City Of Milton: 2 High Schoolers Honored For Helping Bring Glass Recycling To Milton

Press release from the City of Milton:

06/21/2021 9:28 PM

City Council looked toward a bright future Monday, honoring two young residents for helping bring glass recycling back to Milton shortly before considering a plan aimed to charting a years-long path to improve the city.

A proclamation recognized rising Milton High School seniors Ella Katekovich and Jeslyn Guo for their enthusiasm, commitment and initiative to give residents somewhere to recycle glass jars and bottles. Members of their school's "Clean and Green" environmental club, the pair stepped up after recognizing a need in Milton -- with certified waste haulers having stopped picking up glass for recycling curbside since 2017 and the Roswell Recycling Center not allowing Milton residents to use its facility since March 2020.

Their proactive drive and outreach efforts ultimately connected the City of Milton to Strategic Materials, a leading glass recycling company with a plant in College Park. Because of that, as of earlier this month, anyone can now drop off glass recyclables free of charge in a large Strategic Materials container at Bell Memorial Park. (Read more about this effort by clicking HERE; and watch a video featuring Jeslyn and Ella via this LINK.) 

"City staff are incredibly grateful to Ella and Jeslyn for being integral to our team committed to making Milton, and our world, a better place," the proclamation read.

Mayor Pro Tem Peyton Jamison noted the teenagers approached him about 1 1/2 years ago intent on making an impact.

"There were very adamant about getting a glass recycling program in Milton," he said. "I think everybody in the city has been thrilled."

Earlier in Monday's meeting, after an invocation from Father Reggie Simmons from St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church, the Council unanimously approved everything on the meeting’s Consent Agenda. That included items such as:

• A facility use agreement for North Atlanta Football League teams to continue to use City of Milton fields – specifically at Bell Memorial Park and potentially the Cox Road athletic complex;
• An agreement for Love GOGA to offer goat yoga (yes, yoga with goats walking and climbing nearby) classes at the City’s Broadwell Pavilion;
• Continuing the practice of having dogs from Happy Tails Pet Therapy visit Camp Joyful Soles, the City’s special needs camp for individuals age 13-22; and
• Three plat changes, including dividing nearly 34 acres between Darby Road and Tullgean Drive into four tracts and combining two parcels off Wood Road into a single 10.93-acre parcel.

This was followed by a presentation from representatives from the North Fulton Community Improvement District (CID), a group formed by local business leaders dedicated to advancing infrastructure projects to enhance livability, walkability and drivability in contiguous parts of Milton, Alpharetta and Roswell. 

In general terms, Kristin Winzeler from the CID laid out "Blueprint 3" -- or her group's third set of proposed changes since its inception in 2003 -- which stemmed from a "rigorous process" of consulting business leaders, City officials and other stakeholders. 

Eric Bosman, a consultant associated with the organization, then explained ongoing efforts to "address ... congestion" and do other things to improve the area. The former includes the CID's role in the Windward Parkway turn lane project, while the latter includes efforts to enhance the Greenway -- a project that while, not technically in Milton, can positively impact its residents.

Jamison thanked the CID for prioritizing trails, saying "citizens really do appreciate that."

The longest presentation of the night related to something that has been a focal point for nearly 10 months: Milton's 2040 Comprehensive Plan. (For a link to Monday's presentation, videos and much more, go to www.cityofmiltonga.us/ComprehensivePlan.) 

This document envisioned what Milton should ideally look like, then what actions City staff can take over the next five years -- in the form of a wide range of "short-term work programs" -- to make that ideal future a reality.

Laura Richter, a consultant from TSW and member of the City's Project Team, on Monday walked the Council through the Comprehensive Planning process since last August. Many people, at many times, have helped shape the document -- including members of the Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee (CPAC). And even as the COVID-19 pandemic forced a rethinking of what effective public engagement looks like, people had numerous opportunities to weigh in such as:

• Community meetings including the kick-off, a draft plan Open House, and nine CPAC meetings open to the public;
• Three educational sessions offering deep dives into select topics important to the city;
• Five online engagement forums featuring interactive maps and multiple surveys with scores of questions; and
• Two informal “pop-ups” at Bell Memorial Park and the new Starbucks in Crabapple, where people talked to members of the Project Team and shared their input.

All this input led up to a draft Comprehensive Plan, which Richter previewed and will be posted online Friday, initiating a mandated 30-day “public comment” period. She explained some of its highlights, such as reviewing the City's eight distinctive "character areas" and addressing future land use issues. Richter also briefly touched on its dozens of "work programs," which can be seen by clicking HERE. (Scroll to pages 24-31; the stars represent "Priority" projects.)

Council member Laura Bentley, who as part of the Comprehensive Plan's steering committee and an ex-officio (meaning non-voting) CPAC member has had extensive involvement, jokingly likened the document's near completion to childbirth. 

"We struggled in the beginning because the market study for our town is a little bit scary (because) there are a lot of people who want to live here," Bentley said. The Comprehensive Plan under consideration works, she said, because of the conscious decision of "really sticking to what makes the city special."

Paul Moore, another Council member involved like Bentley, noted this Comprehensive Plan comes at an opportune time. The City can look beyond infrastructure needs to add amenities that increase citizens' quality of life, he said.

The Council will get another look at the plan in August, after which it should be submitted to the Atlanta Regional Commission and State of Georgia’s Department of Community Affairs for review. The endpoint is in October, when the Council should weigh in one last time on whether or not to adopt the plan.

"We're looking forward to voting on it in the fall," Jamison said.

In other developments, the Council voted Monday to extend a moratorium on alcohol, building permit and land disturbance permit applications from farm wineries. This 120-day extension intends to maintain the status quo while allowing the City time to draft amendments to its land-use code regarding farm wineries.

No citizen spoke in the public hearing on this matter, nor did the Council discuss it before voting in favor.

Likewise, swift action was taken on a procedural intergovernmental agreement between the City and Fulton County's government over TSPLOST II -- a potential second wave of taxpayer funding for local transportation projects that will be on the ballot in November. This mirrors the first Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, approved in 2016, in that there could be a 0.75% (or 3/4 cent) additional sales tax charge for local transportation improvements.

The City Council approved Milton's list of TSPLOST II projects in May. If the latest referendum is approved, Fulton County would collect the taxpayer funds and distribute them to its 13 cities -- with over $30 million potentially heading to Milton -- for defined purposes. For more information, go to www.cityofmiltonga.us/TSPLOST.

After Monday's meeting, the City Council is scheduled to convene next after the Independence Day holiday on July 7.

This press release was produced by the City of Milton. The views expressed here are the author’s own.