Milton GA Mayor Joe Lockwood cites a recent recognition for Milton and also takes a look forward to what residents can expect in 2012. As noted on Milton’s website, Business Journal, Inc. recently named Milton the top city in Georgia for quality of life, and ninth in the South, and Lockwood believes that quality of life will only increase as the economy picks up going forward.

Here are some major initiatives as outlined by Lockwood for Milton in 2012:

First up is the GA Hwy 9 Livable Communities Grant Initiative, a joint study by Milton and Alpharetta, paid for by a $100,000 grant by the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC). This study will create a development and transportation plan for GA Hwy 9 starting at Mayfield Road in Alpharetta north to Bethany Bend in Milton. In addition, the Deerfield Parkway area east of GA Hwy 9 to GA Hwy 400 will be included. Once the study is completed and given to the ARC in April, the area will be eligible for additional monies for transportation improvements.

Next, Milton is creating a Master Plan for Parks and Recreation. Moreland Altobelli Associates has been retained by the city and has held four public meetings to get input into a plan for the city that will soon be reviewed by the Milton City Council. Once approved by Council, the City Council will begin to look for possible funding strategies to add to and improve Milton’s inventory of parks.

Milton is also well on it’s way to adopting a new strategy for development and transportation in the oft-clogged Crabapple Overlay District. Lew Oliver’s Wholetown Solutions, Inc. was retained to conduct a study and has come up with a great vision so far (IMHO).

Lastly, Milton is looking at the city’s cost of services in order to better balance anticipated revenues with the resident’s expected levels of service. This effort is being spearheaded by City Manager Chris Lagerbloom and City Finance Director Stacey Inglis, who are tasked with creating alternative models for city services and the resulting impact on Milton’s budget. As part of the city’s efforts, there is now a 3-year strategic plan and budget for the city and soon there will be an area on Milton’s website where citizens can check the city’s goals and objectives and a “score” of the city’s progress towards completion of each objective.

A little more commentary here. As a resident of Milton, I have been impressed with the city’s efforts to communicate regularly and in a seemingly transparent manner with our residents and others interested in Milton. As the saying goes, Rome wasn’t built overnight, yet Milton was largely built before it was created. And I believe city officials are doing a good job of getting the horse back in front of the cart as far as planning and budgeting for our city going forward. Keep up the good work!

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