MILTON, Ga. — Milton is expected to soon open greenspaces purchased with the $25 million bond voters passed in 2016.
The city’s greenspaces were not an official item of discussion at the Oct. 16 City Council meeting. Rather, a conversation about a potential $300,000 restroom project at Birmingham Park caused some councilmembers and residents to question the city’s list of priorities.
In September, Milton held public workshops on the city’s six greenspaces to help draft The Greenprint, a plan to help identify appropriate usage, management and possible improvement to the properties. Half of the properties — Hamby Road, Webb Road and Cooper Sandy — are still closed.
At a council Oct. 9 work session, Environmental Program Manager Emily Groth shared results from a survey, where 44 percent of 219 responses said all greenspaces should be opened for public access in some capacity; 47 percent said the greenspaces should be partially closed in the interest of conservation and wildlife.
“I think every square inch should be available,” Mayor Peyton Jamison said at the Oct. 9 work session. Councilman Paul Moore and others agreed, but the meeting produced no explicit action the city should take.
Greenspaces
During the Oct. 16 regular meeting, the topic was reintroduced after a presentation from Parks and Recreation Director Tom McKlveen on potential high-dollar improvements at Birmingham Park including a new restroom facility and a connective trail.
“I guess my question is more about spending that much money on restrooms, when we can use those dollars to open up the other parks,” Councilman Jan Jacobus said.
In addition to capital improvement dollars allotted to each of the city’s parks, Deputy City Manager Bernadette Harvill said another $1 million in “passive dollars” has been set aside for greenspaces.
Several…
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