Crime & Safety

UPDATED: Vandals Protest New Fee System at Inver Grove Heights Frisbee Golf Course

Earlier this week, vandals spray-painted "Keep it Free" on the side of a mobile sales unit stationed at the Frisbee golf course in North and South Valley Parks.

The Inver Grove Heights Police Department stepped up patrols in North and South Valley Parks, after a vandal or vandals struck a vending trailer stationed in the parks last week.

Police do not yet have a suspect in the case, nor has the owner of the vending trailer, Fairway Flyerz Discs, Inc. filed a formal police report on the incident, Inver Grove Heights Police Lt. Larry Stanger said.

In an apparent protest against the city's plan to institute a pay-to-play system at its formerly free Frisbee golf course, someone spray-painted "Keep it Free" on the side of a vending trailer that Fairway Flyerz will use to collect daily and annual admission fees from users of the course. City officials believe the incident occurred on Wednesday or Thursday last week. Police do not know whether a single person or multiple vandals were involved in the incident, Stanger said.

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Fairway Flyerz will be responsible for cleaning up the graffiti, Parks and Recreation Director Eric Carlson said.

The park itself is prone to vandalism, city officials said earlier this year. At an Inver Grove Heights City Council work session in February, Councilor Dennis Madden even suggested installing cameras in North and South Valley Parks for additional protection.

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City officials had hoped that the mobile sales trailer, once it was up and running, would help deter vandalism in the area. The trailer isn't yet open for business, Recreation Superintendent Tracy Petersen said. Petersen noted that a similar act of vandalism occurred in South St. Paul last year, after officials there approved a fee system of their own.

Earlier this year, the Inver Grove Heights a contract with Fairway Flyerz to operate a mobile sales unit at the park seven days a week from April to October and charge $5 for daily admission to the course or $30 for an annual pass. Visitors who are 21-years-old or younger would be allowed into the park free of charge. 

Under the new system, Fairway Flyerz would retain 50 percent of the admission sales and all revenue from retail sales. The remaining money will be funneled into a separate city fund and will be used to pay for improvements to the course — including new benches, garbage cans and baskets. Petersen estimated that as many as 5,000 people used the course last year, and that the fee system could generate as much as $6,000 for the city.

Correction: This article has been changed to correct the spelling of Recreation Superintendent Tracy Petersen's last name.


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