Source: Daily Evergreen (WSU)
Just a few months before Washington State University Capital Planning and Development hope to begin constructing a new 18-hole golf course for the WSU campus, opposition has sprung up.
Pullman resident Scotty Cornelius, a Geology lab manager at WSU, filed public comments saying the golf course will use declining groundwater and destroy a natural trail and park.
"Our wells are in serious decline -- WSU levels are going down in a linear fashion," Cornelius said. "They (Capital Planning) are focused on going forward regardless of environment concerns."
Mel Taylor, WSU Business Affairs director of Special Projects and External Relations, said this is not true.
"We are not insensitive to water issues," Taylor said.
WSU is planning on reclaiming water from runoff, Taylor said. However, he could not comment on details of the process and how the school plans to preserve water resources because the school is in the middle of an environmental impact process.
The Washington State Department of Ecology Web site describes a State Environmental Policy Act process as "a way to identify possible environmental impacts that may result from governmental decisions."
Information provided during the SEPA review process helps agency decision-makers, applicants and the public understand how a proposal will change or effect the local environment, according to the Web site.
Taylor said the school wants to make sure they address and answer concerns. He also said he doesn't see any reason why the process will not go forward.
Many people and groups are in support of the golf course expansion-including Mayor Glenn Johnson, the Pullman City Council, local developers and the Chamber of Commerce, he said.
Cornelius said the city council has been pro-water conservation and even provides low-flow shower heads.
"(But) what's the point when you use 30 million additional (gallons of water) on the golf course?" he said.
Taylor said an 18-hole golf course is an asset that is needed to go forward into the future and helping to bring growth to the Palouse and the university.
While Cornelius acknowledged this potential benefit, he questions whether the university is focused on education and the students.
"There's been some talk about possibly excluding students on weekends (from play)," he said.
Cornelius said he has been attending city council meetings and talking to people from Capital Planning and Development. He said he knows what he knows because of this and from "just being around for 34 years."
Cornelius is also co-chair of the Campus Trails Committee and said the expansion of the golf course would also wipe out the historic Old Carriage Road and place a paved road and parking lot adjacent to Roundtop Park.
Old Carriage Road is what remains from a road that used to run from Pullman to Moscow. It is lined with more than 100 silver maple trees.
"The Old Carriage Road could be a superb aesthetic and historical recreational connector between the recently built Student Recreation Center and Roundtop Park," according to a Campus Trails Committee report dated Feb. 14. "The proposed course expansion is more than 300 acres and the course architect could not accommodate the road in the design."
"It is uncalled for to expand (the golf course) by three times and not include the road," Cornelius said.
Roundtop Park consists of a system of trails and several benches. Cornelius said the park is a place for people to escape the effects of motorized society.
Cornelius is also concerned about how WSU administration will pay for the golf course.
Taylor said the golf course will be funded entirely with private contributions, will take about two years to complete and will cost approximately $8.4 million.
Cornelius is still suspicious, however.
"Central administration and Mel Taylor have not been forthcoming about finances," he said.
Cornelius wants to know who the donors to the golf course are, how much they are giving and how much the administration has already raised.
After the SEPA process is complete, Taylor said the school will be able to comment on how water will be conserved of and where the process stands.