01/21/2013
Copy of my e-mail to the friends of the Wirth par-3... Loppet looking to take over the park..
Bob,
I've been catching up on the MPRB site,(which is very confusing to say the least) and I'm not surprised by any of these developments. The MPRB put on a charade and paid good money to design companies to re-work the 18 hole course, making golfers think they were part of the process going forward. All the time in the background this MOU was being drafted by those same MPRB officials that were telling golfers that we are being heard. It explains at those meetings last year why the big guns of the Nordic ski foundation were never there. Why skiers in general were really never there in huge numbers at the meetings that I attended. At some point you have to ask why are they not attending?
The fact is your group and the others that have stated opposition to the Loppet are merely bumps in the road for Mr. Munger and his "foundation". Things would be different on our side if golf was LOSING money every year and winter activities were in the black. But we know that isn't the case. We have the reality behind our movement, and that reality is that since the "foundation" has run the winter activities it hasn't made a dime in revenue. This needs to be reminded to the MPRB at every chance. There needs to be REAL dollar amounts of estimated revenues, costs, fees, pricing of access to the park(par-3 and trails) & access to the new building(par-3 opening times). There's lots of holes that the MPRB is leaving open for interpretation, and you're right to assume the worst. EVERYTHING needs to be spelled out on paper before any agreement is made with the "foundation".
The most unnerving part of the agreement is that the "foundation" will operate all the other trails at the other golf courses. And not groomed by MPRB staff, but their staff. This part of the agreement is 100% unacceptable. It says nothing about damage to the courses and who's responsible. The courses are already in horrible shape. Now we're going to allow yet another group come in and damage it? This idea needs to be tossed aside as I think all damage to the courses would not be paid by winter activity funds, again setting up failure for the golf operations.
I want to see winter activities succeed at Wirth, but not at the sake of any of the other park users. Its clear that the MPRB's plan is to slowly cede the park the the Loppet. My predictions? 1.) The Loppet will get the $3 million from their connected donors no problem. 2.) The MPRB will change the MOU, but it will still be a sweetheart deal. 3.) After the deal is reached, the MPRB will suddenly not have the money to redesign the back -9, closing it indefinitely. 4.) The loppet will mismanage the par-3 opening and closing so badly that golfers quit using it, and the loppet will cite this to take over the par-3, the goal the whole time. 5.) with the closure of the back-9, the previously 18 hole course will lose money, and the loppet will seek to have the MPRB re-purpose that land to their liking.
I pray this doesn't happen, and my imagination may be running a little wild here. But how can you trust anything that the MPRB says? You can't. They've proved that already. They are not to be trusted. They are bureaucrats doing the boards bidding behind closed doors. The MOU proves that. The folks on the board will never say what the REAL goal is at wirth, they have to answer to the voters. That should be the goal of the golfers to get the members of the board on the record tell the public what the real goal is of the "foundation" and the MPRB. That protection and upkeep of the golf courses comes after the "foundation" gets what it wants. Mr. Chamberlain was brought in to bring "trust" back to the process. Well, I think we can see that was a failure.
Keep up the good work and if you wish to pass this message to anyone at the MPRB, you have my permission.
