2010
02.14
02.14
The LaFayette Underground – now available in T-Shirt form.
The above design is available on three different shirts in a small selection of appropriate colors, along with an LU bumper sticker in tasteful black. Start your shopping now! More designs coming soon…
(Don’t think we’re making a killing off these, most of the cost goes back to CafePress. The highest markup is $3.01, so we’d need to sell dozens of these every month just to break even on site hosting costs.)
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when is this rate in effect ?
It’s the current rate for 9 holes. “Greens fees are $9 for nine holes weekdays if walking…”
http://cityoflafayettega.org/golfcourse.htm
This is well below competitive market rates for golf. Check out http://www.cityoflafayettega.com/2010/01/council-tells-roper/ for more information and how this impacts City of LaFayette Utility customers.
— The LaFayette Underground
..so we can assume you’ll move the Miss USA Pageant here next year, right? I guess the golf course is a benefit for the city afterall!
— The LaFayette Underground
maybe,but you are fired!
i do not recall ever seeing you at the golf course.come over sometime and i”ll buy your lunch.by the way the rich and famous people don’t play 9 holes we play 18 and ride.they must be trying to attract more people,we must cut that out.
Is the LaFayette Municipal Golf Course the Beast? Is it the Evil Empire at work? Or is it a Diamond in the Rough?
Clearly, it is a Diamond in the Rough where “red, yellow, black and white” plus red necks, FiSDOPS, nouveau riche, and UL Society can play 9 or 18 holes of golf in harmony!
I am not quite sure what you are trying to say Retro? I doubt there are a whole lot of colors other than white and the occasional black on the golf course. I have no problem with people playing golf, or having a golf course in town…what I have a problem with is that the city loses money on the golf course and makes the citizens of the city pay for the loss…why should a business like that have a loss? What business does the city have in operating a business that loses money? Especially a non-essential service…
If you guys think the golf course is a money losing deal come to the next council meeting. I believe they will make a final decision on a $270,000 softball complex that they know wont make money. Many months ago I told the council that there are four things any elected official should ask himself before voting on a bill that will cost tax payers money.
(1) Is it moral (2) Is it constitutional (3) Do we need it (4) Can we afford it. I wonder if they will remember.
The softball fields won’t be run like a business though, and will be more or less a park, I’d hope, thought it is a huge waste of money.
success is not determined by how much you make ,but what you do with it.the complex might draw people to la fayette .boynton draws a tremendous amount of people to their little complex.chattanooga fights for the college football tourney not because the event makes money , but it brings people to the area.with this comment i must leave this web site.i know you are disappointed but life goes on .good luck to all ,my prayers are with you all.try a little honey in your presentation it”ll go farther
Funny Mr. Trump. So far the complex hasn’t drawn much of anybody, and it still drains the city’s budget, so your point is pretty much void. When it starts bring big money and big names to town that see the town and want to invest, etc. then it will be worth it, right now it isn’t worth anything, unless of course they sell it to some private company that can do better with it…
ktb …..take some viagra maybe your head will explode.now that’s funny i don’t care who you are
?
i think he means you’re a —- head
Because I don’t like the golf course…oh darn, that hurts my feelings, and he just helps illustrate the point about those who will be complete jerks to defend the ridiculousness of it.
For the record, LaFayette currently has at least nine softball fields already if you count the ones at LaFayette High School (at least two), LaFayette Middle (one), the main Rec. department (four), one behind the old high school/6th Grade Academy on First St. (city property now) and the poorly maintained one at Simmons Memorial Park in Linwood. There was also a softball field at Max Stoker Rec. the city turned into a soccer field last summer (in anticipation of the new complex being built) and a nice softball field at Lowell Greene that they’ve bulldozed into a muddy swamp in order to spend $197,000 to build a.. new softball complex at the same location. None of those eleven fields ever did anything to bring people to the city, they just provided a place for church leagues and city kids’ teams to play – which is great, but how many more fields do we need when there are already so many, most of which aren’t being maintained?
Remember when the city bulldozed the swamp and trees along the bypass a few years ago? That land came along with the Caron mill that now houses city utilities, and the plan was to put in a large softball complex with four diamonds in hopes of attracting tournaments. The county surveyor and several others within city government warned that the land might not be usable, but the mayor and council insisted that work begin and expected to get the whole thing done in less than a year. City crews clear cut the land, burned trees and brush to the point of causing traffic slowdowns on the bypass (residents can’t burn without a permit but they burned acres of woodland without blinking for weeks) and trucked in half a hillside from the aforementioned Linwood softball field. The EPA found out about the city’s actions and put a stop to the whole thing, wasting the time, money, and property (which now sits vacant).
Original plans: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=q04zAAAAIBAJ&sjid=IyUMAAAAIBAJ&pg=2464,1969571&dq=softball+complex&hl=en
EPA actions: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_E0zAAAAIBAJ&sjid=zyQMAAAAIBAJ&pg=1868,214299&dq=lafayette+environmental+protection&hl=en
The second report says the city anticipated work to resume soon, but I guess the EPA didn’t bend over as expected and now they’ve moved the whole project to another site.
Throwing in good money after bad, and for what purpose? They should maintain the existing facilities instead of letting them go to seed while new ones are built and use the savings to pave streets or put in some traffic signals that would benefit all of us.
— The LaFayette Underground
holy crap! im not a rocket surgeon, but i think i could play like 3 rounds for the cost of 1 sweatshirt. not only that, i would have roughly 5 bucks left for beer. more than likely what would happen is i would spend 9 bucks on golf and 23 bucks on beer. that way i wouldnt have to feel so bad about screwing all those taxpayers. but, if i get caught driving after said beer, the taxpayers might have to provide a meal or two for me at the jail. poor taxpayers are always getting the raw end. maybe there should be a no dui rule after leaving the golf course so that wont happen.(insert joke about this being in practice already) all that aside, it would be hard to pay $20 for a shirt that is listed as “$9 golf shirt.” but, i think ill buy one, wear it to play 9, and write every taxpayer a thank you note for subsidizing my golf game…. if i could get them to pay for cart too, i might even give them a call.
The LU offered a explanation on the high cost. CafePress always has high prices for their stuff, and there are certain marks up or percentages for each product. Its not cheap but its a statement and something you can wear over and over again. By the way, I would love to see a picture of you on the course with the shirt on. Take a picture and send it into the LU and see if they’ll post it! :D
Everyone who buys one of the shirts is encouraged to send in a photo of themselves wearing it – we can black out faces if necessary before posting the photo. Do that and we’ll send you one of the bumper stickers free, on our dime – that should soften the blow by $4.
Let us know how the shirts look, if you order one – if they aren’t high quality we’ll make it right and try to make things better for the future.
Thanks,
— The LaFayette Underground
let’s be fair about this $9 round.most people that take advantage of this rate are either kids or retired.the rate is not all the time and most of the time you are required to have a cart.also very few area courses allow walking 9.this rate was put in for folks who don’t normally play but still need a little exercise,thank you
Okay, thats fair, but why does it lose money? What can they do to make it be profitable as a golf course and as a city investment? Right now their investment stinks and they need to do something better with their money. It isn’t exactly a community asset.
not sure on that .i don’t have that much access.i do know there is a lot of traffic in good weather over there.they also tell me utilities are quite high.i will follow up,thanks
KTB, It’s been proven down through the years, government doesn’t know how to run a business and has no business trying. Look at the post office, 28 billion in debt. They do however know how to spend money, not their money, ours. The $270,000 for the softball fields will probably come out of SPLOST funds, our tax dollars. Someone, in one of these posts, said stop being negative, come up with a solution. OK, take part of the 270K and dredge out the boat ramp, pour a concrete ramp, pave the parking lot, put in a bar b que pit and some picnic tables and take down that damn fence so we can fish in water that deep enough to hold fish. That would be giving something back to the tax payers. I bet you’d have a hell of a lot of change left over.
I agree Wayne that would be nice if that space was cleaned up. It would be something that gives back to the community and would not cost that much to maintain, less than the softball fields for sure. I took my kids down there a couple of times this past summer because I was unable/unwilling to spend the money for the pool but it made me cringe…I’m from out of state and am used to big to nice, big, clear lakes, most of which have designated and cared for swimming areas. The water won’t ever be pretty, but the park area could be cleaned up and maintained and be a real place for people to go and something useful for the city residents.
Those are some of the best ideas I’ve heard yet. A nice Lake front park. How about a boat dock and a couple of fishing piers with deep water access? I heard the EPA made the city put the fence up because people were driving over the dam with 4 wheel drive monster trucks. I’m not sure if the fence is something we can remove. WIth the boat launch area reconstructed for public enjoyment, the drug deals and sex in the parking lot might even come to a complete halt. I think a pavilion with tables, grills, and maybe even a fireplace might be good. For those who have commented on the bad fishing in the lake, most of the local bass tournaments there take 15-20 lbs to win. If they can spend SPLOST money on softball fields, I’m sure they can spend it on other recreational areas as well. Give the people something we can use for a change.
well hell we don’t need the city for a clean up.get a group together and lets go
Need to get the city to allow the parking area to be put in, it needs a lot of leveling and drainage stuff put in. The city should also put money into the fire pits, picnic tables, grills, etc. The clean up can be done without the city, but I don’t know if there are any independently wealthy people willing to put their own money into the rest of it and the city would still have to approve of everything, even putting a trash can out there.
And the city would need to enforce the rules in place for the lake, to cut down on the illegal activity and occasionally cut the grass and empty the trash barrels. The rec. department already has the personnel and equipment, they mow the softball fields multiple times a week during the summer – some of that attention could be directed to passing through the lake rec. area every few weeks year-round. It wouldn’t cost much of anything once the initial repairs were done, they just have to want to do it and want to maintain it once it’s been done.
— The LaFayette Underground
The next city council meeting is March 8th, 7:30PM.It’s very possible that I will be out of town. If anyone would like to go to the meeting and address the council on improving Lake Howard please call Brenda Snyder at 706-639-1507 and ask to be put on the agenda. I will be there if I’m home.
Is it Lake Howard or Queen City Lake? I know the road is Lake Howard Rd. but every map I’ve seen calls the actual body of water Queen City Lake or LaFayette Reservoir.
— The LaFayette Underground
Hum, Lake Howard might have been the forerunner of the Queen City Lake.
I thought the thing that stopped the ball fields from being completed was that the plan that the city turned in to the EPA was not being followed. Something about being too close to a wet land or something? And I am pretty sure that the field behind the old high school is a soccer field. At least that’s what it was when I was teaching there 2 years ago. But, regardless, we do have a lot of fields in LaFayette. I am all for anything that we can promote to give our young people positive outlets for their energy, though. LaFayette does not have enough of that.
As for the golf course, no comment. That new club house aggravates me too much to be able to say anything constructive. I would totally wear one of your t-shirts, if I wore t-shirts.
Queen City Lake is man-made, or man-enhanced. The Henry family built it, or had it built (depending on who you ask) to benefit the city’s water supply, although I don’t think any of the city water currently comes out of the lake (hope not anyway). The Henrys own quite a bit of the property around it still. Anyway, the north end might have been Lake Howard before the rest was added on.
As for not wearing t-shirts.. One of them is a sweatshirt design, and we can do another item if you’re interested, they have a ton of stuff but most of it doesn’t really fit the golf theme and a lot is lighter colors instead of dark. They have some golf shirts but they’re only white, unfortunately.
— The LaFayette Underground
I don’t care if you call it Lake Howard, Queen City Lake or Poop Pond, you know the body of water I’m talking about. Is anyone going to the meeting?
I would love to buy one of those shirts, but $20 is a little steep for me. I don’t pay that much for new Nikes! Why not just put a PayPal donation link on here? I’d much rather give you $5 than pay $20 for a shirt and you only getting to see $3….
If one new person shows up at the meeting they’re going to get a lot of attention and everybody will assume they’re the Underground, even if they aren’t. If a group of us go then it’s a lot more doable. And fixing the lake isn’t the biggest priority right now, it’d be great but it’s just one of a hundred things and isn’t the one that needs addressing the most. Fixing the roads needs to be a higher priority (working on a blog about that).
A PayPal link requires revealing too much information about who operates the site, otherwise we’d put one up. If we could find a cheaper place to do custom shirts that way we’d use it, believe me. Don’t worry about supporting the site, I just thought it’d be nice to get some shirts out in the community.
— The LaFayette Underground
Well, it might have to be one of those special purchases when I get a few extra dollars!
When is this meeting?
The next city council meeting is March 8th, 7:30PM. I’m sure as LU has stated that anyone new will be labeled as Underground or Underground supporters. Not to discourage anyone from going but you had better be prepared for that.
As for the Lake Project, Someone needs to put that on an agenda, preferably someone who lives in the city limits. If its put on an agenda now, they might get to it in the next 20 years if they dont decide to bury it.
I agree with LU about the streets needing to be a priority. I believe the streets as wll as the “cityscape” could be improved. This could be done with a systematic plan carried out by city government with enhancements from civic organizations.
. I am proud of the Historical Society’s focus and organizaiton . This group seems to have a vision and dedicated members. Also, the Northwest Georgia Foothills Gallery is another postive for our community. Even the downtown Christmas decorations have improved over the last few years. We need to have more pride in our community and keep working to make it a better place to live. It seems many people are concerned about LaFayette’s present state of being which is good. I only hope the Undergrounders ,city officials , business leaders, and power brokers don’t look to Rossville Blvd. or Battlefield Parkway as a paradigm of growth.
LU, I am just (sincerely) just curious why you don’t want people to know who runs the site? Do you think people will cause trouble for you? I guess I can kind of understand that. I was just wondering.
Google maps shows a “Howard Lake” off of Ed’s Lake Road, and a “Lake Howard” between Ringgold Road and Warren Road. Neither of these is the same as the city lake.
http://maps.google.com/maps?oe=UTF-8&ie=UTF8&q=%22lake+howard%22+lafayette+georgia&fb=1&gl=us&ei=4Rx8S5G4MY6SygS5j4mVBQ&ved=0CBIQpQY&hl=en&view=map&geocode=Fd83EgId3EPr-g&split=0&iwloc=A&sa=X
Lisa:
Community leaders who play favorites with their friends can also give special treatment to those they consider to be their enemies. We don’t know if anything would happen, but for now it’s better safe than sorry considering what might happen to individuals, families, or even businesses that were thought to be connected in some way to the LU. At first we were being careful just in case, but the paranoia is apparently justified based on information we’ve been given about city employees and LPD officers trying to track the site’s owner down.
Wayne, Nota, Retro, and others:
Ultimately the biggest issue facing the city right now isn’t the lake front, it’s not the golf course, it’s not beer sales, it isn’t even the streets – the biggest problem now is with a city council that has no desire to listen to the residents, a city council that takes care of one ward more than the other three, and a mayor who’s had his job at least a decade longer than he should have. Until those issues are corrected, either through new leaders or a change of direction from the current leaders, things won’t be where they should be.
The way to begin the process of changing the leaders is by pointing out how they don’t care what the people think, don’t care about the community or its future, and then providing evidence to back that up. Bringing out problems with the utility department, the roads, the golf course, public works, the police department, are all means of accomplishing that. We aren’t making things up to smear anybody, just spotlighting problems that do exist in order to reveal the truth about how disconnected the city (and county) leadership is.
If we all come together and present something to the council it needs to be something significant and serious. Something that they need to respond to in a serious way and show their commitment to the community’s future. The lake front would be pretty easy to fix, and they could do that to placate us. But having that fixed, nice as it would be, wouldn’t really solve the underlying issues. We need something bigger and more crucial, such as major road repairs, the obscenely huge budgets for the airport and golf course that make our utility bills higher, or the council’s refusal to bend an inch to keep Roper in town. Those are the bigger fish that really reveal how much the council and mayor care about the city, and I think if they were brought up in a meeting the truth would be pretty obvious to everyone.
Working on a blog about infrastructure now… Trying to get it by the weekend, sorry these things take so long. Keep the discussion going, you’re accomplishing as much in these comments as the LU does in its official posts. Thanks so much for your insightful questions and (mostly) civil discussion.
— The LaFayette Underground
LU, yikes. Well, be wise. Be safe. I hope nothing comes of those suspicions, but yeah, I guess I wouldn’t be surprised if something did:-(
Wish I could do something to help with the issues at hand, but my brain never seems to organize information right and I never come out expressing anything successfully when trying to help resolve conflict or bring change. But I do enjoy reading the blog and will continue to do so.
Can you imagine what would have happened if the founding fathers had been afraid to speak out against the British. If someone is singled out for being associated with the Underground and thier utility bill goes up or anything out of the ordinary happens, go to Atlanta , hire a lawyer and sue the city. The mayor and council members sit in front of the people every month. They don’t hide behind made up code names and we have the RIGHT to question them without fear of persecution.
They don’t hide behind made up code names because they’ve already been assured that their positions are safe and that they have the support of those who they hold the most dear to themselves, or those who at least have the most money to hold near to themselves.
Who has the money and the time to hire a lawyer? I am sure the writers of the LU have jobs they have to work, and going by the time it takes to put things together, they don’t have a lot of time for writing, let along going to Atlanta.
I think there is probably more paranoia then there needs to be, but some people have more to lose in the area then others.
Vote get out and vote in City elections and make some noise if you want the town to change.The old folks that run this town can’t hold on forever.Most vote the way the church they attend wants them to not the way that would help the people in general.I guess being morally superior to the common folks in their minds beats giving any thing new in this town a chance.Vote and go to the City Council meetings and call them out on their dumb ass ideas.
Well said, cck36!
Did I read someone suggested getting a lawyer to deal with this ongoing conspiracy?
Good luck. Before you waste your time and $, take a little time and read the pertinent laws on the books (OCGA) for the Great and Sovereign State of Georgia.
In layman’s terms, an elected official is immune to prosecution for anything up to and including killing you through studipity. Premeditation has to be proven. Talk to the Governor if you don’t believe me. All he will tell you is good luck, be careful, and just don’t vote for them again…………………..
The best bet would be Federal intervention with criminal charges.