A healthy, outdoor lifestyle is a major reason people choose to live in Peachtree City and we want our parks, nature areas and recreation offerings to be the gold standard, built to last for generations.
During a live-streamed, two day government retreat at the Town of Trilith held Feb. 10-11, Peachtree City leaders advanced the first slate of projects from the newly-adopted Recreation Master Plan–the guiding document for the future of our parks and recreation programs and facilities.
The Recreation Master Plan is a planning document only, with seven major initiatives and dozens of project proposals identified, intended to be completed in phases. How we move forward will be based on citizen input, city council prioritization, and funding.
This month, we selected the first several projects: a pickleball facility at Meade Park, restrooms at Drake Field, a veterans plaza and restrooms at Kelly Drive park, and a multipurpose cricket/soccer field at the Braelinn Recreation Complex.
I am thrilled that we are responding to the enthusiastic voices of more than 2,400 citizens who took the public input survey, plus many others who have come and spoken at council meetings and reached out to me personally.
We have heard from pickleball players who experience the frustration of waiting in lines for a court to open up so they can start a game; of the need for restrooms from those attending the great community events at Drake Field; and to my surprise, we’ve learned that the English game of cricket is growing in popularity here in Peachtree City (brilliant!).
Respecting every taxpayer dollar and creating dual purpose wherever feasible is a longstanding goal of mine. For example, the template for Braelinn allows a cricket field with a permanent pitch to be overlaid on existing space but can also accommodate 2-4 soccer fields.
We will be adding a splash pad in Peachtree City in response to years of requests. Construction of the new, free-of-charge splash pad at Pebblepocket Park is on the near horizon, with council appropriating the necessary funding in the FY2025 budget. It pleases me to know young families will have this ideal setting to cool off, without user fees, as we simultaneously enhance an existing park that once housed a public pool. Also discussed during our retreat was a new roof for the Kedron Fieldhouse and robust maintenance throughout the city.
As mayor, I strongly urge residents to review the Recreation Master Plan on our website. All of our budget planning meetings as well as our citizen advisory group meetings are open to the public. We will be relying on the new recreation advisory group and our sports associations as well as our everyday citizens for continuous feedback on what projects to prioritize as we move forward.
You can view the concepts for these projects and more athttps://issuu.com/peachtreecityga/docs/peachtree_city_recreation_master_plan_-_2025
We moved to here in ‘92. During our time here we have seen different mayors make some tough decisions. We appreciate all the mayors and the council members who have been involved in keeping Peachtree City safe for our children and grandchildren. Thank you for keeping our community a great place to raise a family.
Hooray! A no-fee splash pad at Pebblepocket Park! My daughter and the neighbor kids will be thrilled. Count on us to be at the grand opening.
The proposed veterans “plaza” at Kelly drive seems to be nothing more than duplication of existing infrastructure with an ambiguous purpose. I see it continuing to be a parking lot for walkers and fishing enthusiasts from out of town and now with lavatories a problem for our police to monitor 24/7.
Hope I’m wrong.
Kim. I voted for you and frankly now have huge concerns! Hosting the meeting/retreat outside the city is especially concerning. The budget on many critical items coming in over 500% or more over the planned budget tells me that city hall is out of control. Either it is willful misrepresented aka fraud or it is sheer incompetence by staff that submitted the budget items and they need to be fired for gross incompetence immediately. Everyone I know that it has come up with is angry!
Let’s hope the trust put in you is well founded and we get real accountability and actions to reassure our citizens trust!
As far as I can tell, all the project costs that were grossly underestimated are from the 2017 SPLOST, not the 2023 SPLOST. So it was a previous mayor and a previous city manger who no longer works for PTC.