> DISC GOLF - PARKS AND REC COMMISSION MEETING APR. 28
> By Lincoln Mead, Wildwood Drive
>
> PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR SAVING LEDDY PARK
> By Mark Barlow, Holly lane
>
> MINUTES OF DISK GOLF MEETING INACCURATE
> By Lea Terhune, NPA Steering Committee Member - Ward 4, Appletree Point Ln
>
> DISC GOLF AT PARKS AND REC. COMMISSION APRIL 28
> By Wayne Gross
>
> DISC GOLF - PARKS AND REC COMMISSION MEETING APR. 28
> By Lincoln Mead, Wildwood Drive, lsmead@gmail.com
> Fri, 17 April 2009
>
> Next Board of Parks and Recreation Commissions Meeting 5pm Apr. 28th at
> Robert Miller Community Center
>
> As many FPF readers are aware, Btown Disc Golf Club (http://www.Btowndisc.com) is promoting an 18 hole disc golf course throughout most of the remaining woodlands in Leddy Park that significantly alter this valued natural area that belongs to all City residents. If you can't make it to the park to see the large clearings that were cut throughout the park for disc golf fairways last summer you can view the course map & photos showing the extent of cutting at www.leddypark.org. These clearings need to be restored and replanted this spring.
>
> What effects will Disc Golf have on Leddy Park? The disc golf slide show at www.leddypark.org uses real pictures of real disc golf courses in Vermont and around the country to make the following 4 points.
>
> 1. More concrete in the park: In addition to numerous concrete "artifacts" throughout the park left behind by the prior land owner, an 18 hole course will require pouring 18 large concrete slabs throughout the park to serve as Tees. The Professional Disk Golf Association's course design guidelines specify the optimum size for concrete Tees to be 12 ft. by 7 ft. For 18 holes of disc golf that's over 1,500 sq. ft. in total. Additional concrete would be required to set the 18 Baskets.
>
> 2. Erosion and soil compaction: These issues will not be adequately mitigated by pouring concrete Tee pads or laying down thick beds of wood chips. The Tee pictures show the extent of erosion and soil compaction that can be expected surrounding Tees and Baskets in Leddy Park. Pictures of Baskets show the amount of wear and compaction that will be experienced in those areas.
>
> 3. Danger from flying discs: These dangers are real, especially in mixed use areas, as show by the variety of disc golf warning signs.
>
> 4. Other signage and advertising: These slides make the point that the woods would be filled with disc golf course signs and advertising on baskets.
>
> *Disc Golf Working Group to Report to the Parks and Recreation Commission Apr. 28*
>
> On March 24th , after hearing public comments running 24 to 3 in favor of woodland preservation, the working group appointed by the Parks & Recreation Commission to make disc golf recommendations turned in a 3/3 split vote. You can view the actual vote at www.cctv.org/node/72604. The working group will be reporting the results of this vote to the Parks and Recreation Commission at a public forum scheduled Tuesday, April 28th at 5:00 PM at the Robert Miller Community Center at the end of Goss Court.
>
> Please attend this meeting and voice your support for Leddy Park.
> -Lincoln Mead
>
> --------------------
>
>
> PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR SAVING LEDDY PARK
> By Mark Barlow, Holly lane, k.mark.barlow@gmail.com
> Fri, 17 April 2009
>
> Recent claims by Btown Disc Golf Club members on FPF, their web site, and in leaflets, mischaracterize opposition to their Leddy Park disc golf course proposal as the work of a few park neighbors who want to keep the park to themselves. Legitimate concerns and issues that have been voiced by many city residents are routinely described as half-truths and scare tactics.
>
> As a Burlington resident, tax payer, and park user for over 35 years, I find this ongoing attempt by Btown to divide our community and discredit and dismiss the concerns of our city residents, offensive. The group's actions and ongoing sense of entitlement to our public park, call into question the viability of this private club as a credible partner in the development of any disc golf course our Parks & Recreation Commission may choose to build.
>
> I am probably one of the park neighbors that the disc golf club refers to. I live near the park and helped organize LeddyPark.org when the disc golf threat began last summer. www.LeddyPark.org is a web site and community forum whose aim is to represent the interests of the many Burlington residents committed to preserving Leddy Park's remaining natural areas.
>
> Opposition to disc golf in Leddy Park is not limited to supporters of LeddyPark.org. In September 2008, over 260 Burlington residents signed a petition asking for an independent environmental assessment of the disc golf project and called for a Master Plan for the park before approving any further development. Both Ward 4 and Ward 7 Neighborhood Planning Assemblies (NPA) passed resolutions opposing disc golf in Leddy Park and requesting that Parks & Recreation work with the disc golf club to identify alternative sites for a disc golf course in Burlington, or surrounding communities. 3 out of 4 mayoral candidates in the City election this past March opposed Btown's proposed disc golf course at Leddy Park, and both Ward 4 City Council candidates expressed opposition. Ward 5 NPA just passed a resolution in response to the disc golf proposal at Leddy Park, calling for the creation of master plans for our city parks before making significant changes to park assets.
>
> Our city and its residents realize the important value of open space in building a sustainable and livable community. This sentiment has echoed through the many comments submitted by supporters of park preservation on LeddyPark.org. Leddy Park is truly special, and its natural areas have been valued for decades as they provide a unique refuge in a tranquil natural setting for recreational activities like walking, running, and wildlife watching. City residents commenting on LeddyPark.org use terms like "sanctuary", "quietude", and "oasis" when describing the woodland areas of the park.
>
> When conceptual approval was given to continue planning a disc golf course at Leddy Park last summer, city residents and current park users had not been given a chance to weigh in on the project, Parks & Recreation officials had never even been to a disc golf course, and approval was made on the false premise that the natural areas of Leddy Park were unused or underused. We've all learned a lot about Leddy Park and disc golf since last summer.
>
> I have attended most of the public meetings and forums related to disc golf at Leddy Park and after 6 months of discussion and deliberation I have still not heard city residents' concerns about environmental impact, a master plan, or safety adequately addressed. More importantly I have not heard a single compelling argument why Burlington would want to displace the well established current recreational uses and transform such a unique and special public natural area, valued by so many for so long, into a disc golf course.
>
> Hopefully our Parks Commission has the wisdom in the coming month to chart a course for the park we love that will provide for an inclusive process to develop a Master Plan before any additional development is done. And hopefully a Master Plan for Leddy Park will formally preserve and protect this scarce and valuable city open space for the continued enjoyment of so many Burlington residents.
>
> Let's Save Leddy Park.
>
> --------------------
>
>
> MINUTES OF DISK GOLF MEETING INACCURATE
> By Lea Terhune, NPA Steering Committee Member - Ward 4, Appletree Point Ln, leaterhune2@comcast.net
> Fri, 17 April 2009
>
> The minutes of the March 24, 2009 Leddy Park Disc Golf (LPDG) Working Group need to be corrected. There are many significant errors and omissions. Disk Golf in Leddy Park was NOT approved.
>
> A list of recommendations recorded in the minutes are about disk golf in general, NOT about disk golf in Leddy Park. That clarification is not included in the minutes. It is not included because discussion points of working group members, and subsequent facilitator input, are not included in the minutes. Pat Kearney stated several times that the charge to the working roup was to consider disc golf in Leddy Park only. He called for Leddy Park to be taken off the table before any discussion of general recommendations, because the 3-3 vote failed to support disk golf in Leddy Park. Kearney stated several times that disk golf sites in general were outside the charge given to the working group, and therefore creating a list of recommendations about sites in general was out of order.
> ~~~~~~
> There are no names of residents who testified at the public forum, and no reference in the minutes to packets of information and written testimony submitted to the working group -- for example by Ward 4 and Ward 7 NPAs, Friends of Leddy Park, a forester, a landscape designer, 26 residents and 3 B'town Disc Golf Club members. Minutes of the meeting need to include the names of people who spoke at the public forum, summaries of their statements, and reference to any attachments, documents, or displays they submitted as testimony.
> ~~~~~~
> Public testimony about instructions to working group members -- that they communicate with their NPAs -- was not included in the minutes. Four working group members -- Nick Hinge, Dan Herman, Matt Hogg, and Harry Wendt, participated in working group discussions, and voted, without any communication with their NPAs. Pat Kearney, Greg Jenkins, and Joanne Hunt met regularly with their NPAs, brought updates and information from the LPDG Working Group to their NPAs, requested input from residents, and conveyed residents' ideas and opinions back to the Leddy Park Disc Golf Working Group. This point was made in testimony during the public forum, but it was not mentioned in the minutes. I testified to this, I submitted written testimony as well, and I respectfully request that it be included in the minutes.
>
> There is a tape of the meeting available at the Ch17 website -- http://www.cctv.org/node/72604/ -- which can be used to correct these minutes, and they need to be corrected.
>
> NEXT PUBLIC HEARING: Apr 28, Parks and Rec Commission.
>
> Lea Terhune
> Ward 4 NPA Steering Committee
>
> --------------------
>
>
> DISC GOLF AT PARKS AND REC. COMMISSION APRIL 28
> By Wayne Gross
> Fri, 17 April 2009
>
> PRESS RELEASE - For immediate release on April 17, 2009
> DISC GOLF PROPOSAL TO BE DISCUSSED
>
> The Burlington Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners is scheduled to receive a report from the Disc Golf Working Group at its meeting on April 28. The Working Group will present their report at a time certain of 5:45 PM at the Commission meeting which will take place at the Robert Miller Community and Recreation Center located at 130 Gosse Court. Immediately following the presentation to the Commission, a Public Hearing will be held where interested citizens will have the opportunity to comment on the proposal and the Groupâ?Ts recommendations. The Commission will not take any action on the report and the comments at the April 28 meeting. The report will be discussed and voted on by the Commission at its next scheduled meeting on May 19.
>
> The seven member citizen Working Group was appointed last fall by the Commission to evaluate a proposal for the creation of a disc golf course in Leddy Park. After initially approving a proposal from the BTown Disc Golf Club, work was stopped on the project after the Department received comments from the public about possible negative impacts on the park. After holding a public hearing last fall, the Commission decided to appoint a group to evaluate a variety of issues regarding the impact of the project on Leddy Park and report back to the Commission. The Burlington City Council has requested to review the decision of the Commission before any further work on the project take place.
>
> Contact:
> Wayne E. Gross
> Director of Parks and Recreation
> 865-7557
>
> --------------------Ed. Note: Gross fails to mention that a motion of the working group to support disk golf in Leddy Park FAILED on a 3-3 vote; and, the Parks Commission did not approve the B'Town proposal, they approved the concept only. They did not authorize clear-cutting of fairways, or construction of the course.
