Milton Asks Residents to Help Plan the City's Parks, Trails

Milton residents are needed to help plan the city's parks and trails. Meetings are begin scheduled Nov. 29 and 30 to kick off  the city's Parks and Recreation planning process, said John Rebar, director of the department.

• Nov. 29, 7 p.m.: Comprehensive Parks and Recreation Master Plan–Lays out the timeline and expectations for all current and future department activities, including building recreation areas and establishing programs in them.
• Nov. 30, 7 p.m.: Trail Plan update, which seeks to establish a system of pedestrian trails linking neighborhoods and public facilities.

Both meetings will take place in City Council Chambers at .
"This planning process is a must if Milton's residents are to have the parks, programs and green spaces they want very badly," said Rebar.

Rebar said on Thursday, Nov. 17 the department held a series of focus meetings, including one with the Crabapple Communication Association, which he said were "really an opportunity for our stakholders, focus groups to sit down and speak directly to the consultants."

These meetings are in addition to the public meeting scheduled after the Thanksgiving holiday.

"They were just an opportunity for conversation, dialog on what their ideas are on parks," Rebar said.

The Parks and Recreation Needs Assessment Survey, which was mailed to every Milton resident last year, told planners Milton needs more public events, trails and open space for passive recreation and field space for organized recreation programs, said Rebar. This is the next step in that process - planning the spaces that will make those desires a reality.

"At the completion of this process in February, we will have what we need to look at funding and other options to get these plans built," he said. "We are well on our way to providing what our residents have said they want, and we need them to be part of this process so we give it to them in the right places, at the right cost and at the right time."

There will be additional workshops Dec. 14 and 15 in which residents will be asked to help plan the currently passive 200-acre and a final public input session Jan. 18, 2012.

The Comprehensive Master Plan, which will include both the Trail Plan update and Birmingham Park Master Plan as components, will be delivered to City Council in early February 2012 by project consultants Moreland Altobelli Associates.