Residents are invited to a public forum January 16 focused on plans to add trails, improve stormwater systems, and enhance wildlife habitats over more than half of Milton City Park and Preserve.

This engagement event will run from 6 to 8 p.m. that Tuesday inside the Community Center at the park (which is at 1785 Dinsmore Road). The evening will begin with a brief presentation, though people can drop by at any time to review the proposals, ask questions, and offer feedback.

This project represents both Phase 2 and Phase 3 of what was outlined in the community-driven, City Council-approved “master plan” for what was formerly the Milton Country Club. (You can check that out here: https://www.miltonga.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/2636/637303382605700000.) Generally, this plan articulates a desire to turn a golf course – except for the 7-acre “active” portion that includes a tennis center, the City Pool, and clubhouse-turned-Community Center – into a picturesque, accessible nature preserve where native animals and plants can thrive.

There are three main components to this project impacting approximately 79 acres (out of 130 “passive” acres total at MCPP) in the golf course’s northern section, which is referred to as the North Woods.

TRAIL IMPROVEMENTS

Current plans call for creating a 1-mile-long decomposed granite trail in the impacted property’s eastern and southern portion. An additional 0.25-mile paved asphalt or concrete sidewalk will extend along the northern part adjacent to Dinsmore Road. Plus, a new trail will connect to the decomposed granite trail that begins and ends behind the Community Center (which was created in the passive park’s Phase 1).

After all this, walkers will be able to traverse a roughly 2.5-mile continuous trail. (This is on top of the 2.5-mile loop – or 1.25 miles back and forth – presently at Milton City Park and Preserve.) And upgrades go well beyond laying down granite or concrete. Numerous amenities will be added such as boardwalks spanning water, viewing stations to enjoy vistas and wildlife, docks along a lake, dog-waste stations, trash cans, benches, and educational signage.

DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENTS

A lot about a golf course doesn’t translate to a nature preserve. Stormwater conveyance systems like pipes, ditches, catch-basin pipes, and manholes are among them. A major aspect of this project involves replacing these systems with more natural, low-impact green infrastructure such as bioswales, rock weirs, and plunge pools.

These changes should improve the quality of stormwater that drains into Chicken Creek, one of Milton’s main waterways which runs through the property. It also should better control quantity, as far as the volume and rate of stormwater that moves into this creek and in the area. The end goal: The hydrologic flow will revert to what existed there before the golf course.

HABITAT IMPROVEMENTS

Several invasive plants grow on this property, competing with native plants for space, sunlight, moisture, and nutrients. These – specifically Chinese privet, Lespedeza, and Nepalese browntop – will be removed, giving native flora (and the animals who feast on them) a better chance to thrive.

Now overgrown Bermuda grass on the former fairways, meanwhile, will make way for open meadows full of native grasses, wildflowers, and plants. Doing this will give wildlife more food to eat and places to live. There also are plans to plant groupings of trees that traditionally call our Piedmont Region home such as red oaks, tulip poplars, hickories, and persimmons, along with shrubs like beautyberry, oakleaf hydrangea, and bottlebrush buckeye.

The City won’t use pay-go dollars for this project, leaving those to fund other valuable government and public safety initiatives. Instead, the money will come from these three distinct sources:

• The federal American Rescue Plan Act ($1.2 million to $1.864 million)
• TSPLOST II ($300,000)
• A Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Program grant ($1.5 million)

The latter grant -- which was awarded by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources – requires the project be completed on or before August 2025. To help make that happen, the City hopes to complete the designs this winter, award a construction contract in late spring 2024, then begin work this summer.

You can learn more about this project at https://cleargov.com/georgia/fulton/city/milton/projects/10563/milton-city-park-and-preserve-passive-park-phase-2-gosp. If you have questions, you can share them at the January 16 forum or by contacting City Engineer Scott Tkach at scott.tkach@miltonga.gov.