02-06-2023 Park Commission Meeting Minutes

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO PARK COMMISSION February 6, 2023 6:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 6 of 14 plan. If we're gonna put money into it, let's fix the tee boxes, let's put a new maintenance shed in. We got all kinds of stuff we can do. We don't need a grill. We need a good golf course. We don't have anything against the pickleball owners. We just don't think it's a good fit for this location for various reasons, which I'm sure you've all read in the comment cards from your open houses. Let's concentrate our efforts on improving the existing location and getting ready for the 100th anniversary of the Orono Orchards as a golf course, not a multipurpose facility that resembles the City of Plymouth more than the City of Orono. Dave Phelps, 1950 Fox Ridge Road, said he loves the Orono golf course. I applaud the commission for tabling it for a few months to really think it through, get some ideas, understand all the nuances about what's going on. Sandra, great idea, build more community, more community events. But I don't think that Orono Golf Course is the place to do it. We love playing pickleball. We also appreciate how loud it is and feel sorry for anybody living next to a pickleball court. I think it would be very impactful to the golf just from the noise. And you say not get everybody at peak times? Well, I think peak time is often the same for many people. We are big fans of option three and recommend keeping the golf course the golf course. There's got to be a place that costs less and is less impactful for pickleball courts somewhere else. Janie Delaney 1315 Woodhill Ave, asked if the public could have the comments percentage-wise as was done for Summit Beach so we know how many are for or against, not just a summary of the comments, because that doesn't really reflect the true response. Please do not spend any more of our taxpayer money on this project. The public is overwhelmingly opposed to this proposal at the historic Orono Golf Course. We need to hold a public hearing where citizens can speak openly and have their voice heard on the record. The January 10 and 24 Open Houses were not the same as a public hearing. They were passive events where citizens were reduced to written comments. Secondly, last spring, and you mentioned this earlier, the City Council authorized a feasibility study on retrofitting the existing public works building for pickleball and hockey. And that was paid for by our tax dollars. Where is this study? And why hasn't the study been discussed and put out for public review? Why isn’t that site under serious consideration? It provides for all-season play, indoor and outdoor courts, a flat area for high ice hockey, indoor storage area for your equipment and lots of room for parking. And third, we have 775 signatures on the Change.org. petition. I know you guys have minimized that. But there are a lot of people on there that want the golf course to remain as it is. They may not all be from Orono. But they all pay to golf there. A lot of them come from all over the place or have grown up here. I think I'll just end with reading a comment from the public from the petition, and it says “it's not the proposed alternate use that should be considered but the sanctity of a historic golf course. Golfing here for 38 years, inviting guests and golfers from all skill levels to share the way golf courses began, Orono Golf Course is a treasure that should be preserved as is and marketed as a historic place”. And I want you to go for option three. It just seems like the right thing to do. Dr. Damon Kenton, 1304 Elmwood Ave, said he and his neighbors in the Saga Hills area are not by the golf course but have been talking about this quite a bit. We're golfers and most of us enjoy playing pickleball. And several of us are season members of the of the golf course. A lot of the things we were talking about are more financial and what is viable, what isn't. So we're going to spend all this money to