Notes from Mason Mill Park Meeting
This meeting was organized by the county's Parks and Rec division and designated a "pre-construction update" meeting by project manager Revonda Moody. Following are notes from CHCA board members who attended. About 60 people attended. Bottom line is that "Phase 1" to implement the Master Plan is beginning. Phase 1 centers on the "Day Use Area" which is the developed area that includes the tennis center, senior center, playground, community garden, and parking lots. Plans call for reducing parking spaces, adding a loop road, moving the tennis pro shop to ground level, converting the dog park to a pond, and installing stormwater management structures. Construction is estimated to begin in late Spring and end by this December.
A major issue was funding. The original parks bond allocation for Mason Mill was about $3.5 million but only $2 million is showing up in the budget now. This amount will cover base elements of Phase 1 but not optional elements like installing security lights nor the plan for the other park areas, e.g., constructing a new dog park and constructing the proposed pedestrian bridge from Melton Park to Mason Mill. (Senior Center renovation and the SPC Trail are funded separately.) The estimated budget for implementing the plan as designed tops $4 million. Residents were encouraged to contact the CEO's office before the end of the month to have the $1.5 million restored that was already allocated then removed "administratively". More details will be forthcoming. It was noted that 20% of the county's population lives in our District 2 but we have the least park area per capita and a disproportionately small percent of the parks bond allocation.
The plans (also here) now show the South Peachtree Creek Trail plans for Phases 2 (across railroad tracks), 3 (to Clairmont Rd), and 4 (to North Druid Hills Rd). One change not yet showing on the website plans is that the dog park, originally proposed to sit at the McConnell Dr side of the SPCT bridge over the railroad, is now proposed for the Jamestown Road access area.