Mar 27, 2010

Twitter'er Totten Announces No Disc Golf in Leddy Park

Karen Paul (I-W6) sez #BTV Parks Art Culture Commission met & recommends no #discgolf at Leddy Park.

Disc golf will not displace popular trail areas of Leddy Park. Still hoping to find a place for disc golf in Burlington, local players visited a wooded area at the edge of the Intervale, below Manhattan Drive. Formerly a city landfill, now capped, a grassy knoll is surrounded by a wooded area separated from the nearest homes by a steep embankment. Players were very enthusiastic about the possibilities. Varied elevations of fairways could radiate off a picnic area and dog park on the knoll, and there was plenty of space for an official 18 fairway course.

On Ch15 Progressive Thought, City Councilor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak ridiculed the idea of locating disc golf in the wooded terrain around the base of the landfill. She said it would displace a homeless encampment, and she said a former landfill area is not very nice place for disc golfers. Suitable for homeless people, but not for disc golfers.

The proposed disc golf area is connected to the ONE, the Intervale, and the North End via sidewalks and a paved bike path. It's a short walk from the King Street Youth Center and would be an economic boost to ONE cafes, convenience stores, and taverns. City Councilor Berezniak was interested in investigating potential benefits of converting the reclaimed land to a family sport and recreation area for ONE residents, and creating space for disc golf had potential. Similar areas have been successfully redeveloped for recreational use in other cities.

Mulvaney-Stanak was playing politics, trying to discredit Councilor Berezniak who was running against a progressive challenger who was supported by Mulvaney-Stanack (same M-S who criticizes others on Council for playing politics instead of looking at the merit of an idea). Mulvaney-Stanak moved to Ward 3 and ran for City Council unopposed. Local people in that ward get awards, free dinners and parades, but political empowerment and mentoring for leadership positions on City Council? No. Ward 3 is groomed for carpetbaggers.

Update: The well-worn quiet walking trails in Leddy Park continue to be accessible to residents who walk through the park to the shopping center, bike path and lakeshore on a daily basis; COTS continues to work with homeless people to provide safe, warm, dry shelter, health care and counseling services; Counselor Berezniak continues to represent his home ward honestly and sincerely; and Ward 3 has a carpetbagger Councilor who ridicules the North End for speaking out against disc golf in an area of Leddy Park that is a network of popular walking trails.