The "Protect Milton" Top Ten list of reasons not to put the High School and possible Middle School between Wood Rd., Freemanville Rd. and Rolling Links Drive:1. 2- 3 schools planned bordering Rolling Links, Freemanville Rd., and Wood Rd. and Birmingham Hwy. (Birmingham Elementary School, new Middle School, new High School).
2. 3 large/commercial septic systems for all 3 schools since the schools will yield a minimum of 10,000 gal/day of waste.
3. Pollution and increased impairment of the creeks, streams and lake on this land from septic and storm water run-off from paved areas.
4. Increased traffic at key drive times on Freemanville Rd., and surrounding roads, increased traffic on Wood Rd., traffic lights at intersections and turn lanes.
5. Increase in teenage drivers on Freemanville and surrounding roads traveling to and from 2 major highschools on Freemanville Rd. (2-3000 teenage drivers 16+ years of age), with the increase risk of traffic accidents on an already heavily traveled 2 lane road.
6. Football stadium lights, P.A. system noise, band and stadium noise 9 months out of the year and on weekends, and during the summer with band and athletic/sports activities at the high schools.
7. Decrease in property values.
8. Clear cutting/destruction of most of the trees and (specimen)trees on the 116 acre property to build the schools, stadium and sports fields. (Where is the Arborist when you need him?)
9. Inadequate buffers/trees and professional landscaping to provided by the BOE for blending and buffering of the schools into our rural area (ie. MHS, Summit Hill, Cogburn, Northwestern, Hopewell, Crabapple, etc. ). Take a look around at your schools and see for yourself.
10. The BOE did not take into consideration our City's needs, any input or direction from our City Council, Planning Commission, Planning Committee, or our Existing Land Use Plan. They chose this site based on the opportunity to purchase one large tract of land from one land owner.
11. One more for the heck of it: Construction noise, traffic and disruption for approximately 2 years while the schools are under construction on Birmingham Hwy, Freemanville Rd., and Wood Rd..
12. And another one: the over expenditure on property to build a new high school when the Old Milton High School should have been renovated and/or rebuilt for students from Alpharetta as well as Milton. This would have saved the BOE and the tax payers a tremendous amount of money. The plans for the renovating of the Old Milton High School were completed and planned. Then the BOE built the new existing Milton High School that opened in 2004 instead of renovating the old school. This decision did not incorporate growth, it only moved existing children from an old school to a new expensive one at the cost of the taxpayer.
Please look around your community and when you drive down Freemanville Road envision potentially 3 school campuses lined up in a row down Wood Rd, bordering Freemanville and Birmingham Hwy. and Rolling Links Drive. Is this what we want for our new City when we already have MHS 2.8 miles on the same road. Is this the best placement for a new high school and possible middle school for Milton? You decide. Easy, readily available property, offered by one willing seller, should not be the one and only criteria for choosing a school site for our City. Is this responsible planning or easy planning by the BOE. They state "Where Students Come First", but how about the parents of the students from whom they collect the money to build these schools?
Lisa Cauley
Chairperson - Protect Milton
20 comments:
Just because you live across the street from the "new" high school, makes you now an expert on this?
Where have you been for the last few years as we tried to build a city?
You sure sound like a NIMBY!
I've been in Gwinnett County for 20 years. How about posting your name.
It's a City issue regardless of where you live in Milton.
Any one with common sense can see the facts on how this school will negatively impact the City. You must be a developer or a school board employee or for sewer extension. Regardless, your lack of true concern for this City is apparent.
I've only lived here a short time. What are you doing to positively affect your community? Sitting around criticizing others trying to protect the rural nature of our area.
Who gives a damn if she sounds like a Nimby! You would not want it around you either. The City of Milton DOES NOT NEED another High school! MHS is enough. They want another High school - then put it in Alpharetta -- that is where most of the kids attending will be coming from.
They will move most of the MHS kids to Bham then pull in the Alph kids into MHS -- Alpharetta needs the school. Interrogating someone over where they have been the last few years is ridiculous -- people move here and move out all of the time -- it does it matter where she has been.
Thank you for getting involved in our community Mrs. Cauley --
When it hits your backyard, you react. Sometimes it takes that to move us in action because that is how we find out about it in the first place. Certainly that is the fact with Birmingham High. I don't really care that you live across the street, Lisa Cauley, I'm glad you do and care enough to spend so much time fighting for what is right for our community. WE DO NOT NEED ANOTHER HGH SCHOOL!!! Alpharetta Does. But even if we did - How in the world did KRCS have environmental/placement issues to fight and the BOE does not? And why hasn't our City Council or State Representative, Jan Jones, taken any action on supporting the community that voted them in to support us on this issue. Is it not politically correct? Are they afraid of Katie Reeves or are they in bed with her? Or is this a way to move sewer into Milton when they find out that septic might not work at this location? Hmmmm......
Madeline:
Thank you for sharing your input regarding this proposed high school. It is because of citizens like yourself that help turn the tide of things. It is imperative to remember that we are the gov't; thus we can change the discretion of those we choose to give power to if the majority deem it necessary. I tried to fight Milton high and believed that they needed to demolish and build a new school at the old Milton High site. Unfortunately, seven life long Milton families lost their homes to the new Milton High under the threat of eminent domain. This type of abuse should NOT be allowed. The BOE needs to answer to it's constituents and practive fiscal responsiblity instead of going about things as if the sky were the limit. Milton High is now one road over from my home and I can tell there is no repreive. If it is not traffic morning and afternoon, it is noise, noise, NOISE on the weekdays as well as weekends. I have said it before and I will say it again; the only place for a high school is in an area zoned RETAIL. One has to wonder if those on the BOE board would be ok if a high school was built next to them. Then again, would they be ok with the threat of eminent domain over their heads and the demolition of their homes?
I realize that I may not know ALL of the facts - but from what I do know about this school site makes me even more uneasy about the politics here.
People need to wake up and smell the coffee. This school site really could be the start of sewer which will allow more density if the community doesn't act and get involved in the placement of a new school on Freemanville. Besides what about the environmental impact? And the traffic concerns? And why does Milton need another new school? If I lived in Alpharetta, I would wonder about the same thing.
Madeline, you are right on with your concerns.
Lisa, thank you for taking the chance of speaking up on behalf of concerned citizens. I'm glad you live across the street!
-Patti Silva
I would love to know if any of you who keep trashing the new Milton High School have children who attend or will attend Milton?? I am a mother of 4 boys whose oldest just graduated from MHS. He attended the old Milton for 2 years and the new Milton for 2 years. I am thrilled that he had the opportunity to experience our history and the beginning of a new era!
With that said, Thank God for the new school.Tim Enloe how could you say the new school was not needed??? When you attended the old Milton, it was disgusting back then and had become even worse, As an Atlanta native and a Fulton County tax payer for half of my life, I am thrilled to know that my children will be attending the most awesome high school in probably all of Georgia. Most parents of kids at MHS that I know personally, would tell you they are thrilled to have their kids at such a great school. As a matter of fact, as of this year, we have to prove that we live in the Milton cluster because too many people are trying to sneak their kids into our schools without actually living her. What does that tell you about our school??
Rhonda Newell
I would also like to address the comments on traffic and noise. I have driven in this school traffic for many years at Crabapple and Northwestern before Milton was relocated here. My personal experience is that the traffic situation is much better now with the staggered school start and end times. Yes the traffic on Birmingham Hwy southbound is bad--it always has been--but it really is not much different today than in the past few years. Actually I find it much easier to get in and out of the schools now and I do this on almost a daily basis.
As for the noise--What noise?? I live on Bethany Rd and back up to the school. I LOVE to sit on my back porch and listen to the band practicing or playing at any Friday night football game(usually my family is in the stadium).Talk about small town home feelings. It doesn't get much better than this!!! Like they say at the end of the movie "Radio" If you're ever in Anderson, SC (or Milton,Ga) on a Friday night stop by the football stadium. Support your Milton schools! It benefits all of us, especially our kids
Mr. Enloe is right. The BOE should have rebuilt/remodeled the Old One instead of spending over 70 million dollars on the new pretentious one. That did not solve the overcrowding issue now did it? Thus the reasoning now to build another school so close to Milton? Common sense answers that question. If they want another school here then find a more appropriate place for it, not next to the existing MHS. The BOE did not plan back then and they are showing continued poor planning now. Throwing one so close to Miton HS is ridiculous. I am glad your children got to experience both schools, however, the issue is about placing a school properly in Milton, not irresponsibly. A new High School may be needed, but not right next door to the exisiting one. I agree this will divide our community.
Rhonda you will get to listen to all the noise from both schools in stereo. I want a choice when and where I listen to school band noise and stadium noise, not have it thrust upon me whenever the school has an event or game. If I want to sit outside or be outside with my family and enjoy the outdoors,I don't want to have to listen to it. I'll go to the game if I want to hear it. Or I would have chosen to move directly next to it or move into a neighborhood that backs up to it, like Six Hills. You may enjoy it all the time but others don't. With the addition of the elementary , possible middle and new high school that will put 17 schools within a 4 mile radius of the Center of our City! Go BOE! Maybe they'll get an award for outdoing Publix and Wachovia's on every corner! A Concerned Citizen!
P.S. The traffic does back up no matter what you say. Are you actually sitting in it at key drive times? It is going to get worse.
It wouldn't be so bad if all of you people hadn't moved here...
The fact is that the overcrowding at Milton High was significantly reduced from 3000 students to 2000 students when the new Alpharetta High School opened. The old school was land locked and not a viable option for our school s today.
Instead of focusing on the school, you all should be focusing on the developers who are the real reason our schools are overcrowded. Fulton Cty has a prototype school that they build and that school is built to house around 2000 students. When we continue to develop at 5 houses per acre what do you think that is going to do to our present schools. STOP this insane development and it will be the biggest factor affecting our school development!!
PS I do sit in this school traffic and have sat in it for the last 12 years. So I think I can speak logically about the situation. It is definitely better today than it has been in many many years previously. That is because of traffic light corrections, police assistance and staggered times. And yes at times it is worse than others but this is our schools for our kids and we need to figure out the best ways to handle it. Always complaining, instead of trying to help the situation is not having a positive affect on anything!
so...wait a minute, let me ask a question...
Everyone seems so keen on the idea that the old school could have been renovated, but where would you have put the students during the renovation?
Keep in mind that renovation wouldn't have been a small thing, it would have required a makeover of the entire to be really worthwhile and that certainly couldn't have been accomplished over the summer...
they could have put them in the surrounding high schools for a year. Lord knows it has happened before. better than the education board going about it the way the did. I doubt you would be ok if they took your home for that school. guess if cuz it didn't happn to you it doesn't matter. typical.
From what I have been told the students were planning on being placed in Alpharetta HS while the school was rennovated. Anyone have any different information then this please let me know.
Get over it. What's been done is done. Old Milton was not renovated and new Milton was built. "If" this and "if" that is like crying over spilled milk.
Shouldn't we direct all efforts toward preventing another school being placed in city of Milton.
I especially like the comment about... continue building, five homes to the acre. Now who are we going to blame, Fulton County. Let's see how City of Milton handles this in future.
Also like the... small town feel. You don't know what you missed by not being here fifty years ago. I know, I know, the beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.
12 years ago there was more traffic out here then there is now? So what was the population back then and how can more people living her now equal less traffic today? Lets check the US Census Bureau. I believe that until the recent years (like the last 8-10) years or so, the population was more like 10,000 or less out here.
So you think the people complaining about the County building another huge school next to Milton High School shouldnt, and the new school (s) won't affect the traffic? They are not complaining about getting another school, wake up, the complaint seems to be about the poor placement of this school and how it will be impacting all of Milton. If you were really intersted and cared about the Comprehensive Land Use Plan and how the future of our City is going to unfold you wouldn't be griping about really concerned citizens griping about the placement of this school which is very wrong for our city in many ways as stated by the other bloggers.
All of the community is invited to attend and give input at the meetings at City hall regarding the Land Use Plan.
More like crying over $72 million dollars, not spilt milk. Like giving a child an open allowance and having no accountibility or responsiblity on how to spend it. You get over it.
A school will be needed eventually for Milton, but not next door to the exisiting High School. Talking about the Old Milton HS is important since they should go back into it now and rennovate it for the Alpharetta students that will be taking over MHS if they don't. Why don't they rennovate the school since the majority of the need is Alpha students? Not Milton students. The school is needed for Alpharetta not here, not right now. If Milton is planning on controlling it's density and keeping it low then how can they justify building another one for us on the same road? Oh, because Alph students will be attending Milton, not Milton students, I get it now.
Okay, you people need to listen up!
YOU WILL NOT HAVE ANY SAY ABOUT THIS SCHOOL SITE OR ANYTHING ELSE PERTAINING TO MILTON'S FUTURE, IF:
(1) O'BRIEN AND MOHRIG AREN'T VOTED
O-U-T.
(2) HEWITT and TART ARE IN, and
(3) JULIE REMAINS ON THE COUNCIL.
Folks: THAT is the BOTTOM LINE.
William B.
To anonymous who posted at 7:35pm from anonymous who posted at 7:13pm.
I have gotten over it and you state "I get it now" so we both can relax.
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