Monday, July 13, 2015

Parks and Rec Business Magazine

In the spring, I was asked to write an article for Parks and Rec Business Magazine that would be published in the July issue. Well, July has come and so has my article. I have put together a summary of the article, but I would suggest you check out the whole article and magazine HERE online, so you can see the beautiful layout the editors put together.



Municipal Golf Courses: Assets, not Liabilities

Many municipalities have decided to get out of the golf course business with the idea of saving money however, golf courses are assets to the community beyond just the bottom line. Municipal golf is often much less expensive than other places to play, serving as an entry point to the game. Greenspaces are advantageous in urban areas and studies show the health benefits when people are exposed to a natural environment. They also provide habitat for native plants and animals, while offering storage and filtration for rain runoff. During the off season, the course can also be used in other ways, such as skiing, sledding or snowshoeing.
Making the investment to maintain a quality municipal golf course will not only bring in revenue but will pay dividends to the community and the environment.

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

June 2015 Weather Summary

As I write this, on July 1st, it is raining. This continues a trend from June. The weather station at Leslie Park recorded 7.27 inches of rain for the month. That is the largest monthly total since the weather station was purchased in July of 2010. That is more rain than the golf course received during the summer (May, June, July and August) in 2012. It also comes on the heels of a May that saw nearly 6 inches of rain. Three days in the month had over an inch. The most came on the 23rd (1.98 inches) with the 14th and 27th coming in with 1.84 and 1.26 inches respectively. With that being said, the Ann Arbor area missed some of the heavier rains. Those rain events saw rainfall totals closer to 4 inches north or south of us. Nine days saw more than a tenth of an inch and 14 days had at least a trace of rain.

As a bonus, lots of water makes stream pictures better.

The high temperature for the month was on the 10th at 87.2 degrees. The lowest temperature was 40.6 on the 2nd. The average temperature was 67.0.

The high sustained windspeed was 25.0 mph (June 10.) The average windspeed was just 2.0 mph.