Milton officials discuss memorial brick program

A Milton committee is discussing a new program to allow for memorial bricks to be placed in Memorial Park in lieu of the traditional tree program.

The parks and recreation committee will meet Tuesday, July 25, to discuss and vote on whether to recommend the program to town council.

Traditionally, Milton has run a memorial tree program in the park, where residents can plant a tree with a plaque honoring a loved one. However, Councilman Scotty Edler, the committee chair, said the park has run out of room for memorial trees. Planting more trees could risk the health of existing trees, he said. 

Wanting to continue to allow for memorials, the committee hit on the idea of bricks. Edler said the bricks would be put on a new walkway running from the Charlie Fleetwood Gazebo and extend to the existing brick sidewalk.

While the committee has not yet signed off on its report to council, Edler said the program would work similarly to the tree program, just without the tree. In the past, a person wanting a memorial tree purchased the tree and the memorial plaque, then the town would install both. 

Under the committee’s proposal, Edler said, a walkway would be done with extra bricks in retainer. People could then purchase a memorial brick, and the town would have it engraved and installed. One of the retainer bricks would be switched out for an engraved one, Edler said. He said pricing would be similar to the cost of a memorial plaque – about $125 – but now the person would not have to buy a tree. 

Once the committee finalizes its recommendation July 25, Edler said that report will be sent to council, which will discuss the proposal no later than Monday, Sept. 11. He said if the recommendation is approved and funding is obtained for the initial installation, the hope is to have the program begin in January.