Parks planning meetings Nov. 29 and 30.

Residents needed to weigh in on Comprehensive Parks Plan, trail update.

MILTON, Ga., Nov. 18, 2011 - There will be two public meetings to kick off the City of Milton's Parks and Recreation planning process at 7 p.m. Nov. 29 and 30, said department Director John Rebar.

The first meeting will cover the Comprehensive Parks and Recreation Master Plan, which lays out the timeline and expectations for all current and future department activities, including building recreation areas and establishing programs in them. The second, the next night, covers the Trail Plan update, which seeks to establish a system of pedestrian trails linking neighborhoods and public facilities.

Both will take place in City Council Chambers at Milton's City Hall, 13000 Deerfield Parkway, Suite 107 E (click here for directions).

"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.

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 Birmingham Park and a final public input session 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.