Mt. Pleasant Disc Golf League wants to expand local course

By STEPH TAHTINEN

Mt. Pleasant News

The Mt. Pleasant Disc Golf League is looking to expand the disc golf course at Oakland Mills, making it the first 18-hole disc golf course in Henry County.

The disc golf course at Oakland Mills currently has nine holes. The baskets on the course were recently replaced, and Wednesday night, representatives approached the Henry County Conservation Board about using the old baskets to expand the course into Waterworks Park.

?We?re just asking because it wouldn?t cost hardly anything,? said Steve Thirtyacre of New London, as the department already owns the baskets and is not using the land for anything else at the moment. The only work required would be to set the baskets up and maybe do a little mowing.

Both Thirtyacre and John Shaw of Ft. Madison noted that an 18-hole course would attract more people to the Oakland Mills course.

?That?s what my goal is, to make more people come,? said Shaw.

Having a larger course would also help during tournaments. There are currently two major tournaments held every year, and Shaw noted that the past couple of years the number of people coming in were greater than the number of holes available. There are usually five people per hole, and there have had to be holes added the past few tournaments.

Shaw also noted that a larger course could allow for larger tournaments.

?I would really love to put a PDGA (Professional Disc Golf Association) tournament in here,? said Shaw, who noted that because of the number of people who show up to PDGA tournaments, a nine-hole course would not be big enough. ?It?s really difficult to put on a PDGA tournament on a nine-hole course.?

Thirtyacre noted that the old baskets could be used to set up a temporary course, allowing the league to get the feel of the course and finalize the design, as there may be changes made once they start to use it. Then, in a year or so, the conservation board could decide whether it wants to make the 18-hole course more permanent or revert back to the nine-hole course.

The board asked that the league bring a design plan to the October board meeting for its review.

In other business, Conservation Director John Pullis updated the board on the status of the Oakland Mills Walking Bridge.

Pullis said he had heard back from VJ Engineering of Iowa City, which has been analyzing the bridge to see what it will take to repair it. Parts of the bridge have been deteriorating, causing the county to limit foot traffic to the middle of the bridge. The wooden piers on the north side are rotten in the center and there are stones and grout missing from the stone piers.

VJ Engineering also noted that the handrail, tuckpoints, piers, abutments and a couple of pins are in bad condition and need to be replaced.

?Some of the top needs to be replaced also because if so many people were to be on it at one time, we could exceed the weight limit on it,? noted Pullis.

It is unknown how what the cost of these repairs would be.

VJ Engineering has passed its inspection onto the State Historical Preservation Office to make sure that the repairs would not damage the historical integrity of the bridge.

Pullis also informed the board that the department was finally reimbursed by FEMA for the silt removal project.

The cost of the project was $47,000, although the original estimate was $75,000.

?FEMA was concerned that may raise some red flags, but it didn?t,? said Pullis, who noted FEMA was wondering why it was so far under estimate.