Milton, Georgia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Milton, Georgia | |
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| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| State | Georgia |
| County | Fulton County |
| Government | |
| - Mayor | Joe Lockwood |
| Time zone | EST (UTC) |
| - Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC) |
Milton (population approximately 20,000) is an area of Fulton County, Georgia which became incorporated as a "city" (the only type of municipality in the state) on December 1, 2006. According to special legislation passed by the Georgia General Assembly in March 2006, and signed by the governor of Georgia in April 2006, it was created out of the entire unincorporated northwestern part of northern Fulton County, bounded by the cities of Roswell and Alpharetta on the south, and the counties of Forsyth on the east and Cherokee on the north and west. A referendum was held on July 18, and the citizens voted, with 86% in favor, to make Milton a city.
Milton was not named for any of its historic communities, but rather because northern Fulton County (generally north of the Chattahoochee River) is almost entirely the former Milton County, which was in turn named for either John Milton or Homer V. Milton. It has been proposed that the county be re-created, an issue expected to come before the legislature in 2008. Incorporation may be a step toward this or may simply be a means by which to minimize the impact of Fulton County government, including the Fulton County Commission.
Former communities within Milton's city limits and obscured by suburbanization include Birmingham, Field's Cross Roads, and Crabapple. The Arnold Mill is also located on Georgia 140 (Arnold Mill Road).
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[edit] Incorporation
A citizen's committee was formed in 2005 to help determine the viability of incorporating unincorporated northwest Fulton County. This committee was led by George Ragsdale and included Cindy Hollingsworth, Gregory Mishkin, Chris Lagerbloom, Joelle Corcoran, Diana Wheeler, Vic Jones, Tina d'Aversa-Williams, Karen Thurman, John McMillan, Heidi Sowder, Jim Cheatham, and others. Through the efforts of Representative Jan Jones and this committee, the Georgia State House and Senate approved a bill creating the city of Milton on March 9, 2006. At 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 28, 2006, Governor Sonny Perdue signed the bill into law. In 2006, voters approved a ballot referendum on July 18 by more than 86%, which calls for general elections in November 2006 and activation of the city charter on December 1. Along with Johns Creek, this marks only the second time in Georgia history that a city was created by means of a voter referendum, the first being Sandy Springs.
On August 4, 2006, Governor Sonny Perdue appointed a five-person commission to serve as the interim government of Milton. This Commission was composed of Chairman Ron Wallace, Secretary Gregory Mishkin, Cecil Pruett, Brandon Beach, and Dan Phelan.
Milton adopted the existing county ordinances on December 1, as Sandy Springs did at a midnight meeting when it was incorporated.
Some are concerned the tax base is too small to provide the state-required municipal services.
[edit] Geography
Milton is centered at (34.1321631, -84.3006660)[1], as first officially recognized by the USGS GNIS in December 2006. The elevation is about 298 meters or 978 feet AMSL.
As of April 2007, the USPS (per www.usps.gov) recognizes Milton as a valid alias for ZIP code 30004, which is served from the Alpharetta post office.
The city of Milton estimates its area to be about 23,000 acres (93 km²).
[edit] Demographics
The most recent U.S. census provides no information about Milton, as it did not exist in 2000, nor was it a census-designated place.
The city of Milton estimates its initial population to be about 20,000.
[edit] Government
[edit] Officials
- Mayor: Joe Lockwood
- District 1: Karen C. Thurman
- District 2: Julie Zahner Bailey
- District 3: Bill Lusk (elected in a run-off election)
- District 4: Neal O'Brien (elected in a run-off election)
- District 5: Tina D'Aversa-Williams
- District 6: Rick Mohrig
[edit] Council Timeline
| Year | District | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | |
| 1st (2007) |
Karen Thurman | Julie Zahner Bailey | Bill Lusk | Neal O’Brien | Tina D’Aversa-Williams | Rick Mohrig |
| 2nd (2008) |
Burt Hewitt | Alan Tart | ||||
[edit] Services
Most services are initially being handled by consulting firm CH2M Hill-OMI, while some are temporarily being continued by the county.
[edit] Issues
The Milton City Council has been divided on a 4-3 on a regular basis with much bickering among members of the city council and mayor. They have even looked into a group therapy session for the council, but had to call it off once informed a closed-door session would violate Georgia's sunshine law on open meetings.[2] The infighting on the board began around the time of the first meeting, when two female council members got into a verbal catfight over who was to act as mayor pro tempore. Councilwoman Tina d'Aversa had ingratiated herself to Mayor Joe Lockwood and felt she deserved to run meetings in his absence. However, a majority of the council voted for council member Karen Thurman, leaving d'Aversa and the mayor seething.[3] More recently, City Manager Aaron Bovos revealed to the Milton City Council that the city could lose $900,000 in tax reimbursements from the state because of late paperwork.[4] This obviously has upset many residents.
[edit] References
- ^ US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990. United States Census Bureau (2005-05-03). Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
- ^ Atlanta Journal Contstitution, accessed 2007-07-11
- ^ Atlanta Journal Contstitution, accessed 2007-08-5
- ^ Atlanta Journal Contsttution, accessed 2007-07-28
[edit] External links
- Milton, Georgia is at coordinates Coordinates:
- City of Milton website
- Access Milton
- Milton incorporation legislation
- Milton Herald
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