It's Time for Milton Residents to Say What They Want in Parks, Trails

Approximately 90 of Milton's more than 32,000 residents showed up last week for two public meetings meant to gauge feedback on the city's Parks and Recreation planning process.

They'll get a chance along with any other Milton resident to join in the planning process in two workshops in December, with a Birmingham Park planning session in January 2012.

The City of Milton held two public meetings on Tuesday, Nov. 29 and Wednesday, Nov.30 at City Hall to gauge the publics feedback regarding the city’s Parks and Recreation planning process.

A meeting on Nov. 29 reviewed the Comprehensive Parks and Recreation Master Plan which, according to the city's website, lays out the timeline and expectations for all current and future department activities, including building recreation areas and establishing programs in them.

The Nov. 30 meeting covered the Trail Plan update, which proposes a system of pedestrian trails linking neighborhoods and public facilities.

According to Milton Communications Manager Jason Wright, both meetings were extremely helpful, with about 60 residents in attendance at the first meeting and about 30 in the second.

Wright said the first meeting generated more interest due to its more comprehensive nature.

“During the master planning meeting, they ran down what they thought were strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to the kind of parks and recreation system they wanted,” explains Wright, “They were also shown maps and asked where and what they thought should go where in regards to parks. They worked in those groups for about an hour and were quite engaged in the process.”

At the second meeting, residents were placed into groups and shown maps of Milton along with styles of trails. They were later asked for input on where the trails should go.

“As far as concerns,” said Wright, “certainly there are multiple viewpoints, including opinions on the mix of passive and active recreation needed in Milton, and how the city will pay for those options over time, which are of course interwoven topics. Thankfully, residents were very clear and forthcoming when they expressed those opinions in these meetings, so the consultants have a wide range of data to pull from and incorporate into the plan.”

A Parks and Recreation Needs Assessment Survey was mailed to Milton residents last year, and the results indicated a need for more public events. A desire for more open space and organized recreation programs was also expressed. These meetings were the next step in making those requests a reality.

 Parks and Recreation Director John Rebar said that citizen involvement is important on many levels.

“One of the most important outcomes of public participation is we use this input to aid in the differentiation between needs and wants, as well as set priorities within those needs,” said Rebar.

He said that the people of Milton have been very helpful in assessing such needs.

“The public process has been outstanding, both going back to the prior survey to our current focus group meetings and public workshops. The citizens of Milton are very interested and involved in the park planning process.”

Additional workshops will be held on Dec. 14 and 15 at beginning at 7 p.m. Residents will be able to help plan the 200-acre area with a final public input session to be held on Jan. 18.

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 by project consultants Moreland Altobelli Associates Inc.