HomeMy WebLinkAbout9/4/2019 Public Comment, Pennington
Wilbanks, Megan
From:Lawrence Pennington <landk_p@yahoo.com>
Sent:Monday, September 2,
To:Advisory Bodies; Johnson, Derek; Scott, Shawna; E-mail Council Website
Subject:PRC
Parks and Recreation Commission Members,
I have some thoughts for your consideration on two of our assets.
Recently the city has added foot golf to Laguna Lake Golf Course and I understand the city wants to
add disc golf to the course also. We already have two disc golf courses in the city. Foot golf is not
attended anywhere near as anticipated, it appears to be an abject failure.
Many golf courses are experiencing some slow periods recently and Laguna is no exception. I do
understand the compulsion to do something and generate revenue. It is a mistake however to fill
those hours with foot golf and disc golf that close the course to golfers who are then turned away to
spend their money and time elsewhere, perhaps irritated enough not to return.
If this commission determines that foot golf must be offered by the city I want to remind you that we
have very large areas of land at Laguna Park and Damon&Garcia that sit empty much of the year.
Meadow Park is riddled with problems. The walking paths are trip and fall hazards and the bridges
are rotting. The paths and a bridge were scheduled for replacement this year. (I have heard that
promise for the last 3 years!) This year at the request of the city, PG&E rerouted the electric lines
between Kings Court and Corrida Dr in preparation for construction of the new bridge. The paths
were to be resurfaced when there was no rain for four weeks. The unsafe conditions remain with no
work being done, perhaps until someone falls through the bridge.
There are many dead and dying and rotting trees in Meadow Park. Last summer, after ten years of
neglect and pleas to the Fire Dept we got three or four dead trees removed and two or three half days
trimming around the bottle brush trees. Last month after significant pleading we got some minimal
trimming done, at least as much should be done each year. The dead and rotting trees remain, two
of which have dropped sizeable branches on the walking paths and still present a danger. There are
many huge, overgrown trees, many with dead branches, too close to wooden houses, several in fact
touching the buildings and fences of the private property next to the park. Fire prevention
professionals speak of defensible space and the city has over grown trees in that space. (I was at
Sinsheimer a few months back and there were some very large Eucalyptus trees that looked risky for
those neighbors as well)
The city has set aside approximately $800,000.00 for a pocket park somewhere in the "north side"
neighborhood. That money needs to be redirected to the maintenance of the parks that the city is
ignoring. The city must take care of what we already have before spending that money on another
park.
I fail to understand why the city has allowed these conditions to continue for so long. I am writing the
Parks and Recreation Commission because it is high time to address the issues, whatever or
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whoever may be the problem. I believe the PRC has a great opportunity to begin reversing the
deterioration of our parks.
Thank you,
Larry Pennington
landk_p@yahoo.com
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