Source: The Kansas City Star
A citizens group proposing a scaled back, $3.5 million plan to renovate Olathe's closed municipal golf course delivered its first documentation to the City Council this week.
The group's vision calls for a revamped 5,500-yard course on the same land where the current course sits, but with a safer layout, professional tees, fairways and greens, and improved maintenance features. It could be profitable immediately, according to the group's research.
Mayor Michael Copeland, who opposed the approved plans for a more expensive 7,000-yard course in 2003, praised the efforts.
"Let me first commend you and your group for taking such a keen interest in this project," he said in a planning session during the council's regular Tuesday meeting. "The passion that is out there is wonderful, and I think that is what we need."
The city's current plans are tied up in a legal battle with Prairie Highlands Golf Course, a private endeavor that opened in Olathe three years ago. The judge initially threw out Prairie Highlands' lawsuit against the city, and the decision was upheld on initial appeal. A second appeal is ongoing, with Prairie Highlands claiming the city was trying to unfairly subsidize a direct competitor.
Prairie Highlands recently offered a settlement, in which it would drop the suit and endorse the citizens' plans if the city chose to pursue that, and only that, option. The City Council, after an executive session review of that offer Tuesday, approved a counteroffer, but City Attorney Tom Glinstra said the details have not been released to the public. He also said Prairie Highlands possibly wouldn't receive the counteroffer until after this week.
Joe Vader, a 40-year Olathe resident and member of the citizens group, said theirs was a community effort by residents who enjoyed Lakeside Hills while it was open and want to see the asset returned for the city. It served many Olathe golfers who are now without a good place to play.
The group wants the course rebuilt for Olathe's high school golfers, for newcomers to the game as a place to learn, and for lifetime golfers as a place to enjoy an affordable round. They project an 18-hole greens fee of $20 and $12 more for a cart.
They project 30,000 rounds of golf would be attainable.
Steve Baysinger, Olathe's community and neighborhood services director, said in the years before Lakeside Hills closed, about 22,000 rounds were played annually. Asked if 30,000 rounds seemed to be a reasonable estimate, he said it's difficult to tell.
"You're kind of trying to crystal ball it, and I don't think anybody can definitively say you'll reach those (rounds-of-play figures)," Baysinger said.
He said the brief overview of the citizen group's plans the city received was lacking details needed to evaluate the projections, including the financial ones that affect the bottom line. City staff will evaluate the information, but Baysinger said he is limited in commenting on the plans because of the pending litigation.
The city still wants to have the option of pursuing the $6.7 million plan the council approved in 2003, but no progress can be made on that front until the lawsuit is ultimately resolved.
Vader, an attorney, also served on the citizens' committee that advised city staff and, in the end, recommended the more expensive "championship" course. He is a former city attorney and served two terms on Olathe's Parks and Recreation Board.
Vader examined the recent city-commissioned consultant's report and helped refine the financial projections for the new proposal.
At 30,000 rounds, annual operations would net $257,500 over expenses. Payments on any money the city would borrow would come out of that.
Vader said that would be "more than adequate" to cover those payments.
"It looks like to me it's very, very feasible to rebuild Lakeside Hills in a reasonable style, and it will pay for itself," he said.
Another member of the group, Chad Weinand, was given the job of course designer. He said his more than four years of experience at a golf course architecture firm and his professional resources for research make him confident in the reliability of the group's estimated construction costs. Included in the upgrades are greens improvements to United States Golf Association standards, high-quality sod fairways and tees, new paved golf cart paths and an irrigation system the existing course lacks.
"If you went to go build it today, those numbers would hold true," Weinand said.
What is missing from the plans is a new clubhouse. The existing clubhouse is in disrepair and has been vandalized, but many in the group feel it is salvageable as a maintenance building. Until a clubhouse can be financed, temporary trailers could be used for the needed office space and pro shop.
One possibility the group is examining is to build a combined clubhouse and community center that could be rented for weddings and parties, and money for such a center has already been set aside. Baysinger said $5 million to $6 million for an intergenerational community center of some variety has been earmarked as part of the recent park sales tax extension.
He said that at the request of the council, city staff would review the plans and bring the information back to them for review at a study session. Pinning down the financial figures and generally getting more details is key.
"I think we just have to start there," Baysinger said.
