The way I see it is G. Ragsdale and his legal team should have let Kingsridge build there because it certianly would have had less impact in total acreage, multiple schools, parking, total student population, etc. I could have told you this was coming. Part of heading something up, as he did with the initial Kingsridge site would be to strategically pick and choose your battles. Now you’ve got a mammoth school system with lots of “protected” equity, more than your earlier “concern.” Seems like anyone involved in those earlier efforts are bemoanig their decisions or least, should be! What is YOUR opinion of those earlier efforts? What is G. Ragsdale opinion now? I’d like some answers before I agree to your community forum efforts.
I am sure the individuals involved in fighting the Kings Ridge site are bemoaning of course. Hind sight is 20/20 as they say and in their defense and mine, having Milton High School less then 3 miles down the road on the same road in my opinion was a safety net, knowing no one in their right mind would place another mammoth public High school in that close proximity on the same exact road. No one could predict it, unless you were on the BOE. As far as George Ragsdale, maybe you should call him or email him and ask what exactly is his opinion now after all of the previous efforts. I cannot speak for him.
I can tell you that this school placement is going to have a negative affect on the traffic, noise, environmental pollution on this site, and all around feel of our community having 2 high schools so close together. Remember this also, that once the school is built the BOE will shift attendance zones and don’t be surprised if the majority of the students that live in Milton, won’t be going to MHS, they will be attending the new one and I feel the attendance zone shift will move more of the Alpharetta students to the existing Milton High School. So in other words, unless you live less then 1 mile from the school (in Milton), don’t plan on attending Milton High School in the future. The community is not thinking along these lines. This issue is not about a bunch of homeowners not wanting the school in their backyard, it is about the much larger broader picture of how the placement of this school is environmentally wrong and also is affecting our Land Use Plan for Milton, which is in it’s infant stages. We have 26,000 residents in Milton, do you really think they are building this school for us? We have MHS for our children to attend. Alpharetta has over 60,000 residents and only 1 high school currently. Who are they building this school for? For us? So the Alpharetta students can go to Milton HS. They are only planning on 2 high schools right now, this one and the one at John’s Creek. Neither one of them are in Alpharetta and to me Alpharetta is the city with the bigger need for a school, not Milton.
I feel the City should be given an opportunity to put their land plan together and determine for itself the best locations for future schools. We haven’t even been given a chance to put our plan together and the BOE has come in and just told us where one is going. Don’t you feel as a new City we have every right to have been given some consideration and input on where we would like to have our schools. This property would be a great location for a future Park for Milton, which we are in dire need of.
From what I understand G. Ragsdale is Chair of the Planning Committee which will be working directly with City Council, the Planning Commission, and the Citizens Advisory Committee which all of the above mentioned will be working together to revise and improve our existing Land Use Plan for the City. This school site is having a critical impact on our land use plan and traffic patterns for our City.
We welcome your support and additional questions. If you want insight on the City Council’s feelings on this issue, address their emails or give them a call. I am sure the majority would agree that a better choice could have been made for our community and City.
If you have any other questions or comments feel free to email directly at protectmilton@aol.com. Regards. Lisa Cauley
Lisa, maybe you and the other liberals who try to eviscerate property ownership rights can get Teddy Kennedy and John Kerry to help you out. The calculus here is straightforward, the are needs a school and avaiable sites are nil. That means that the new school will be built on the site. Perhaps you and the other Kennery/Kerry Nimbyites could move somewhere else or direct your efforts in a positive direction as, in the end, this will be a high demographic school thaqt will build extraordinary value in the area and that ain’t a bad thing. The horse if outta the barn on this one, the school should be built.
Lisa, you are an unscrupulous liar – when the KR battle was fought, Milton was at the old site and the new site was not even on the drawing board. What else are you lying about. Get out of the way and let real leaders deal with the smart growth and not this Kennedy/Kerry NIMBY that is your blather.
Before you go spouting off and calling people liars, maybe you need to do some checking on the topic instead of hearsay. The land on Freemanville for the new high school was the Kings Ridge old site. The old Milton HS was going to be rennovated and they had plans done to do so. They instead decided to build the exisiting Milton HIgh school which opened in 2004. We do need new schools but not so close (2.8) miles to the existing MHS. The property chosen for the new school has environmental issues and is in the Water Shed. The school placed there will further intensify already problematic 2 lane roads and does not fit in with our City’s land use plan. Go verify these statements if you actually will take the time. I couldn’t be further from a liberal then you are from the truth.
We need schools but lets not hide behind the pretense that they actually planned and studied the needs of the area and chose that site as the best place. It was chosen because the land was available from one owner and it was one large tract. Katie Reeves stated that in the AJC. So maybe you should do some homework before you go spouting off incorrectly. Go talk to the homeowners that fought the private school on this site, I have. Go talk to the City Council, the County, and the DNR and the EPA and the Georgia Watershed. Ihave, have you? When’s the last time you spoke to our Mayor or our State Representative. I have done my homework Mr. Hiltner so don’t go calling me a liar when you are not educated on the topic.
The developers in this city can find land to build subdivision after subdivision, but the BOE who has Eminent Domain is unable to find land more suitable for our City? Good One.
I am not against new schools and never have been. This site is a poor choice for our City every way you look at it.
The way I see it is G. Ragsdale and his legal team should have let Kingsridge build there because it certianly would have had less impact in total acreage, multiple schools, parking, total student population, etc. I could have told you this was coming. Part of heading something up, as he did with the initial Kingsridge site would be to strategically pick and choose your battles. Now you’ve got a mammoth school system with lots of “protected” equity, more than your earlier “concern.” Seems like anyone involved in those earlier efforts are bemoanig their decisions or least, should be! What is YOUR opinion of those earlier efforts? What is G. Ragsdale opinion now? I’d like some answers before I agree to your community forum efforts.
See above.
I am sure the individuals involved in fighting the Kings Ridge site are bemoaning of course. Hind sight is 20/20 as they say and in their defense and mine, having Milton High School less then 3 miles down the road on the same road in my opinion was a safety net, knowing no one in their right mind would place another mammoth public High school in that close proximity on the same exact road. No one could predict it, unless you were on the BOE. As far as George Ragsdale, maybe you should call him or email him and ask what exactly is his opinion now after all of the previous efforts. I cannot speak for him.
I can tell you that this school placement is going to have a negative affect on the traffic, noise, environmental pollution on this site, and all around feel of our community having 2 high schools so close together. Remember this also, that once the school is built the BOE will shift attendance zones and don’t be surprised if the majority of the students that live in Milton, won’t be going to MHS, they will be attending the new one and I feel the attendance zone shift will move more of the Alpharetta students to the existing Milton High School. So in other words, unless you live less then 1 mile from the school (in Milton), don’t plan on attending Milton High School in the future. The community is not thinking along these lines. This issue is not about a bunch of homeowners not wanting the school in their backyard, it is about the much larger broader picture of how the placement of this school is environmentally wrong and also is affecting our Land Use Plan for Milton, which is in it’s infant stages. We have 26,000 residents in Milton, do you really think they are building this school for us? We have MHS for our children to attend. Alpharetta has over 60,000 residents and only 1 high school currently. Who are they building this school for? For us? So the Alpharetta students can go to Milton HS. They are only planning on 2 high schools right now, this one and the one at John’s Creek. Neither one of them are in Alpharetta and to me Alpharetta is the city with the bigger need for a school, not Milton.
I feel the City should be given an opportunity to put their land plan together and determine for itself the best locations for future schools. We haven’t even been given a chance to put our plan together and the BOE has come in and just told us where one is going. Don’t you feel as a new City we have every right to have been given some consideration and input on where we would like to have our schools. This property would be a great location for a future Park for Milton, which we are in dire need of.
From what I understand G. Ragsdale is Chair of the Planning Committee which will be working directly with City Council, the Planning Commission, and the Citizens Advisory Committee which all of the above mentioned will be working together to revise and improve our existing Land Use Plan for the City. This school site is having a critical impact on our land use plan and traffic patterns for our City.
We welcome your support and additional questions. If you want insight on the City Council’s feelings on this issue, address their emails or give them a call. I am sure the majority would agree that a better choice could have been made for our community and City.
If you have any other questions or comments feel free to email directly at protectmilton@aol.com. Regards. Lisa Cauley
Lisa, maybe you and the other liberals who try to eviscerate property ownership rights can get Teddy Kennedy and John Kerry to help you out. The calculus here is straightforward, the are needs a school and avaiable sites are nil. That means that the new school will be built on the site. Perhaps you and the other Kennery/Kerry Nimbyites could move somewhere else or direct your efforts in a positive direction as, in the end, this will be a high demographic school thaqt will build extraordinary value in the area and that ain’t a bad thing. The horse if outta the barn on this one, the school should be built.
Lisa, you are an unscrupulous liar – when the KR battle was fought, Milton was at the old site and the new site was not even on the drawing board. What else are you lying about. Get out of the way and let real leaders deal with the smart growth and not this Kennedy/Kerry NIMBY that is your blather.
Mr. Hiltner,
Before you go spouting off and calling people liars, maybe you need to do some checking on the topic instead of hearsay. The land on Freemanville for the new high school was the Kings Ridge old site. The old Milton HS was going to be rennovated and they had plans done to do so. They instead decided to build the exisiting Milton HIgh school which opened in 2004. We do need new schools but not so close (2.8) miles to the existing MHS. The property chosen for the new school has environmental issues and is in the Water Shed. The school placed there will further intensify already problematic 2 lane roads and does not fit in with our City’s land use plan. Go verify these statements if you actually will take the time. I couldn’t be further from a liberal then you are from the truth.
We need schools but lets not hide behind the pretense that they actually planned and studied the needs of the area and chose that site as the best place. It was chosen because the land was available from one owner and it was one large tract. Katie Reeves stated that in the AJC. So maybe you should do some homework before you go spouting off incorrectly. Go talk to the homeowners that fought the private school on this site, I have. Go talk to the City Council, the County, and the DNR and the EPA and the Georgia Watershed. Ihave, have you? When’s the last time you spoke to our Mayor or our State Representative. I have done my homework Mr. Hiltner so don’t go calling me a liar when you are not educated on the topic.
The developers in this city can find land to build subdivision after subdivision, but the BOE who has Eminent Domain is unable to find land more suitable for our City? Good One.
I am not against new schools and never have been. This site is a poor choice for our City every way you look at it.
Lisa, looks like your website and cause have taken off like a fart in church. Gotta make you feel good about yourself, doesn’t it?