Rebecca Chase Williams

One of the main reasons Brookhaven became a city was to improve its parks which had been badly neglected by DeKalb County. Over the last six years we’ve seen considerable improvements in the parks but during that time citizen committees worked on master plans for the parks and came up with desired improvements for each park that reflected the desire of the community.

The city of Brookhaven is now proposing a $40 million bond to make a huge step to fulfill that dream of superior parks. The Brookhaven bond referendum will appear on the November 6th ballot.

I am co-chairing a committee of citizens, called “Yes for Brookhaven Parks”, that is supporting the bond issue for these reasons: voting “yes” would improve all 11 parks in Brookhaven at a time when our property rates continue to drop. The parks bond would raise the city millage rate by half a mill for a limited time or an average of $98.34 to the average tax bill. But the DeKalb parks bond, an average of $69, currently on tax bills is ending and the recent ESPLOST credit, an average of $543 means even with the new parks bond the average family will pay less in property taxes.

The $40 million bond will provide better-equipped parks for children and families, safer parks and will undoubtedly increase everyone’s property values. Who doesn’t want to live in a community with great parks?

I consider this a wise investment in Brookhaven and believe that there are enough checks and balances to ensure that the parts will be built efficiently, in a fiscally responsible way. 

The following is a list of the improvements that would be included in the $40 million if it is approved:

Ashford Park ($1.9 million) splash pad, granite seat walls, furnishings

Blackburn Park ($1.3 million) marquee fencing, a solar canopy, parking lot renovations

Briarwood Park ($7 million) new pool, bathhouse, tennis court pavilion, renovated community center, community garden enhancements

Brookhaven Park ($6 million) largest fenced dog park in the metro area, improved access, other new amenities

Lynwood Park ($11 million) new lap pool, lazy river, splash pad, bathhouse, turfed multi-use field, granite seat walls, landscaping

Murphey Candler Park I ($10 milion) lake dredging, boardwalk, new community building, pedestrian bridge across lake, multi-use trails, improved parking, community green

System wide ($2.5 million) - Wi-Fi, added security, beautification, invasive plant removal

I hope you will join me in supporting this unprecedented opportunity to transform our parks in about five years that will otherwise take 30 years or more to accomplish. With the city’s triple-A bond rating the city will get the lowest interest rates and be able to pay for improvements with today’s dollars rather than those increased by inflation years from now.

For more information go to our website at YesforBrookhavenParks. The city website also has a detailed breakdown as well as the complete parks master plans on its website, brookhavenga.gov.

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