City Of Milton: Birmingham Park In Focus As Milton Equestrian Committee Meets

Press release from the City of Milton:

02/16/2022 1:13 PM

The Milton Equestrian Committee meets Wednesday night to delve into recent and upcoming developments at Birmingham Park, a favorite and scenic trail destination for horseback riders.

This is one of the several topics on the agenda when the board, also known as the MEC, convenes starting at 7 p.m. on February 16. The meeting will occur in Community Place, the small building next to City Hall at 2006 Heritage Walk. Citizens are welcome to attend.

Following a welcome for new member David Borgel and the approval of the agenda for this meeting and the minutes (or official written record) from the MEC’s January meeting, the committee will revisit its Feb. 14 presentation to City Council. You can view the slides for that presentation at this link https://www.cityofmiltonga.us/home/showdocument?id=5690&t=637806099495361608, while video of it can be found on the City’s YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEWpKs8AyPI.

That presentation gave members of the Milton Equestrian Committee an opportunity to serve one of their fundamental roles in advising and offering recommendations to City officials. On Monday night, four members touched on the Committee’s recent efforts to engage and foster the equestrian community, how to support farm ownership, and more.

Improving Birmingham Park for equestrians was identified as a top priority during that meeting, and it will be a topic again on Wednesday.

This includes highlighting the completion this weekend of a project to add equestrian-themed names, with corresponding hand-crafted signs, for the park’s trails. Members of Girl Scout Troop 16217 came up with the names and worked with a local woodworker, Greg Dustin, to design the signs. Dustin created and painted the signs (with colors matching the trails previous naming scheme), which were installed on Saturday. The Milton Equestrian Committee facilitated this process in close collaboration with City staff. You can read more about that effort by clicking HERE: https://www.cityofmiltonga.us/Home/Components/News/News/1173/1351/.

The MEC is planning its annual clean-up day for Birmingham Park, tentatively on either March 12 or March 26. On Wednesday, members will discuss that, other developments at Birmingham (such as more extensive City improvements expected to begin later this year), as well as the potential for adding equestrian options at other City parks and preserves.

The Committee will also address ongoing publicity efforts to showcase and, in so doing, build connections to the equestrian community. This may include continuing to publicly highlight barns around Milton and exploring how to conduct a  “census” of farms, the latter to offer more context on locations and numbers of people in Milton who own horses (and other farm animals).  

The last substantive subject on Wednesday’s agenda relates to the MEC’s collaboration with City police officers and firefighters. Members will touch on the need for updated equipment that could be used to help horses and other large animals in distress. (You can learn more about Milton’s Technical Large Animal Emergency Rescue, or TLAER, unit by clicking here:https://www.cityofmiltonga.us/government/fire/fire-rescue-operations/technical-large-animal-emergency-rescue-tlaer/.) They’ll also talk about an effort to train more Milton first responders – not just those involved in the TLAER unit – so they’re comfortable and can safely handle horses.

After Wednesday, the Milton Equestrian Committee is next slated to meet the evening of Wednesday, March 16.

This press release was produced by the City of Milton. The views expressed here are the author’s own.