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Paid for by Milton Families First Independent Committee
Public pushes city to open inventory of new greenspace By AMBER PERRY amber@appenmedia.com 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
See GREENSPACE, Page 12
AMBER PERRY/APPEN MEDIA
In a prepared statement, Milton Mayor Peyton Jamison describes a previous unadvertised election update at the City Council meeting Oct. 16, where the city manager warned a quorum of councilmembers about how their “repeated calls for investigations” could lead to negative public perception.
Milton officials held private election meeting Mayor offers apology, anticipates training ahead By AMBER PERRY amber@appenmedia.com MILTON, Ga. — After residents took issue with an unadvertised Sept. 18 meeting that featured a quorum of Milton City Council members discussing the municipal election, Mayor Peyton Jamison issued a statement to clear the record.
Former Councilwoman Laura Bentley said the council broke off into a separate gathering immediately after an advertised meeting held at 11 a.m. at the North Fulton CID office in Avalon. The 11 a.m. public meeting was to discuss the Windward Parkway/Ga. 9 master plan. Bentley said she found out about the second meeting because she had
spoken with councilmembers. “Based on people’s account of what took place, I would have been there. You would have been there. I’m sure 100 people would have been there,” Bentley said. Milton resident Mary Cronk joined Bentley in asking for details about the unadvertised gathering at the Oct. 16 City Council meeting. Both referenced
See MEETING, Page 12
MORE INSIDE Habitat restoration ongoing at park Page 4