Milton residents who attended a public meeting to discuss ideas for a pocket park on a one-acre piece of land near City Hall don't want to be knocked down by runners, but they do like fitness stations.

Interim Recreation Director Jim Cregge presented residents at Thursday night's meeting with two ideas he and his two Parks and Recreation Department employees thought were ideal for the small piece of land next to a busy intersection.

• Veterans Memorial: A display of flags from all military service branches plus the U.S. flag would be set up along a path that meanders through the property. Commemorative bricks bought by city residents would make up sections of the path.
• Fitness Stations: Either simple pieces of equipment with no moving parts, or more complex pieces that offer motion would line the path, offering a place for residents of nearby neighborhoods to exercise.

Common elements of both ideas – and features Cregge promises no matter what idea residents, the Parks and Recreation Board and City Council want – include:

• Benches
• ADA compliant entrances to the pocket park's paths on both Deerfield Parkway and Webb Road
• A staircase with skateboard resistant rails at the obvious cut through spot on Deerfield where the terrain slopes down six feet
• Trees and natural gardens with flowering plants

And after his experience with Friendship Community Park between Crabapple Elementary and Northwestern Middle schools, he promises at least one pet waste station in this park.

Principals called him after students tracked pet waste into their schools less than a week after that park opened. The schools use the park during the day for exercise and some class work. The community uses it when the schools are closed for the day and on weekends, bringing their dogs with them.

Cregge thinks he could have the park built out by early Fall of this year.

Those people present were asked to take a survey about what they wanted. That survey should be uploaded to the city's website soon for more input from local residents.

Norm Broadwell thought the park could be a place where the city celebrated its historic past as Webb, GA, a place that was an economic center of its time. The community was on many maps with that name, he said.

People view Crabapple as a historic site, but Broadwell said a mill and a cotton gin helped make this area an economic hub.

Student Bo Quintana suggested using Kickstarter to raise money to help fund the park.