Course Maintenance or Vandalism?

[ohtobediscing]

As for dead limbs still attached to trees, you shouldn't remove them either. Dead limbs on a pine on #10 at Ann Mo in Boise help prevent a lot of discs from flying into the parking lot. And a few large dead limbs on a pine at #16 Pier Park Portland really "nices" many a shot, just when you think you've got it made. The exuberant-to-crestfallen visages are worth the price of admission all by themselves.

If you didn't install the course, and you don't have explicit permission from the parks dept., LEAVE IT ALONE.

 

[DavidSauls]

A group of out-of-staters cutting trees were told by the city not to come back or they would be charged.

.

I try not to be astounded by anything disc golfers do, but.....

Besides the brazenness of it, who goes out of state and works on a course (for good or ill)? It's hard enough to get locals to do it! If I travel to your course, I might curse your trees, but it would never occur to me to stop playing and cut them down.

 

[joecoin]

Public parks, as with other "public property" are (usually) owned by the municipality they are within. A better question is "who is the 'steward' of said park"? In most towns, the selectman / alderman / mayor / town manager has - via being elected - been given that position...and with it the authority to delegate responsibilities for the maintenance of ALL town properties. If one gets - directly or indirectly - the okay from them to do such, fine. If not, you should not touch anything. It has nothing to do with being a tax payer. If YOU want that responsibility you had better win that election (otherwise you give de facto abdicated responsibility to the elected official).

Since I'm not allowed to vote except in my own precinct I have no say in who gets crowned as steward elsewhere. Additionally, I cannot abdicate a throne I've never held.

"It has nothing to do with being a tax payer."

Not to you, but it certainly does to me.

 

[DavidSauls]

As a taxpayer/owner, I own a lot of property besides the park where the disc golf course is located.

That status doesn't give much say-so in the local stadium, police station, or schools.

Yes, I'm a taxpayer and 0.001% owner of the course. The rest of the owners might want to weigh in before I make a change, if not directly then through their elected representatives, and those appointed and granted authority over it.

 

[Karl]

Since I'm not allowed to vote except in my own precinct I have no say in who gets crowned as steward elsewhere.

Correct. Learn to live with it.

 

[BrotherDave]

What do you do when the park departments turn a deaf ear to all requests to improve/maintain their course and you get caught between doing renegade maintenance and risking the course getting pulled versus not doing renegade course maintenance and the course gets pulled b/c it became unsafe and somebody got hurt or there was tree loss due to erosion? It's a catch 22 that I think is probably really widespread due to the low status the sport occupies.

 

[Karl]

"It has nothing to do with being a tax payer."

Not to you, but it certainly does to me.

If you can't understand the concept of being a tax payer in a town and not being able to do what you want with town property, try walking into the local elementary school when it's in session (carrying a paint brush and paint) and say you're just there "to paint the hall walls" (or some such). I think you will VERY quickly find out how much power any one tax payer has in regards to 'their property'. :wall:

 

[Hampstead]

Hey Karl, did you really bang your head on a wall? If so, that seems pretty excessive. Maybe you are taking this too seriously?

 

[F.Luke]

What do you do when the park departments turn a deaf ear to all requests to improve/maintain their course and you get caught between doing renegade maintenance and risking the course getting pulled versus not doing renegade course maintenance and the course gets pulled b/c it became unsafe and somebody got hurt or there was tree loss due to erosion? It's a catch 22 that I think is probably really widespread due to the low status the sport occupies.

That is when you go to council meetings and voice your concern as a citizen. Unfortunately that takes time and effort, much like renegade course work. The results may not come as quicklyor even in your favor, alas.

 

[BrotherDave]

That is when you go to council meetings and voice your concern as a citizen. Unfortunately that takes time and effort, much like renegade course work. The results may not come as quicklyor even in your favor, alas.

I don't think I've ever met anyone that got anything they wanted from a council meeting. Ever.

 

[F.Luke]

I was surprised how receptive Seneca, SC city council and Mayor were. I guess it helped a little to have world champ Sarah Stunnigham around. Oconee county parks and rec were also very welcoming.

Time will tell if Warren county, VA is. From my experiences, I am optimistic.

 

[DavidSauls]

I was surprised how receptive Seneca, SC city council and Mayor were. I guess it helped a little to have world champ Sarah Stunnigham around. Oconee county parks and rec were also very welcoming.

Time will tell if Warren county, VA is. From my experiences, I am optimistic.

There was a rumor that someone got some of the mayors of small towns in the upstate interested in disc golf, which resulted in the mini-boom of courses in those towns some years back.

Certainly disc golf has more support some places, than others.

Just as certainly, local disc golfers have forged better relations with parks departments and town councils in some places, than others.

 

[biscoe]

I don't think I've ever met anyone that got anything they wanted from a council meeting. Ever.

happens all the time. believe it or not local government generally wants citizen input.

 

[JC17393]

What do you do when the park departments turn a deaf ear to all requests to improve/maintain their course and you get caught between doing renegade maintenance and risking the course getting pulled versus not doing renegade course maintenance and the course gets pulled b/c it became unsafe and somebody got hurt or there was tree loss due to erosion? It's a catch 22 that I think is probably really widespread due to the low status the sport occupies.

Just another reason the real future of the sport is not in parks, but in dedicated facilities where the course is the main priority and not an afterthought.

 

[ru4por]

I don't think I've ever met anyone that got anything they wanted from a council meeting. Ever.

It is all about presentation, professionalism and promotion of intelligent discourse. City Councils are not out to be obtuse, they are civic minded citizens, trying to do right by the constituents they represent.
If you are walking in representing a vast minority, I would not expect you will like the outcome. This is how dog parks displace disc golf courses.
If you are walking in presenting demands without data to identify the positives, I would expect you will not like the outcome.
I have had several positive interactions with my local government. I did not always get what I wanted, but with constructive channels of communication opened, I was able to work toward fair compromises. Sometimes, I got what I was looking for. Perhaps it depends on the area.

 

[joecoin]

If you can't understand the concept of being a tax payer in a town and not being able to do what you want with town property, try walking into the local elementary school when it's in session (carrying a paint brush and paint) and say you're just there "to paint the hall walls" (or some such). I think you will VERY quickly find out how much power any one tax payer has in regards to 'their property'. :wall:

I have no desire to paint the walls in the local elementary school. Come to think of it, I have no desire to make any changes to any public disc golf course I have ever played. I'll just take my Stihl and go home.

Sorry to get you so worked up, are you a socialist?

 

[DanJon]

happens all the time. believe it or not local government generally wants citizen input.

Depends on the citizen/citizens.

 

[HeavyCritters]

Depends on the citizen/citizens.

Agreed.

 

[BrotherDave]

It is all about presentation, professionalism and promotion of intelligent discourse. City Councils are not out to be obtuse, they are civic minded citizens, trying to do right by the constituents they represent.
If you are walking in representing a vast minority, I would not expect you will like the outcome. This is how dog parks displace disc golf courses.
If you are walking in presenting demands without data to identify the positives, I would expect you will not like the outcome.
I have had several positive interactions with my local government. I did not always get what I wanted, but with constructive channels of communication opened, I was able to work toward fair compromises. Sometimes, I got what I was looking for. Perhaps it depends on the area.

All the local governments I've seen have done whatever they wanted to do, despite mountains of well presented and argued evidence to the contrary, despite members of their own council trying to steer them from idiocy. My local governments are either corrupt or doggedly inept.

 

[Karl]

I have no desire to paint the walls in the local elementary school. Come to think of it, I have no desire to make any changes to any public disc golf course I have ever played. I'll just take my Stihl and go home.

Sorry to get you so worked up, are you a socialist?

Good that you have no desire to change courses that others are responsible for.

Don't go home / stick around. Differing opinions are good to consider...at least a wee bit.

Not worked up, just find it strange that people would even think it's fine to alter something that isn't theirs.

Socialist? Doubtful. Pro gun and pro choice...and have voted for more elephants than donkeys over the years.