OOPS!

[mikeraydj]

I went to one of my favorite places to detect yesterday. The old county fairgrounds. Found a lot of clad there and a few rings. I was told by the head of the county that it was ok to detect there and I have all summer. They also have a baseball field and rodeo grounds there that I have been wanting to hit. They are fenced, so like an idiot I went to the fairgrounds office and asked the fairgrounds manager who is not the head of the county, if I might be able to detect those areas as well. BIG MISTAKE! She said that I couldn't and in fact there is no detecting allowed at the fairgrounds at all. I told her I had talked with the head of the county and he said it was ok. She said she couldn't believe he gave me permission because their insurance company says no. She said that she would talk to him and call me with a final answer. I haven't heard back from her. When I call she is out, or my call goes to voicemail. I try to be a law abiding citizen and ask permission or look up the city or county ordinances. This was one situation where I should have let a sleeping dog lie.

 

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[Tom_in_CA]

You have just became the latest victim of the psychology of: "Sometimes no one cares. ...... UNTIL you ask "

In the future , as you yourself note :

You look up the rules for yourself . If there's no rule saying "no metal detecting ", well then presto : It's not prohibited .

yours is a classic example . Thanks for posting of the lesson learned .

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Their insurance company says "no" to detecting at a county fairgrounds?

Roller coasters and demolition derby are probably OK but that highly risky metal detecting is out?

I'd say that's an untruth. Ask her for the name of their insurance carrier. Bet $1 she has no idea who it is and has never heard a peep about metal detecting from them.

 

[stefen]

Take a mirror and see if she was blowing smoke up you know where...

 

[justdon]

When i started detecting i just went to the fair grounds and started hunting.Just about everybody that works there knows me so once in a while when i go into the fenced in areas nobody says anything about it.I have never ask anybody out there where i can detect and nobdy says a word to me about where iam detecting.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Justdon , You know what that means , don't you !!?? Some people would think your situation shows that it's. 1) ok, & 2) No one cares . BUT ON THE CONTRARY : It means you didn't ask enough bureacrats "can I ?"

You need to go to a bunch of pencil pushers asking permission . Be sure to use words like "dig", "holes", "remove", "take", "risk", "insurance", "sue", "cultural heritage", & "Indian bone". Ok now hurry : go do the right thing !

 

[stefen]

Take a mirror and see if she was blowing smoke up you know where...

 

[jeff of pa]

actually my guess all insurance carriers will say no don't allow it.
Simply because of fear & greed. They want their payments,
but their main job is to avoid making payments.
so even if there is the chance of a broken fingernail they will
have to say no, to cover their arses.

Think about it though, the whole reason the fair committee purchased insurance is for protection... so why Worry ?

Yes Mike you screwed up it's the reason I never enter a Office
to ask permission, Unless someone lower or the Totom insists I can't be doing what I am.
Only go over someones head if there is a Possibility of a positive answer
to beat a Negative reaction.

Yes in this case you may have thought the manager was below the head
of the County. But When the Manager is a Female they may have a chip on their shoulder . & need to push their weight.

 

[justdon]

Yea right tom.Doing that makes unimportant people feel important when they get the chance to say no.

 

[mikeraydj]

As a follow up, I finally got to talk to the fairgrounds manager, she said they checked their insurance and the insurance company said there was no problem with metal detecting as long as there are no unfilled holes. I was even given permission to hunt the rodeo grounds and she will let me know on the baseball field as it is fenced and locked during the off season. She said she would tell her staff to let me detect. Woo Hoo! I told her that I would not do anything to harm the grounds and if I found anything historical to the fairgrounds, I would be happy to return it to them. I thanked her and told her I looked forward to having a good relationship with her and their staff.

 

[jeff of pa]

I guess they figured worse Case, You clean up a little

 

[Higgy]

I'm happy to hear that you finally got an okay, Mike.

I hope you get lots of great finds!

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Mike , thanx for the followup report . Although the answer ended up being "yes", yet you can see it's still highly nebulous . So your "oops " title is still relevant , if you ask me.

In cases of "yes", it still does not imply to me : "see , it was a good thing I asked, and permission was therefore necessary "... Because it could just as easily have gone both ways .

 

[mikeraydj]

I agree. In most all cases I go with if there is no law against it I hunt it. If I am asked to leave I leave. In this case I had already found out county land was ok to hunt. But I was looking to expand my search to a couple of fenced areas that for one involved a locked gate and the other, was unsure of the ownership of the property. I was not expecting to get the flat ban on the fairgrounds. Thankfully it worked out ok. I guess everyone has to check their own gut as to their detecting sites.

 

[jeff of pa]

I agree. In most all cases I go with if there is no law against it I hunt it. If I am asked to leave I leave. In this case I had already found out county land was ok to hunt. But I was looking to expand my search to a couple of fenced areas that for one involved a locked gate and the other, was unsure of the ownership of the property. I was not expecting to get the flat ban on the fairgrounds. Thankfully it worked out ok. I guess everyone has to check their own gut as to their detecting sites.

Actually in allot of Cases at least here in PA

Fair Grounds are Not Public Property.

Most are owned & run by a Committee , Which means odds are there is at least one person
on that Committee who thinks their crap don't stink.. so you got very Lucky.

as Usually grounds Keepers are the best bet at Places like that.