losing holes 10, 11?

[kade.erp]

So who knows what's happening to all those white flagged trees? What is this I hear about a new road from the back side of the park on eves. this is a sad day

[12StonesScott]

So who knows what's happening to all those white flagged trees? What is this I hear about a new road from the back side of the park on eves. this is a sad day

Major topic of discussion at the meeting last night. Right now, none of our parks contacts seem to know what's going on, but Joel did commit to helping us get some answers today. I'll definitely be following up with him, Jeff Pruitt, Rusty, Jeff Knoghton, and if necessary Joe Glover to get a clear understanding of what the plans are. In the meantime, I'd encourage everyone not to get too carried away with speculation and rumors. I suspect the reality will be ugly enough without making up things that are even worse.

What we actually know is that they're planning a cut-and-cover trench for a sewer line extension to connect the new library to the existing lines. That would run from Fouts Rd near hole 4 possibly through hole 5 over to the manhole in the woods between hole 2 and the paved path near the open area where the fort building camps are held. That would be disruptive but temporary.

There was also apparently a public input meeting held by the transportation department on a road project through part of the park, and we did go out and look at the flagged trees and paint lines on 10 and 11, but we couldn't figure out from that alone what the plan is.

We're all pretty frustrated by the way things seem to keep happening without any notice, despite our continued efforts to work through the appropriate channels and be cooperative. We're not quite yet at the stage where our best option is to stop being nice and start raising hell, but we're also not far from it.

[12StonesScott]

The current markings on trees and the ground on 10 and 11 are for the extension of the sewer line associated with the library construction. This is funded and planned to begin work late this coming winter/early next spring. Don't have details of the plans or schedule yet but we're working on getting that. Likely that it would entail cutting a trench for laying the required pipe, then filling that in once the work is done. Hence there could be some disruption of play on those holes while the work is going on, but they should still be in place once the work is done, albeit with fewer trees. The sewer line construction is also likely to have at least some impact on 4, 5, and 2, based on my conversation with a survey crew working in that area a few weeks ago. Again, this is likely to be a cut-and-cover trench from Fouts Road near the basket for 4 across to the manhole in the woods between 1 & 2, and any disruption directly related to that should be temporary (though it might go on for a while).

The road being discussed is part of the Eves Road Complete Street project that includes adding bike lanes, better sidewalks, etc., along Eves, including a new roundabout at Eves Circle (the entrance to the Woodfield Subdivision) that would take up part of the current Eves Road parking area. As part of the initial concept design, there's a one-way exit from the parking lot between the tennis courts and playground up through the fairway of 10 and the blue/red tee areas for 11 that flows into this roundabout. (Click on the picture to enlarge it).



As of now, this project is NOT approved by either the parks department or the city council, and there is currently no funding for it. The meeting on May 25 was the first public input meeting, and was primarily focused on the other aspects of the Complete Street project. In other words, nothing's going to happen in the immediate future. We will continue to monitor developments on this, and will do everything we can to influence any decisions that are made that will impact the course. Personally, I have a hard time conceiving of what problem this one-way exit from the park is intended to solve -- might well be just some consultant's wild idea that isn't really justified. Based on the conceptual map, there should be no significant impact to the roundabout if that were eliminated -- the roundabout, parking area, etc. could still be built essentially as shown, just without the exit road.

As part of the process of investigating what's going on, Joel St. Vrain (our liaison with the RRPD) met with Joe Glover, the director of the city's Recreation and Parks department, who reiterated that throughout the process of library construction and any other projects that may happen, they are directing the architects, designers, consultants, etc. to do whatever is possible to minimize impact to the course. Doesn't mean that there won't be situations (like the sewer line extension) where some disruption is necessary, but at least they are aware of the issue and our concerns about it and are trying to take it into consideration along with all the other factors.