City boards to chip away at citizen concerns
By SUSAN LEATHERS
Brentwood Home Page
When the city held a press conference on Nov. 15 to announce its largest-ever land purchase – 320 acres of historic property – it outlined its dreams for what will ultimately be the Marcella Vivrette Smith Park.

The third paragraph of a press release distributed simultaneously with the press conference reads:

“With forested wildlife habitats in their natural state and hiking trails for outdoor enthusiasts, the land would add a new feature to the City’s comprehensive park system. The site has sufficient land for additional multipurpose fields and a brush recycling environmental area to allow the storage, processing and recycling of chipper material for use on park trails and elsewhere.”

Though a brush recycling area has been part of the city’s plan for the park from the start, and mentioned in numerous stories published in local media since the initial announcement, some citizens were surprised by the idea at a recent citizens’ input meeting hosted by the city and Gresham Smith and Partners, the firm contracted to create the park’s master plan.

In response to questions and concerns voiced at the June 20 meeting held at the Brentwood Library, a work session will take place tonight to review those plans. The meeting, open to the public though public input is not on the agenda, begins at 6 p.m. at the Brentwood Municipal Building, 5211 Maryland Way. Participating will be city commissioners and members of the city’s Park Board and Environmental Advisory Board. The city has informed the homeowners’ associations in Inglehame, Carriage Hills and Franklin’s The Meade at Avalon of the meeting, said Assistant Manager Kirk Bednar. Those three neighborhoods are the closest to the new park.

Gresham Smith has identified two possible locations for brush recycling area on the property. In addition to storing the wood chips collected throughout the city by the city’s public works department, a grinder would be brought in several times a year to further process the wood so it could be used on park trails.

Bednar said tonight’s meeting is a result of citizen feedback. Though those working on the master plan will likely be present, he added the work session is “more operational than master plan.”