Holidays are a time for coming together, for establishing traditions, for creating a sense of community and place. It is with that in mind that I invite you -- yes all 32,661 of you -- to my home for the first ever Mayor's Open House hosted by City Council. 

The party will be held Saturday, Dec. 15 from 4 to 8 p.m. at my home on Dorris Road. You can park at Milton High School, and we'll shuttle you in. Handicapped parking will be available at my house, so don't let that stop you either. The only thing we're asking is that you RSVP so we have an idea of how much food and drink to provide.

Simply check out the newsletter item about this holiday party for full information. RSVP'ing is as simple as e-mailing your name and address so we can verify you're a Milton resident. You'll receive your invitation back in an e-mail, so just print it out and bring the family.    

  Read the entire message.

Photos from this Saturday's Friendship Community Park grand opening and Christmas in Crabapple are now available at the City of Milton's flickr page.   

You may view the pictures by clicking here  to go to the City of Milton's flickr page.

It was a clear, cool night Nov. 29, perfect for the fourth annual City of Milton Tree Lighting.

A large crowd gathered at the site, Ga. 9 and Webb Road, to hear the Milton and Cambridge choruses, see the tree lit and have photos made with Santa Claus. And the man himself did not disappoint, arriving in a City of Milton fire truck to the tune of "Here Comes Santa Claus."

Special thanks to everyone involved, including the singers, local businesses, and of course Hayden Moore, the Alpharetta High School student who helped Mayor Joe Lockwood light the tree for the third year in a row.   

You may view the pictures by clicking here to go to the City of Milton's flickr page.

Due to state law concerning the Illegal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Act passed by the Georgia General Assembly last year, 2013 business license renewal forms cannot be mailed back to the City of Milton.

Instead, if you renew your business license for 2013, you must e-mail the forms to bl@cityofmiltonga.us or hand-deliver them to City Hall, 13000 Deerfield Parkway Suite 107 Suite F (click here for directions, click here for a map of City Hall).

Additionally, all applicants must submit Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) affidavits along with identification such as a driver's license, passport or legal immigration document. Businesses will receive the E-verify affidavit, SAVE affidavit and credit card authorizations forms in the mail along with instructions on how to file these documents.

These documents are being mailed in early December, said Kathleen Field, Community Development Director for the City of Milton. However, if you are a business owner you may begin the process immediately by downloading the forms below.

New Business License
Business License Renewal
Private Employer Affadavit (E-verify for business over 11 employees)
Private Employer Exemption Affadavit (E-Verify for businesses with 11 employees or fewer)
Affidavit of Presence in the United States (SAVE)
Credit Card Authorization Form

All forms and payments are due by March 31, 2013.

For more information, contact Jamila Jones, permit technician, at jamila.jones@cityofmiltonga.us or 678-242-2521.

The City of Milton will award 5-year service pins to 62 of its employees at the Dec. 3 City Council meeting. 

The employees honored represent nearly every department in the city, with the largest contingents in fire (34 employees) and police (11 employees). Since the city's launch, Milton has maintained an annual retention rate of more than 94 percent.  

Last year Milton awarded seven pins for those who had served Milton for five years. They included several City Council members and three members of staff. 

On Dec. 4 at 7 p.m. the City of Milton Community Development Department will hold a public meeting to discuss the form-based code and transfer of development rights project in the Deerfield Parkway/ Ga. 9 corridor.

The meeting, which will take place in City Council Chambers of City Hall, 13000 Deerfield Parkway Suite 107 E (click here for directions, click here for a map of City Hall) is open to the public and everyone is welcome to attend.

The Deerfield Parkway/Ga. 9 form-based code and transfer of development rights project builds upon the work of the Milton Highway 9/Ga. 400 Livable Centers Initiative (LCI) Master Plan study, adopted in April 2012. Click here for more information on the LCI study.

Staff, with community input, developed a similar ordinance for Crabapple adopted by City Council in June 2012. It established transfer of development rights and a form-based code in Crabapple allowing planners to enforce historic architectural styles (click here for more information).  

Similarly, the Deerfield Parkway/Ga. 9 form-based code and transfer of development rights project seeks to direct development into the area reflecting the community's architectural ideals.

For more information on this project, contact Milton planner Michele McIntosh-Ross at 678-242-2538 or michele.mcintosh@cityofmiltonga.us. 

Children's Charities, Inc. is holding a fundraiser at Zola Italian Bistro, located at 2955 Bethany Bend in Milton (click here for directions), Tuesday, Dec. 11 from 5-8 p.m.

Simply mention Children's Charities during that time frame and Zola will donate 20 percent of your bill. 

Funds raised will benefit Children's Charities efforts to fund the Autism Detection/Screening Unit to be located at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Forsyth. This state-of-the-art technology can now detect signs of autism in children as young as 6 months old.  

For more information, contact Mandy White at 404-217-4643. 

In an effort to create the most welcoming, inclusive community in the state, every resident of Milton is cordially invited to the Mayor's Holiday Open House hosted by City Council Saturday, Dec. 15 from 4 to 8 p.m. at the home of Mayor Joe Lockwood on Dorris Road.

You read that right: The entire city is welcome to the informal holiday party, which will be held at the Mayor's home. All food and drinks will be donated by City Council and local businesses.

Shuttled parking will be available from Milton High School, 13025 Birmingham Highway in Milton (click here for directions). Handicapped parking will be available at the home, 375 Dorris Road in Milton (click here for directions ).

To RSVP, please e-mail rsvp@cityofmiltonga.us and include your name and address to verify you are a Milton resident. You will be sent an invitation to print out.

"We want our residents to just come by and meet us as regular people outside of city hall and the rules and regulations that govern council meetings," said Lockwood. "Stop by, come on in and talk to us about your hometown. We'd love to hear what you think."     

For more information about the party, contact Christine Doss, Executive Aide to Mayor and City Council, at 678-242-2492 or christine.doss@cityofmiltonga.us.

Milton's City Hall will be closed Monday, Dec. 24 and Tuesday, Dec. 25 in observance of Christmas. It will reopen for regular business Wednesday, Nov. 26 and at 8:30 a.m.    

For more information, view the city calendar.

Get those lights off and stock up on tie downs, because Saturday, Jan. 5 the City of Milton and Milton Grows Green (MGG) will once again offer Christmas tree recycling as part of Georgia's "Bring One For The Chipper" program.

This year residents may take Christmas trees to multiple locations:  Milton High School's Freemanville Road entrance, (click here for directions to the school, located at 13025 Birmingham Highway) and Home Depot, located at 5300 Windward Parkway (click here for directions). Volunteers from the Milton Chapter of the Young Men's Service League will offer assisted drop-off from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Jan. 5.  

Scottsdale Farms, located at 15639 Birmingham Highway (click here for directions), will offer extended drop off Dec. 26 through Jan. 5.

Additionally, Milton Boy Scout Troop 841 will pick up trees and recycle them for a donation of $10. To schedule a pick-up, e-mail treepickup841@yahoo.com.

For more information about the chipper event, to get free mulch delivered, or to volunteer, please contact mgg@cityofmiltonga.us.

For more information, contact Tom Gilliam at 678-242-2519 or tom.gilliam@cityofmiltonga.us.

Grants of up to $250 are now available for Milton public and private schools looking to help fund environmental education programs. Applicants must be current members of the Milton Evergreen School Program for 2012-2013.

Principals, PTA officers, teachers, club sponsors and school volunteers are encouraged to submit project applications. Projects are encouraged, but not required, to focus on solid waste reduction and water conservation education that will benefit a large number of students in each school selected.  Projects related to issues such as recycling, or education about storm water awareness and non-point source pollution are strongly encouraged.

Grant applications are due no later than Jan. 18, 2013. If awarded, funds must be used for projects to be completed by Sept. 30, 2013.  The determination of the award to a school will be based on the project's focus and educational value, the number of students affected and the number of total grant applications received. There is a maximum of one grant award per school.

This project is jointly administered by Milton Grows Green and the City of Milton. Applications should be mailed, e-mailed or faxed to: 

Cindy Eade  
Sustainability Coordinator, City of Milton

13000 Deerfield Parkway, Suite 107A Milton GA 30004

cindy.eade@cityofmiltonga.us 

678.242.2509 (o), 678.242.2499 (f)

Notification of awards will be made the week of Jan. 28, 2013.    

 To download the grant application, click here. 

In a ceremony during the Nov. 19 City Council meeting, the City of Milton Police Department named Keenan Grey Officer of the Year.

Grey, a Milton resident and native, was nominated by his peers and selected by the department's command staff. He was also honored by the Sons of the American Revolution, Piedmont Chapter, at the Nov. 19 meeting as Officer of the Year.

Grey, 26, has been a police officer for three years, all of them in Milton. He graduated from St. Francis High School after moving to what was then unincorporated Fulton County, now Milton, in 1996. He graduated from Kennesaw State University with a degree in Criminal Justice and began as a patrol officer in Milton in December 2009.

As a patrol officer, Grey is known as a team player and consummate professional with a kind demeanor to both citizens and victims of crime, said Capt. Shawn McCarty, who leads the department's Uniform Patrol Division. In particular, Grey is a proactive officer who seeks out situations where he can be most effective in preventing crime.

Grey said he was honored and shocked to be named Officer of the Year just three years into his career. He said the accolade gives him more motivation to provide the best police service he can.

"I always wanted to be a police officer in the community I grew up in," said Grey. "I've always wanted to give back to the place I live."     

For more information on the City of Milton Police Department, click here. You may also visit the department's Facebook page.

Planner Michele McIntosh-Ross, left, and Environmental Sustainability Coordinator Cindy Eade share the PACE Award.

The City of Milton took first place for local governments in the Clean Air Campaign's 2012 PACE awards thanks to the city's commute options programs to reduce traffic and improve air quality.

Environmental Sustainability Coordinator Cindy Eade received the award Nov. 7 at the Clean Air Campaign's awards ceremony at the Georgia-Pacific Auditorium. She said the recognition is a testament to the city's enhancement of operations while conserving resources.

The Milton Grows Green Committee spearheaded the partnership with the Clean Air Campaign in October 2011. City of Milton employees have since removed 7,187 vehicle miles from roadways and kept 3.59 tons of pollution out of our air through compressed work weeks, riding MARTA and teleworking options.

Efforts are also underway to place "No-Idling" signs and stickers on city-owned vehicles and create reserved parking spots for carpools, vanpools and alternate-energy vehicles.

About 30 police officers, 51 firemen and 12 administrative city employees participate in the commute alternatives program, with membership expected to increase. Additionally, close to 400 residents use the Clean Air Campaign's database, available at www.logyourcommute.org, to find carpool partners or research commute alternatives.

The City of Milton also promotes at city events the Clean Air Campaign and Clean Air Schools program, which counts Birmingham Falls and Crabapple Crossing elementaries as members. Additionally, in May 2009 the city received a Safe Routes to Schools grant promoting biking and walking to school at Crabapple Crossing and Summit Hill elementaries and Northwestern Middle School.

For more information and a complete list of winners, click here.

The City of Milton Parks and Recreation Department held a Living Room Conversation Tuesday, Nov. 13 in which more than 30 residents spoke with interim Director Jim Cregge about plans for Bell Memorial Park.

Special thanks to David and Julie Shannon of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board for holding the conversation at his beautiful facility at Shannondale Farms on Birmingham Road. 

There were plenty of questions about the parks expansion and what they, as nearby property owners, could expect. However, a number of residents stopped by for simple questions about their burgeoning Parks and Recreation department. 

Currently, Milton is awaiting the winning bid for the FY13 Bell Memorial Park Master Plan Design and Construction project. The due date is Dec. 20.      

If you have any questions regarding the Bell Memorial Park expansion, contact Cregge at 678-242-2489 or jim.cregge@cityofmiltonga.us.

This list is compiled from business license records kept by the city's Community Development Department. If a new business receives a license within the month proceeding the newsletter, it will be listed.

The appearance of a business on this page is not intended, nor should it be construed, as the City of Milton's or Milton City Council's endorsement, sanction, promotion or advertisement of any particular business. Identification of businesses on this list is for informational purposes only. Citizens interested in retaining or conducting business with any of the companies or agencies listed in this item should conduct their own review and investigation of that business.

Mayor Joe Lockwood, Councilman Lance Large and Councilwoman Karen Thurman help cut the ribbon on Edible Arrangements, which held a grand opening Nov. 14.

My Health Buddy: 13074 Region Trace

Purr Boutique, LLC: 1595 Spinnaker Drive

Watson Pharmaceuticals: 700 Richmond Glen Drive

Salon MC, Inc.: 12650 Crabapple Road, Suite 120 

Eclectic Media: 3355 Sonata Lane 

Vinings Lighting, Inc.: 631 North Main Street, Suite 104

GMF Management, Inc.: 2120 Birmingham Road

Subway: 13020 Morris Road Suite F

Ticket Deals Direct: 340 Coach House Lane

Southern Building Innovations, LLC: 820 Greenpoint Drive

Konka America, Inc.: 12600 Deerfield Parkway Suite 1011 

For a continually updated list of current businesses in Milton via the city's Web site, click here.