Pierce County has selected the company that manages Bandon Dunes on the Oregon coast to run a proposed world-class golf course on county-owned land in University Place.
The addition of KemperSports Management, which manages more than 70 golf courses, completes a team of designers and engineers hired to create a professional-caliber course at the 930-acre Chambers Creek Properties, a former gravel mine with a spectacular Puget Sound view.
The other members of the team are: renowned golf course architect Robert Trent Jones II of Palo Alto, Calif.; Berger/Abam Engineers Inc. of Federal Way; and clubhouse architect Miller/Hull Partnership of Seattle.
Pierce County has signed contracts totaling about $ 540,000 to pay those companies for their work. That money is coming from $ 1.3 million in sewer fees approved by the County Council in May to pay for the design of the golf course.
The county announced only the selection of Northbrook, Ill.-based KemperSports this week, said Tony Tipton, project manager for the county. No contracts have been signed.
The county plans to negotiate the first of two contracts with KemperSports over the next 30 days, Tipton said. Under the first contract, the company will act as a consultant to the county during the design of the golf course. The second contract will spell out the operation of the course. That agreement is expected to be signed next spring or summer, when the design of the course will be clearer, Tipton said.
"It's important to have the person who's operating the facility involved when it's being designed," Tipton said. "We think that lends itself to a much better project that will be easier to operate."
Pierce County will pay KemperSports out of the $ 1.3 million in sewer fees, Tipton said.
However, County Executive John Ladenburg is expected to ask the council to spend more money on the design of the golf course next year, Tipton said.
"We'll be presenting a budget that gets us 100 percent design for the entire project," Tipton said. "We're working on those numbers now with the county executive."
Ladenburg is expected to send his 2005 budget proposal to the council in October.
Councilman Dick Muri (R-Steilacoom), who, along with Councilman Kevin Wimsett (D-Spanaway), voted against spending sewer fees to design the golf course, said he's concerned about the cost of designing the golf course.
"Are we having cost overruns right now with the design?" he said. "How can we go forward with the design when we haven't finished negotiations with University Place and Lakewood? There's a lot of questions that need to be asked."
Under conditions the council placed on the golf course project, county officials must work with the cities of University Place and Lakewood to change the Chambers Creek "master plan" to include lodging as part of the golf course project. Backers of the project have said lodging is a key component to the success of the golf course. Those same conditions also require the county to secure agreements that require University Place and Lakewood to pay for any road improvements that might be needed to alleviate additional traffic generated by the project.
Ladenburg is proposing a 27-hole, Scottish links-style golf course on 275 acres of the 930-acre Chambers Creek Properties.
The course is projected to cost between $ 12.7 million and $ 16.9 million to build. It's intended to transform a former gravel mine into an economic engine and vehicle for disposing of treated water and biosolids at the county's regional wastewater treatment plant.
Under Ladenburg's plan, the county would cover the construction and startup costs by selling bonds and then use revenue from the golf course to pay off the debt. County officials also plan to use revenue from the golf course to pay for other public projects, including an arboretum, a botanical garden, trails and sports fields.
Source: The News Tribune (Tacoma, Wash.)