KG_MCDGC
October 26th, 2009, 09:41 PM
I've waited almost a full year to write this. Here it goes...
Earlier today I represented Mason County Disc Golf at the City of Shelton Commission Study Meeting. The Commission moved to have the Lease Agreement we have drafted added to their docket for next weeks Business Meeting. At this Business Meeting the Agreement will be approved for the City Administrator (David O'Leary former City Administrator for Lake Stevens, and Disc Golfer) to sign. Giving us the green light we've waited nearly a year for.
For those who don't know, MCDG was founded Nov. 9, 2008. Since it's onset, I've communicated with every Parks Department in our County, which there are only 3 (not including National). Mark Ziegler from Shelton PnR was the most receptive, though John Keates from Mason County PnR is very interested. While talking to Mark, we came to the conclusion that there were no parks able to accommodate Disc Golf. But the conversation didn't stop there. He told me of a piece of land owned by the City. The land would never see any type of development because of the BPA power lines over a portion of the land. And the fact that the land is classified as a watershed. The proposed area is located in Shelton between the intersections of Wallace-Kneeland and Shelton Springs Rd. and Brockdale Rd. After investigating if an activity like Disc Golf was allowable in a watershed, I found a City Code stating that "an educational or recreational activity that doesn't disrupt the function of the watershed, was allowable." So, for several months we held meeting with several City officials including the City Planners, PnR, Fire Chief, Public Works and Water Works employees. Each meeting had it's list of ups and downs, until we finally met on site. At that meeting I was able to demonstrate, first hand, the methodology MCDG was proposing to use while Course designing. After this meeting we had sold it to the City officials we needed to have positive reviews from to move to a Commission Meeting. The next step was formalizing an Agreement between MCDG and the City. The City attorney drafted us a preliminary Agreement, after cleaning up a few details (ie. "natural Teepads will be replaced with aprox. 5x10 concrete slabs") I had a draft for the Club to authorize me to sign when ready. We moved quickly to get on the docket for today's meeting and viola!
Our next Club meeting is on Nov. 9th. We will create a Course Design Committee. We know a few things for sure. We will spend the winter designing and accepting feedback. We will use numbered wooden posts as temporary targets before anything permanent goes in. We are creating the Course with 2 tee pads per hole in mind (Am and Pro boxes) We are going to learn from the best and the worst of what we've seen. And, we will need the support of the Disc Golf community.
Thank you to all who have helped us and those who will.
Kevin Gerlich
MCDG
Earlier today I represented Mason County Disc Golf at the City of Shelton Commission Study Meeting. The Commission moved to have the Lease Agreement we have drafted added to their docket for next weeks Business Meeting. At this Business Meeting the Agreement will be approved for the City Administrator (David O'Leary former City Administrator for Lake Stevens, and Disc Golfer) to sign. Giving us the green light we've waited nearly a year for.
For those who don't know, MCDG was founded Nov. 9, 2008. Since it's onset, I've communicated with every Parks Department in our County, which there are only 3 (not including National). Mark Ziegler from Shelton PnR was the most receptive, though John Keates from Mason County PnR is very interested. While talking to Mark, we came to the conclusion that there were no parks able to accommodate Disc Golf. But the conversation didn't stop there. He told me of a piece of land owned by the City. The land would never see any type of development because of the BPA power lines over a portion of the land. And the fact that the land is classified as a watershed. The proposed area is located in Shelton between the intersections of Wallace-Kneeland and Shelton Springs Rd. and Brockdale Rd. After investigating if an activity like Disc Golf was allowable in a watershed, I found a City Code stating that "an educational or recreational activity that doesn't disrupt the function of the watershed, was allowable." So, for several months we held meeting with several City officials including the City Planners, PnR, Fire Chief, Public Works and Water Works employees. Each meeting had it's list of ups and downs, until we finally met on site. At that meeting I was able to demonstrate, first hand, the methodology MCDG was proposing to use while Course designing. After this meeting we had sold it to the City officials we needed to have positive reviews from to move to a Commission Meeting. The next step was formalizing an Agreement between MCDG and the City. The City attorney drafted us a preliminary Agreement, after cleaning up a few details (ie. "natural Teepads will be replaced with aprox. 5x10 concrete slabs") I had a draft for the Club to authorize me to sign when ready. We moved quickly to get on the docket for today's meeting and viola!
Our next Club meeting is on Nov. 9th. We will create a Course Design Committee. We know a few things for sure. We will spend the winter designing and accepting feedback. We will use numbered wooden posts as temporary targets before anything permanent goes in. We are creating the Course with 2 tee pads per hole in mind (Am and Pro boxes) We are going to learn from the best and the worst of what we've seen. And, we will need the support of the Disc Golf community.
Thank you to all who have helped us and those who will.
Kevin Gerlich
MCDG