Grant Application Withdrawn for Disc Golf Park in Iron Horse Canyon

On February 24, 2011, a public hearing was held to give all interested citizens the opportunity to speak about a Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD)  Outdoor Recreation Grant application that was being submitted by City Council.  The grant, if received, would be used for the design and construction of public trails, an 18-hole championship disc golf course, a pavilion, and related amenities (lights and port-a-potties) within the Iron Horse Canyon Natural Area.

The hearing was opened at 7:02 p.m. and closed at 7:02 p.m.  No one had come to speak at this hearing.

This topic was on the agenda that night to discuss approving a resolution designating certain officials as being responsible for and acting for and on the behalf of the City in dealing with TPWD concerning the grant application.  The resolution would also certify that the matching share ($250,000) was readily available in the City’s budget.

Council members discussed the proposal for a championship 18-hole disc golf course (this would be in addition to the disc golf course we already have at the corner of Parrigin and FM 1560, which I think is a 9-hole course).  They felt that this would bring more people to Helotes and bring in more sales tax (really??).  The deadline to submit the application for the grant was March 1, 2011.

Mayor Schoolcraft said that residents of Iron Horse Canyon (IHC) had approached him about putting in trails in this area.  He also stated that he would be getting donations of equipment, the park would require very little maintenance, there would be lighting, and there would be trash receptacles monitored by the City.

Council member Gary Johnson (who lives in IHC) asked about bathrooms and parking.  He stated that there is not a lot of access to the land and he would hate to see lights go up in that area.  There isn’t even street lighting in IHC.  He also said that he was “shocked” that no one from IHC had signed up to talk about this proposal.  He thinks that trails would be a good idea but not lights and bathrooms.

In reply, Mayor Schoolcraft stated that all the plans are “very preliminary.”  He doesn’t plan to put up flood lights and doesn’t think a lot of parking will be needed, unless a championship golf tournament is going on.

A vote was then taken and the item was approved; all present were in favor (Council members Legendre and Whitehead [who also lives in IHC] were absent).

And that was that, until a public hearing/meeting was held on April 4, 2011.  I was out of town and couldn’t attend this meeting, but I have heard that it was extremely well attended, mostly by Iron Horse Canyon residents who were all against this type of park in their neighborhood.

I assume as the result of this meeting, this item was on City Council’s agenda again on April 14, 2011, this time proposing to withdraw the grant application.  Council members Rich Whitehead and David Legendre were also absent at this meeting.

Not absent, however, were many IHC residents, eight of whom spoke during Citizens to be Heard, all of whom were opposed to the park as proposed by Council and in favor of withdrawing the grant application.  The reasons for their opposition were their concerns for safety, parking issues, increased traffic in their neighborhood, and the negative environmental impact.  Some also mentioned that it was not fiscally responsible or esthetically pleasing.  They also did not like that this had gone forward with virtually no input from IHC residents.

What I found most interesting was Council’s reaction.  Cynthia Massey stated that they had learned from this experience that they should not have the public hearings on the night Council was going to vote on a topic.  They should give the citizens more time to express their opinions (really?).  Council members are there to represent the citizens.  Perhaps they had moved “too hastily.”  At the time she thought it was a good thing, but that night she was in favor of withdrawing the application.

Gary Johnson stated that he was completely unaware that the land had been given to the City (Really?  Seems if you’re on Council you’d make yourself aware of what’s been happening in the City, and he lives in Iron Horse Canyon.  How can you make decisions on how the City is to be run when you’re not “aware” of what’s going on?)  He thinks the land would be good for walking trails, but not for the use that has been proposed (he voted FOR it at the February 24 meeting?).  He is now in favor of withdrawing the grant application, particularly due to the way it came up (?).

Uncharacteristically, Mayor Schoolcraft said that not every one of his ideas were good ones.  He has “learned something here.”  It was “flawed thinking” to go ahead with the grant application and then have the public hearing (which actually isn’t what he had done.  As noted above, they held a public hearing on February 24, at which no one attending wanted to speak, and then they approved the resolution.).

In any case, the proposal to withdraw the grant application was approved by the three Council members present (Villanueva, Johnson, and Massey).

Iron Horse Canyon was saved, for now, from the City putting in an 18-hole championship disc golf course, with attending lights and port-a-potties,  behind their homes.  However, it is my opinion that this would all have gone very differently if the Mayor was not up for re-election this year.

I tend to think that if the Mayor wasn’t up for re-election at this time and didn’t need the Iron Horse Canyon votes to get re-elected, he would probably have gone ahead with his park idea regardless of how the residents felt.  But, hey, that’s just my opinion.

Tags: Championship 18-hole Disc Golf Course, Iron Horse Canyon Natural Area

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 8th, 2011 at 12:44 pm and is filed under City Hall. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.