Contract/Agreement between Club and Parks

[EricW]

Putting a feeler out there to ask if any clubs have entered into a formal agreement/contract with their course's parks or public land managers.

If you have experience and are willing to discuss it by PM or whatever, please let me know. I'm just trying to get feedback from other clubs if this is a regular thing.

As a little background, for our two courses in the area, the club has formal permission for disc golf use by lobbying to get it into the Park Master Plan. The club has so far been responsible for all funding, labor, maintenance, etc. Generally, we've operated loosely and independently except when Parks notices something they don't like. It's a very odd dynamic almost like they're a hall monitor. Parks is now writing up a formal agreement regarding course maintenance, fees, tournaments, and such.

This all sounds very complex and annoying for a group of folks that have little time as it is and just want to improve things and throw some discs!

Maybe I should start a poll to see if Parks are generally supportive or difficult. Ours is definitely toward the later.

 

[DavidSauls]

Don't start that poll. Lots of people will chime in with horror stories which, if uncovered, won't particularly help park relations.

 

[ThrowBot]

Lots of people will chime in with horror stories which, if uncovered, won't particularly help park relations.

Sad but true!

Working with the city/government can take longer, but I think it's important for the long-term sustainability of disc golf courses on public land. Ultimately it's worth it to have good relations with the city (or county, or state) even though you may have to put up with some bureaucracy. The original post mentions the Master Plan, which is key to getting buy in from the gov't.

Here in Billings we have recently been working pretty closely with the city Parks & Rec department. It's largely thanks to our club prez** making contact with the city and frequently checking in to make sure that disc golf issues are getting attention. As a result we are putting in a new 18 hole course (later this week!) with a lot of funding and help from the city! :thmbup:

In the past I know that local groups in the area have been frustrated working with the city. They just went for it an put in courses without getting it OK-ed by the city. They figured that it was easier to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission, and on some level it worked. Diamond X DGC is awesome and it's all thanks to those guys and their go-for-it attitude, although we do have the looming threat that the city could remove the course because it's not in the Master Plan.

**Mad props, you know who you are! (Whom you are?)

 

[EricW]

Definitely not looking for horror stories. Absolutely looking tips on making it work. Taking "frequent check-ins" to heart. Did that very well at the beginning, but as they stopped responding and tourney season kicked in, I didn't send out as many updates mistakenly assuming they were OK with everything. So that's on me.

(We went in proper with full rigor of proposal, details, maps, examples, presentations and got full written OK and inclusion into the park's master plan.)

Thanks for replying to my venting. Sometimes just good to hear it's worth it in the end.

 

[DavidSauls]

There are plenty of places with strained relations with the parks department, some with really good relations, and the rest fall in between, with both good relations and times of turmoil.

I haven't been part of a club that had a formal agreement with a parks department, but I've heard of bunch of them. It's not, by all appearances, an unusual request. I think, among other things, it protects the park from having two or more factions of disc golfers squabbling, and the parks department getting caught in the middle. They want one group of disc golfers, and one contact, with which they can work.

Always keep in mind that a parks department has dozens of interest groups as patrons, each one thinking that their activity is the most important. I've been there with other activities besides disc golf, and trust me, everyone is clamoring for something. And, usually, right now.

 

[MikeK]

As a little background, for our two courses in the area, the club has formal permission for disc golf use by lobbying to get it into the Park Master Plan. The club has so far been responsible for all funding, labor, maintenance, etc. Generally, we've operated loosely and independently except when Parks notices something they don't like. It's a very odd dynamic almost like they're a hall monitor. Parks is now writing up a formal agreement regarding course maintenance, fees, tournaments, and such.

This all sounds very complex and annoying for a group of folks that have little time as it is and just want to improve things and throw some discs!

Maybe I should start a poll to see if Parks are generally supportive or difficult. Ours is definitely toward the later.

As I read your post I was like, "Is this guy in our club?" We too donated all the equipment & course design at our local courses, and still have to pay to rent the courses out for events. Until last year we were even required to pay rent at one course (again, where we donated all the baskets & signs & design).

We're fortunate though that we got included in the park's master plan after a 4 or 5 year period where the park said they could pull the course at any time. But, the park actually has grown to love disc golfers...the park loves the fact that disc golf is one of the few activities in the park played from sunrise to sunset, weekdays or weekends.

I guess the only advice I can offer is, a course with park monitors is better than no course at all! Just part of the price some of us gotta pay to have disc golf nearby.