City to look at alternatives to woes of its municipal golf course

City officials agreed Thursday in an addendum to their 2002 lease agreement with the Carson City Municipal Golf Corporation to allow them to pay $30,000 for fiscal year 2011 rather than the $120,000 annually agreed-upon amount.

A proposal was rejected to lower the payments to $30,000 for the next two years, to $60,000 for 2013, and resume in 2014 the $120,000, which would extend the final payoff date until 2030.

Finance Director Nick Providenti told the board of supervisors that the municipal course, which is operated by the corporation for the city, has fallen on hard times due to the wet weather this year and the economy.

Eagle Valley East originally was built by the city as a less-expensive alternative to handling the city's excess treated effluent, but also to provide affordable golf for residents.

Since the economy has taken a downturn, however, the group selected to operate the course for the city has had difficulty meeting its financial obligations.

But privately owned golf course operators object to what they believe is the city subsidizing of the course.

"I don't think the city has held them accountable. It can be subsidized by the city, but not to the detriment of private sector courses," said Dwight Millard, owner of Empire Ranch Golf Course.

"This needs to be revisited, it needs to be repaired and their rates need to reflect fair market value so competition is fair," he said.

A number of alternatives for solvency were brought forward by officials and residents.

One alternative mentioned was to close a portion of the East Course. The West Course would need to stay in operation, or the property would revert to the Winters Trust.

Resident Rob Joiner suggested converting a portion of the East Course to ball fields so that Carson City could be more competitive in the lucrative tournament business.

"You could keep the West Course, and modify the East for fields that bring tournaments and money" to town, Joiner said.

Another alternative would be for the city to take back operation, but officials believe it would be too costly, with the burden falling onto the taxpayers, even though Providenti agreed that none of the Parks and Recreation programs have 100 percent cost recovery anyway. They are provided, rather, to contribute to quality of life.

Janice Ayres, a former city supervisor, said even though the golf course helped solve the effluent issue, there were other pressing issues.

"It was costing the city so much money to run it, it was killing the taxpayers. It was horrendous, and nobody was standing in line to run it," she said.

"You don't want to go back to running the golf course, believe me," Ayres said. "You think you have budget problems now?"

Mark Sattler, who has been on the golf course board for many years, said the way the course operates right now is the most effective way.

Supervisors ultimately decided unanimously that in order to sort out all the issues related to the golf course, they would need to find a new way.

They directed staff to work with the golf course board within the next six months to establish spending priorities for the time when excess revenues become available, to analyze the options for putting the course on firmer footing and to work on any other issues that need attention.