City Council on Monday evening approved a blanket right-of-way acquisition allotment needed to build a roundabout at Cox and King roads in southwest Milton.

Milton has collaborated with locals, as well as with the City of Roswell, for several years on devising ways to improve safety and efficiency along Cox Road. This effort, which included significant public outreach, led to plans to create roundabouts where Cox Road intersects with King Road as well as where it meets Etris and Ebenezer roads.

Rob Dell-Ross, from Milton’s Public Works Department, explained the City was ready for “our next stage” regarding the King Road project specifically. City policy calls for the Council’s approval of a blanket, or base, funding amount to cover all expected right-of-way and easement acquisition costs for a given project. (This sets a negotiating threshold; Council would vote again if that is exceeded.)

Milton needs to acquire parts of four properties for the Cox-King initiative, according to Dell-Ross. The City of Roswell is responsible for another property within its borders for the same roundabout project.

“This is a welcome addition,” Mayor Peyton Jamison said of the prospective roundabout after the Council’s unanimous supportive vote. “People have been wanting this.”

CONSENT AGENDA INCLUDES POOL SHADE STRUCTURE, BOX CULVERT REPAIR ITEM

This vote came during a meeting that began with one public comment, followed by the Council’s approval of the Consent Agenda. This included agreements with:

• BM&K to provide on-call inspection and construction engineering services to the City of Milton for capital Public Works projects when such services are needed
• Corin Kievman, Kidokinetics, and Play-Well TEKNologies to be Milton Parks and Recreation Department program providers respectively leading water fitness (a.k.a. water aerobics) classes, youth sports enrichment programs, and STEM education programs using LEGOs
• Garver to provide engineering design services for needed repairs to a box culvert along Providence Lake Drive, through which water discharges into Providence Lake
• Georgia Department of Natural Resources to give the City an extension through the end of 2025 to use of a $1.5 million Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Program grant to help pay for improvements, including new trail and stormwater green infrastructure, in Milton City Park and Preserve’s “North Woods”
• Harmony Timberworks to use its design and engineering expertise to produce construction plans for a permanent shade structure on the City Pool’s deck
• Highway Markings LLC to install thermoplastic striping and raised pavement markers along Milton roads
• Vanesse Hangen Brustlin to include the 39-acre Hopewell Road property in the Greenprint (www.miltonga.gov/Greenprint), which charts future uses, amenities, and conservation within City-owned greenspaces

PARKS AND RECREATION TEAM, COURT CLERKS HONORED

The Council then issued a pair of proclamations celebrating vital elements of the City government, as well as outstanding individuals involved in them.

The first recognized July as Park and Recreation Month and, as part of that, the importance of the parks, programs, and events offered through Milton’s Parks and Recreation Department. The City invites the community to join in this celebration all month by exploring Milton parks through a Summer Scavenger Hunt and its Parks Passport, or by joining the Junior Ranger Academy or one of its other programs. You can get details and relevant links at https://www.miltonga.gov/government/parks-rec/parks-and-recreation-month.

Members of that department, its extended family at Tri Scapes that maintains City parks, as well as Parks and Recreation Advisory Board members joined the Mayor and Council for a photo after the proclamation’s reading.

“Over the last couple of years, we have made Parks and Rec a priority,” Jamison said, pointing to planning for a new Deerfield active park and the preservation of 39 acres off Hopewell Road as examples. “We’re continuing to make strides, and everyone in this room plays a huge part in that.”

The next proclamation honored Court Clerk Brooke Lappin and Deputy Court Clerk Wendy Lee, as well as Court Administrator Yami Garcia, for what they do for the City government and community as the first points-of-contact for Milton Municipal Court. The Mayor praised the court’s efficient operation, as well as its exemplary clerks.

“Milton is fortunate to have outstanding public servants … whose expertise and dedication are second-to-none,” this proclamation stated. “… The City is grateful to Brooke and Wendy for their impressive service at all times, including the recent Municipal Court Clerks Week.”

MILTON TO BE PART OF NORTH FULTON TRANSPORTATION PLAN

In other business on Monday night, the Council approved a Memorandum of Understanding for Milton to partner with Alpharetta, Johns Creek, Roswell, and Sandy Springs in updating the North Fulton Comprehensive Transportation Plan.

This plan originated in 2010, then was revised eight years later. This MOU sets the stage for another upcoming revision on this same timeframe.

The forward-looking document aims to keep all five cities well informed and coordinated when it comes to transportation improvements, which is especially critical for projects near other cities’ borders. The North Fulton Comprehensive Transportation Plan will also analyze projects that have regional impacts, such as new toll lanes coming to Georgia 400.

The meeting’s final item was a revised final plat for the Heatherton subdivision being built along Mayfield Road south of Bethany Road.

The revision does not change anything regarding the size, shape, or location of any parcel from the final plat that Council approved in November 2023. The only alteration in the version approved on Monday is giving five properties a Heatherton Lane mailing address – rather than the Mayfield Road addresses recorded in the original final plat.

The Council is next set to convene for a Regular Meeting on July 21st.