Alton Baker Park Eugene - Public Input Needed - Last Chance

[Matt B.]

Originally Posted by Sam

Sorry, Matt. Better?

Who loves ya, baby!?

[Scott]

From the comments: "Surly we can't have discs flying of the memorial trial, of course not, we wouldn't want to taint the reputation of this famous drunk driver. "

[prettyboyfloyd]

269 words of that article are about her, 82 are about how 90% of the people surveyed who run the trail weren't bothered by the disc golf course. I'm so glad I live in Corvallis.

[Matt B.]

Originally Posted by prettyboyfloyd

269 words of that article are about her, 82 are about how 90% of the people surveyed who run the trail weren't bothered by the disc golf course. I'm so glad I live in Corvallis.

As a Eugenean who plays a LOT of golf in Corvallis and has always supported the WDGC and appreciated what they do, I understand your feelings and sincerely hope you will provide similar feedback to either the list of officials upthread or the media outlet in question or both or more. Thanks!

[NWDiscer]

Sent 1 off to all 4.

It appears that Mr. Richardson is out of his office this week Monday thru today. lets make sure his email box is fullish.

Go Eugene

[prettyboyfloyd]

I already have e-mailed all, nice and brief. Mentioned how people run all over Willamette park and how I've never heard a peep from those folks about the (pretty much always crowded) disc golf course.

[Matt B.]

Originally Posted by prettyboyfloyd

I already have e-mailed all, nice and brief. Mentioned how people run all over Willamette park and how I've never heard a peep from those folks about the (pretty much always crowded) disc golf course.

Thank you!

[Huk'nGeiks]

Originally Posted by Rebecca

Please respond just to let us know that you've sent some kind of communication to the city of Eugene.

Just saw this....sent off letters to all. I really hope this happens!

ps. The extended disc golf community in Oregon never fails to surprise me. Thanks for the all the support from outside the Eug!

[Matt B.]

Originally Posted by Jim J

Don't mean to sound like an old fogey, but actual, written letters trump emails in the minds of our elected and non-elected officials.

So email and then snail mail. And then we'll meet down at City Hall and spell out messages with our bodies by laying down and making letters in the middle of Sixth Avenue.

If we stay there long enough, we may get pictured on Google Earth.

I may also look into organizing a 5K fun run/walk on Pre's Trail with proceeds going to support DG in Alton Baker.

A great letter in today's Register Guard by our own Jim J.

http://www.registerguard.com/web/opinion/26751171-...trail.html.csp

Excellent job Jim, Thank You!

Also, George Schroeder, the RG lead Sports Columnist was obviously approached by OTC and Neta Prefontaine to tell their side of the story. Too bad he basically stayed neutral and then concluded by telling them that Pre probably would have liked disc golf and they should learn how to get along with others!

http://www.registerguard.com/web/sports/26768981-4...ourse.html.csp

We're making some progress here, if you haven't expressed your opinion yet, please do so by reading the original post in this thread and taking five minutes to support and promote disc golf.

Thank you to everyone who has already done so, we are making a difference!

[General Scales]

Originally Posted by Matt B.

A great letter in today's Register Guard by our own Jim. J.

http://www.registerguard.com/web/opinion/26751171-...trail.html.csp

Excellent job Jim, Thank You!

Also, George Schroeder, the RG lead Sports Columnist was obviously approached by OTC, and Neta Prefontaine to tell their side of the story. Too bad he basically stayed neutral and then concluded by telling them that Pre probably would have liked disc golf and they should learn how to get along with others!

http://www.registerguard.com/web/sports/26768981-4...ourse.html.csp

We're making some progress here, if you haven't expressed your opinion yet, please do so by reading the original post in this thread and taking five minutes to support and promote disc golf.

Thank you to everyone who has already done so, we are making a difference!

Jim your the man!

[Flatroc]

Here's a thought.
It's the Oregon Track Club right? Not the Eugene Track Club. Perhaps someone could approach runners from elsewhere in the state where there has already been a test of interaction between the two activities. Maybe you could find some 'case histories' in which it's worked or not.

[Scott]

Originally Posted by Flatroc

Here's a thought.
It's the Oregon Track Club right? Not the Eugene Track Club. Perhaps someone could approach runners from elsewhere in the state where there has already been a test of interaction between the two activities. Maybe you could find some 'case histories' in which it's worked or not.

I love the thinking, but I really don't think the OTC will be convinced. They will keep up the attack until the course, or the possiblility of the course, is gone.

This isn't about disc golf or saftey. It's Eugene. Running is sacred. It's a religion, Pre is their God, and the trail is a church.

[Matt B.]

If you read the original post, you can see that this isn't about having to prove if a running trail can co-exist with a disc golf course. They do all the time in many places. This course has been designed and tested on multiple occassions as part of a two year public planning process. On the recent trial days several hundred people played over 1300 rounds, resulting in a conservative estimate of 75000 throws. No reported safety incidents.

However, disc golf isn't invisible. This issue has boiled down to whether it's more important to provide a recreational opportunity for the people of Eugene that has come out of a two year public planning process with overwhelming public support, or to make sure that runners on Pre's Trail don't have to see and hear other park users (except the ones they already see and hear every day: the non-runners using the trail, the dog walkers, the kids, the transient campers, etc) in the few moments it takes them to run 800 feet.

[Bullseye]

I hate to say it, but this running organization sounds like a bunch of selfish snobs who feel everything should revolve around THEM. What happened to people having the ability to share resources? Just like so many problematic issues these days, its just another sad case of intolerance.

[Matt B.]

Originally Posted by Bullseye

I hate to say it, but this running organization sounds like a bunch of selfish snobs who feel everything should revolve around THEM. What happened to people having the ability to share resources? Just like so many problematic issues these days, its just another sad case of intolerance.

This is Eugene, where everything is an "issue" and for every public topic the people saying NO almost always trump getting anything done. Even when it's a long public process with clear results, as long as a group (usually an influential one) says NO loudly enough, things don't happen or more typically we start another process.

There won't be another process this time. We either get this course proposal going forward (and there are still significant hurdles after this one) or we can forget about more disc golf in Eugene for at least 10 years. 23 years since we've had anything moving for disc golf in Eugene, and if they think we're going to be stopped over 800 feet of ambience they've got another think coming.

But to be fair, it is not really the membership of OTC, it's a few of the OTC board members. I have not heard of any OTC rank and file members who give two bleeps about the proposal, and I don't know that the board is unanimous.

[TalesOfMayorDog]

Don't the running trails extend well into Springfield?

Not to mention the bike path along the river for miles.

That is maddening to hear as the park is public.

[TalesOfMayorDog]

I sent an email to the Mayor too.

[essjay]

http://www.kval.com/news/local/128622688.html

Just saw this article.

[Eagle01]

Just sent email, please God let this happen, Eugene NEEDS more courses

[Matt B.]

Lots of good stuff this week in the Eugene media.

We had a Guest Viewpoint published on Sunday:

http://www.registerguard.com/web/opinion/26761321-...ugene.html.csp

That was followed by a great letter from Mat Beecher on Monday:

http://www.registerguard.com/web/opinion/26751186-...nimal.html.csp

Then, the aforementioned "news" story and web article by KVAL in which Neta Prefontaine continues her campaign against the course which unfortunately relies on a lot of misinformation. But here's the great part - check out the comments! Several disc golfers chime in but so do several non-disc golfers, almost all of them supporting the proposal:

http://www.kval.com/news/local/128622688.html

And yesterday Andrew Rich was able to get KEZI, the other local TV station that ran a similar "news" story to come back to the park and hear the facts about the course. So far, no word if KVAL will do the same but you will notice on the KVAL web story that they are using Andrew's course maps that clearly show how little the trail will be affected. Excellent job Andrew, keep on them!

The KEZI story:

http://kezi.com/news/local/222539

We are hopefully making some progress with the decision makers. Please see the first post in this thread for ways you can help, and thank you to everyone who has already done so!