Public meeting about Harmony Park (Milwaukie) - February 26, 2009 @ 6:00 PM
 

From http://www.harmonyvision.org/:

Help Take the Vision to Reality!

Please join us for a PUBLIC WORKSHOP!

WHERE
Harmony Community Campus, OIT Gym
7726 S.E. Harmony Road

WHEN
Thursday, February 26, 6 p.m.

HELP SHAPE THE FUTURE of the Harmony Community Campus area - education, recreation, transportation, economic growth. The vision for the Harmony Community Campus is to develop a model for sustaining the vitality of the economy, environment and community in Clackamas County and the region.


My contact at Clackamas County said this when I asked her what the format of the meeting would be:

It will be an open house. A short presentation then tables of info to
look at and provide feedback. You don't have to stay the whole time,
basicially stop in.


THIS is the best chance for the disc golf community -- both in the form of organized clubs and private citizens -- to step up and say "we desperately need a course in Southeast Portland/Northern Clackamas County"! Obviously, if you live in the Milwaukie area (OTH Bob, I'm lookin' at you), your opinion might count for even more, but EVERYONE should try to show up.

FINALLY! :yay:

I will be there (and also happen to live in Milwaukie...for whatever that's worth). Glad something is finally moving with the project, even if it is just a meeting.

I also met with Harmony's landscape architect today at Leverich Park and gave her a tour; she had never seen a disc golf course before and wanted to know what it was like. I told her how the City of Vancouver wanted a course there to help with the transient issue, and pointed out that the course was co-existing peacefully with the walking/biking path and the creek. These are issues that Leverich has in common with Harmony, even if the land itself is quite different.

She said she thought disc golf would be a "good fit" for the Harmony area. How big of a course, and exactly where, will be mostly a function of how much landscape work (i.e., brush-clearing, path-building, etc.) the Parks District is willing to do. And she confirmed what's been my suspicion all along, that the biggest opposition will likely come from environmental activists (they border on environmental vigilantes, apparently) who want to see no recreational development at all, save a bird-watching path or two.

So, while not a done deal by any stretch of the imagination, it's definitely going to be on the table for discussion. A final master plan could be drafted by May.

Good work, Adam! Thanks for pushing this. :cheerleader:

Geezzzzzz...........I try to keep a low profile and now this. :biggrin2: See you at the meeting. :seeya:

Bob

How about Stumptown? Maybe someone could mention this meeting at their tourney on Saturday?

I'll mention it Saturday and as VP of Stumptown, I will also be representing the club at the meeting as well as a resident disc golfer.

Bob

Agreed. I stumbled upon info on this project almost a year ago and Adam was working on it back then too.

The more people to represent the need, the better.

I've been e-mailing them for 2.5 years now!

I think I can make it this Thursday as well, it will all depend of the traffic situation from Beaverton.

I just found out the format of the meeting:

It will be an open house. A short presentation then tables of info to
look at and provide feedback. You don't have to stay the whole time,
basicially stop in.

So if you can't make it right at 6:00, NO problem. We just need as many people as possible to "provide feedback" at the table that has info about recreation & the park.

The meeting's tonight! Who's coming besides OTH Bob, PDXDuck, and maybe Flash?

I am going to do my best to stop by. I'm doing a side job at home that is taking longer than expected though and I really need to get it finished.

Adam,

I can't make it tonight, but bringing a few copies of THIS article might be a really good idea.

Jeff

I've already sent that article to the powers-that-be... but it might not be a bad idea to pass some out to the skeptical general public as well. Anyone have a laser printer at their work? :biggrin2:

Great idea. I love how that article points out how skanky the park was before, and credits DG with its resurection.

Here's an article that says the same thing about Downriver in Spokane:

"The Downriver Disc Golf Course, at one time a convalescent home and then a garbage dump for some disreputable folks, has provided a local outlet for the growing sport of disc golf, re-established a haven for local wildlife, and provided Simmons with a growing number of customers."


And Don Dahvee Open Space in Monterey, CA:

"Without frequent use, the park has become a haven for the city’s homeless. What look like empty dimebags and shattered glass of broken 40-ounce bottles from malt liquor litter the park’s grassy terrain. The new course will bring added attention and use to the park. 'The whole community will benefit,' Allen says. 'There’s a negative element in the park, doing things they shouldn’t be doing. With increased traffic, we can help reduce or eliminate that negative element.'"

I still remember a little old lady walking up to us at Pier and commenting at how much she enjoys having the "frisbee" people in the park. She mentioned how she is no longer afraid to walk in the park because we're always out there.

How cool is that.

Pretty damn cool.

Yes like 15 of them!

I will try to bring some copies, but I better hurry the clock is ticking!