in March. On Monday night, the Austell City Council unanimously approved placing the Sunday alcohol sales referendum on the March 6 ballot during the Presidential Preference Primary election.

If citizens approve it, Austell merchants would be able to sale packaged alcohol on Sunday afternoons beginning March 18.

The election will be conducted by the Cobb Board of Elections and Registration, and will cost the city $875. The city would have saved $875 by placing the referendum on the November ballot.

Mayor Joe Jerkins said the city chose to put the referendum on the March ballot instead of the November ballot “because the county and other cities were doing it.”

“The main reason is to do it together,” Jerkins said.

• The council also unanimously approved the annual monetary donations from the Austell Area Community Improvement Commission grant fund to give to needy families within the city limits. Nineteen churches will receive $1,500 each. Five schools will receive $3,000 each to split evenly between 10 families. Lastly, $5,000 was given to each of the five members of the AACIC board to give to individuals they deemed most in need.

• The Austell Gas System will also pay more of its gross revenue to the city now. The annual incremental rate increase was also approved unanimously at the city council meeting.

• The meeting was a milestone for longtime city council member Randy Green, who served as At-Large Post 2 since 1999.

 Suzanne Thomason won two more votes than Green in the November municipal election and will take office in January.

As for his feelings during his last meeting, Green said, "I kind of hated it, but God must've had a different way for me to travel, at least for the time being."

Jerkins presented Green with a certificate of appreciation for his service to the city.