VCR comments
PAGE 6
Olenick makes team
Sopris Carbondale’s
weekly, non-profit newspaper
E rk Fo SID ng N
PAGE 5
the
I i ar GE PA
Noted economist speaks
Ro
PAGE 3
M RA
LOOK INSIDE:
Sun
Volume 3, Number 39 | November 10, 2011
Disc golf course dodges one By Lynn Burton Sopris Sun Staff Writer
G Climbers converge
on Carbondale
The Carbondale Recreation & Community Center hosted an American Bouldering Series competition at the facility’s climbing wall on Nov. 5. More than 69 competitors from all over the state took their shots. The top female climber was Julie Smith, followed by Carolina Fritz, Megan Cerise and Sarah Heath. The top male climber was Daniel Tomkins, followed by Morgan Williams, Rueck Benjamin, Ian Young and Sam Chittenden. Photo by Lynn Burton
ianinetti Park disc golf supporters dodged a bullet on Tuesday night when the Carbondale trustees voted 4-3 not to dismantle the course. The vote was taken after 90 minutes of pros and cons on the disc golf course in the park, brought on by neighboring resident Bill Hofto’s concerns over safety. “If you get whacked in the head (with a golf disc) you’ll know it,” Hofto told the trustees as he passed out a regular Frisbee, the heavier golf disc and a soccer ball. “Soccer balls are designed to get hit by the head, (golf) discs are not.” Voting for the course to remain at Gianinetti Park were Frosty Merriott, Pam Zentmyer, John Hoffmann and Ed Cortez.Voting to have the course dismantled and stored for relocation were Stacey Bernot, John Foulkrod and Elizabeth Murphy. Hofto said he has lived in Carbondale for 23 years. A fence separates his backyard from the flying discs. His crusade against the nine-hole course has continued for more than a year and has gone through parks and recreation committee review. Hofto said the three-acre Gianinetti Park – which includes a playground, picnic tables and basketball court – is too small to accommodate the disc golf course. Some audience members agreed. John Tindall, whose wife teaches at Mount Sopris Montessori preschool, told the trustees the school doesn’t take its 3-5 year old students to Gianinetti Park anymore after a disc golf course incident on the playground.“A missile came close to hitting the children,”he said.“They (the disc golfers) had a complete disregard for what they were doing.” Others in the audience defended the park. Ben Bohmfalk told the trustees he brings his child to the park and puts him in the playground while he plays disc golf rounds. “I’d never put him in danger,” he said. Parks and Recreation Commission member Becky Moeller said the group has looked at other locations for a disc golf course, including the high school and Carbondale Nature Park.The high school isn’t a prime candidate because it would not be available during school hours. The nature park (aka Delaney Dog Park) also presents some problems.“There’s no place that fits,” she said. Bernot and Foulkrod were most vocal in support of moving the course. She said some disc golf players had told her daughter to leave the playground because she was in the way.“She won’t go there anymore,” Bernot said. Foulkrod said he went out with Hofto and played a round, recording a score of about 20 over. “Was that in age or years?” trustee Pam Zentmyer asked, producing the night’s biggest laugh. Foulkrod compared the disc golf course to conventional golf courses, which are dedicated to golf and not part of mixed-use facilities.“You don’t see someone just walking down a path at a golf course … they could be killed,” he said. Trustee Elizabeth Murphy said “It’s a tough issue …. I can see both sides … It’s not unreasonable to explore other options for the park.”