Ludington's Two Hole Marina Golf Course

[XLFD]

I was riding my bicycle on South Rath Avenue towards the waterfront of Ludington on Thursday May 21st, when I caught a glimpse of a golf cart riding along the cracking sidewalk to the north of Harbor View Marina (HVM).  In pursuit, I noticed the cart had went through the sidewalks of Waterfront Park at a fairly good clip and into the Ludington Municipal Marina (LMM), it was being driven by a marina employee.  

Vowing to catch the same behavior the next day, I once again went to the area in my best nautical clothing and with camera in hand on Friday morning.  This is the first year the City of Ludington is responsible for both marinas, so I figured this shortcut was likely to be used in order to transport people and goods between marinas.  Employees use two or three golf carts in the course of a day's work.  I found one parked at HVM's fueling peninsula, the other I found being driven down LMM's 'A' dock by one of their youthful workers.

Shortly thereafter he zoomed out the entrance towards the other marina utilizing the park's sidewalks for his travel, and going too quick for me to catch up and get a good picture.  Using the map below, he went from the leftmost dock (highlighted) to the other paths highlighted through the family-friendly park's sidewalks.  It was the path I had seen the previous day in reverse:

 

I needed to wait along a few minutes for his return in an innocuous spot, but I caught the speedy cart on its way back (it's behind the trees here, zipping through this area):

It appeared as if he had made a run out to get hydration, because there was a five gallon cooler on the end of the golf cart.  He took it out to the place he was originally noticed, 'A' dock.  The red arrow points to where the cart ended up.  

I waited around long enough to catch him traveling on his way back, the two marina patrons get between the camera and the cart much like that earlier tree did:

If you've been to the LMM, you may have noticed that the docks are not the widest, 'A' dock at its thinnest is just a little over 5' wide due to storage containers, and these golf carts are a little over 4' wide.  

So here's a brief overview of what problems I saw and some insight on what can be done to solve those problems.  

The marina hires a young staff, if they are under 16 or don't have a driver's license (not just a learner's permit) they can't legally drive these carts anywhere in Ludington.  Presuming they meet those qualifications, these golf carts should not be driven on sidewalks; it's against state and local law:  "A golf cart shall not be operated on a sidewalk constructed for the use of pedestrians."

Likewise in Ludington, "All golf carts intended for street use shall be registered and the owners or operators of those golf carts shall register such golf carts prior to operating the same on any city street, at no cost, with the Ludington Police Department and receive a registration sticker. The registration sticker must be affixed in plain view on the driver's side of the golf cart below the seating area at all times it is operated on city streets."

You will find no such registration sticker on any of the marina's golf carts (see picture above), yet you see these golf carts on the street at times too.  The same agency that makes a law requiring registration stickers for golf carts ignores putting them on their own, making it hard to report which of their two or three golf carts was illegally riding on the sidewalk.

Lastly, and most importantly, is that these kids are driving these golf carts on piers that are only about a foot wider than the carts, and any mistake or inattention could send them and their vehicle into the marina waters, potentially injuring or killing the driver and requiring a large price tag to fish out and repair the cart.  

It was about two and a half years ago when city employees were riding their golf cart on the much-wider flat part of the breakwall when the cart and driver went tumbling into the rocky waters of Lake Michigan.  Fortunately for all, the driver wasn't hurt, but that incident cost a lot to mitigate, and it should have never happened since the law only allows operation of carts on streets, not piers.

Nothing was learned, other than occupational safety and laws can be freely ignored if you are employed by the City of Ludington.

[Willy]

Good points X. Especially allowing the young workers to ignore the law. I wonder how many of the marina staff are family members or friends of city officials and I also wonder if these jobs were posted and open to the public. 

[XLFD]

Willy, I don't know whether we are both mentally on the same wavelength, but I sent out a FOIA request earlier today to get some answers to those two very questions.  I put this up on the Ludington Pitchfork on Facebook, and got some grief from present and past city marina workers.  They really had no point other than that the registration stickers are on the carts, they are on the sides of the door-- so if one sideswipes you when it's using the sidewalk or pier unlawfully, you can't take down a number as they speed off.  I stand corrected on that count.

These elitist youths think they are doing essential work, when all they are doing is pumping gas and getting paid by the heavily state-subsidized public marinas in the process of ruining the market for private marinas.  Meanwhile, many small businesses in the state are forced to remain shut while wealthy boaters use the public marinas and the superfluous labor force they always have.