ACTION ALERT FOR ALL SUPPORTERS OF THE SEVEN BRANCHES LEGACY PARK PROJECT! As a signer of the original petition to our Mayor and Council two years ago, the Board of Directors of the Seven Branches Park Project are reaching out to you for your support once again. (See your important action item below) As you may remember, this critically endangered 53 acres of old-growth forest, home to multiple creeks that flow into Martins Lake and the Chattahoochee River, and containing the original road that Roswell King and the founders of Roswell used to travel here, has been slated for development on multiple occasions. Now, thanks in part to your efforts, the City of Roswell has been in the process of procuring this land forever. First, the good news. This property has five separate owners. The City has reached an agreement to purchase the middle 33 acres according to the property owner, although contracts have yet to be signed by both parties. On the 8 plus acre piece closer to the entrance to Martins Landing, the owner and the City have decided on a price according to the owner, but no contract has been signed as yet. On the critical 8.6 acre parcel that is bordered by Eves Road and Holcomb Bridge Road, the City has not made an offer according to the owner. We have been in constant contact with the owner of the property and he has indicated to us that he would VERY MUCH like to sell to the City and have his land stay in it’s natural state forever. Contrary to what you may have heard, there IS NO contract of any kind on this land. We have been fortunate to have the unwavering support of three Council members from the beginning who have wanted to purchase the entire tract of land for the Park: Mr. Don Horton, Mr. Marcelo Zapata, and Ms. Lori Henry. We have to convince the Mayor and Council to act now to purchase all of the land now, before a developer enters the picture. The City MUST act now to complete the purchase of ALL of the remaining parcels! HERE IS WHERE WE NEED YOUR HELP: Please email your Roswell Mayor and Council members at RoswellMayorandCouncil@roswellgov.com today (click on or cut and paste the email address), sharing your request that they act now and purchase the remaining Seven Branches parcels now. Do not wait. You can send your own message or just forward this email to them with any additional personal comments you may have. Of note: - Interest rates will only go up in the near term, and it will cost the City more in the long run. - In a closed door session, the Council voted to spend $3.4 million on a 25 acre parcel for a park on the West side of Roswell, with virtually no citizen input. While we applaud this action, we have a petition with over 2,000 signatures, and the Board of Directors of 14 Subdivisions, representing 5,815 homes wanting our representatives to purchase this land for over two years! - Every City around us has been spending money for park land. The owners of Seven Branches Park initially wanted $100,000 per acre for their land, and have reduced that figure by a significant amount. Johns Creek bought 133 acres for $20.3 million, $152,631 per acre; another parcel near Medlock Bridge for $140,000 per acre. Because they waited so long, Dunwoody spent $3.2 million for a 5 acre venue, $640,000 per acre. Buckhead is so desperate for land that it will spend $150 million to build an over pass with green space on it for a park! - In the sixties, Roswell was a small town with about 5,000 people. Fast forward to now: Although we have grown geographically, we are now approaching 100,000 people. Look at the demand placed on our Parks at this time, and think about the demands of a population that could double again! Here are all elected officials' email addresses if you want to send messages directly to all or individual mayor and council members as well -- just click on, or cut and paste some or all the addresses: All Elected Officials RoswellMayorandCouncil@roswellgov.com Jere Wood mayorwood@roswellgov.com Nancy Diamond ndiamond@roswellgov.com Lori Henry lhenry@roswellgov.com Don Horton dhorton@roswellgov.com Jerry Orlans jorlans@roswellgov.com Michael Palermo mpalermo@roswellgov.com Marcelo Zapata mzapata@roswellgov.com Emailing your elected officials is of the most importance, but after you've done that, please share this on facebook, either by clicking on the small "Share" facebook link at the bottom (Not the big "Share this petition button), or by cut and pasting and sharing this link on Facebook: https://www.change.org/p/seven-branches-legacy-project/u/21076006 Thank you for the love you show for Roswell every day, and thanks for taking action right now and emailing your elected officials asking them to do the same. (The small "Share" button just on the next line below is the one to click to share, but please email your elected officials first!)