City Council on Monday night withdrew a pair of items related to an updated Milton Trails Blueprint, directing City staff to work with the Milton Trails Advisory Committee to solicit more targeted public input before moving forward.

Milton adopted its first “Trail Plan Map” – which includes sidewalks and multi-use paths – in 2007, soon after the City’s incorporation. This guiding citywide document had been revised several times since, most recently in 2020. The current Milton Trails Advisory Committee (MTAC) was formed in 2023 to provide guidance on another update, which is referred to as the Milton Trail Blueprint.

Deputy Public Works Director Rob Dell-Ross explained Monday that, in addition to setting requirements for new developments, the Trail Blueprint serves as an aspirational guide for possible future path projects. It doesn’t come with funding, as any included “trail” segment must go through its own public process pertaining to budgeting, design, and awarding of contracts before anything is finalized or constructed. (Citizens have multiple opportunities to offer their viewpoints during those processes.) 

After his presentation, several community members shared their concerns with Council. Some of them lived along Hickory Flat Road and said they had not known until recently about a potential new trail in their area. Such a Hickory Flat trail segment had been on the 2017 iteration on Milton’s trails plan. 

The City Council followed these public comments with its own discussion that touched on, among other things, ensuring those who live in possibly impacted areas know about what’s in the Blueprint. This led to their giving Staff direction to bring this matter back to MTAC to garner additional public feedback with a focus on such property owners. 

To allow this to happen, the Council voted Monday night to withdraw two agenda items. The first would have removed the 2020 iteration of the trail plan from City Code; the second would have replaced it with a new Milton Trail Blueprint.

TROOP 3000 MEMBERS WELCOMED TO COUNCIL MEETING

These votes came near the end of a meeting that began with an invocation by City Church Executive Pastor Boyle, followed by Mayor Pro Tem Jan Jacobus welcoming members of BSA Troop 3000 to Council Chambers. The Scouts – who earned a citizenship badge after attending the meeting – then posed for a photo with the Council. 

After that, the Council unanimously approved the meeting’s Consent Agenda that included agreements with:

• Wanna Play Baseball to continue providing food and beverage services during actively scheduled times on weeknights and weekends at Bell Memorial Park’s concessions stand
• Google Fiber, establishing that it will pay the City a franchise fee equal to 2% of its Gross Revenues within Milton City limits and be able to use the public right of way in order to provide Internet service to residents
• TerraMark Land Surveying to collect detailed information needed to prepare an engineered drainage design to address ongoing erosion and drainage concerns along Sweetapple Road in southwest Milton
• Gresham Smith to provide engineering services – including to collect traffic data, assess safety and traffic operations, and conduct public outreach – in connection to the upcoming widening-and-more of Highway 9
• Monte Carlo Production to provide the City with an interactive “switch” that Santa can use to magically light Milton’s Christmas tree during the upcoming Christmas in Crabapple event
• Atlas Technical Consultants for its professionals to update a hydrologic and hydraulic study of a Chicken Creek tributary as the City seeks options related to the planned replacement of a Birmingham Road bridge

ALCOHOL LICENSE FOR GRACIOUS GATHERINGS DEFERRED

A Public Hearing item to consider the issuance of an alcohol beverage license for Gracious Gatherings generated extensive discussion, with the Council ultimately voting to defer this matter to a future meeting.

Gracious Gatherings had sought the license for its operations out of the Pardue Family Center – a 23,000-square foot rural event facility that includes a pavilion and outdoor area at 12900 Arnold Mill Road (which is the same address as Ebenezer Methodist Church). The City issued a new conditional Use Permit for this rural event facility earlier this year.

On Monday, prompted by questions from Council, Police Chief Jason Griffin explained that officers had gotten three calls related to a noise complaint one evening in late May. He and Dell-Ross noted that several other complaints, referring to other times, have been sent to City officials by email. These complaints alleged violations of the Use Permit conditions related to amplified sound, projected colored lights, traffic management, hiring off-duty police officers, and displaying signage to indicate if an event is run by Gracious Gatherings or by Ebenezer Methodist Church. (This distinction is notable because, for instance, allowed decibel levels, at the property lines, vary depending on who is running an event.) 

Several neighbors who live just across the border in Roswell spoke Monday during public comment claiming conditional Use Permit violations and opposing the issuance of the alcohol beverage license. The CEO of Gracious Gatherings defended his organization, while a representative from Ebenezer Methodist Church defended the church. 

After these remarks, Councilmember Carol Cookerly suggested extending the temporary alcohol beverage license rather than voting to approve a new, more permanent one. She and other Councilmembers agreed that such a temporary extension could allow for time to improve operations at the Arnold Mill location more to the satisfaction of nearby residents. 

So this could happen, the Council officially deferred its vote on an alcohol beverage license for Gracious Gatherings. The temporary one now in place can be extended for a short time, according to City Attorney Ken Jarrard.

This means that the Council will have the opportunity in the coming months to vote again on issuing an alcohol beverage license. There will be another “public hearing” before this vote occurs at which neighbors, as well as representatives from Gracious Gatherings and the church, can speak.

In other business on Monday night, the Council voted to approve a final plat for Elara, a new neighborhood of 13 single-family residences off Bethany Bend.

The Council’s next meeting is scheduled for the evening of December 1.