While the Arnold City Council has approved a 2020 budget that effectively ends operations at the Arnold Golf Club, the course may remain open, but under an agreement with a company that would take over the operating expenses, City Administrator Bryan Richison said.
Arnold officials allocated just $105,822 for the Golf Club in the budget for this fiscal year, which begins Sept. 1 and ends Aug. 31, 2020, and that would ultimately decommission the course.
However, the city is negotiating a potential lease agreement with Walters Golf Management, and if an agreement is reached, the company would lease the golf course from the city and cover the expenses to operate it, Richison said.
Arnold paid Walters Golf Management $40,000 last year to oversee the course’s operation, but the city covered all the costs to run it.
“Everything is very tentative on both sides,” Richison said. “They have some concerns. I think they will look for some (financial) support from the city for the first couple of years, until they can get things running the way they would want. We are concerned about the city continuing to invest money in the course after all we have invested in it.”
Richison said the city has spent more than $7 million on buying and operating the golf course since taking over ownership in 2007.
He said it is doubtful the city will reach a deal with Walters Golf Management before Aug. 31, which is when the course would cease to operate as a city facility under the approved budget.
However, he said if negotiations with Walters Golf Management are progressing, he would ask the council to amend the budget in September to keep the course open for a while longer.
“I would think if we don’t have an agreement with Walters by the end of September, we probably will not have one,” Richison said. “It is an intriguing option for us. It is a way to still have a golf course without the city continually losing money on it forever. Our goal is to stop losing money on that property.”
The council voted 6-1 to approve the budget, with Ward 3 Councilman Vern Sullivan casting the lone no vote. Ward 1 Councilman Jason Fulbright was absent from the meeting.
“The city administration did a great job of putting this budget together, but they didn’t put money in there for the golf course to continue,” Sullivan said. “I was the last person to vote, and my vote didn’t make a difference one way or the other. I voted no because they know I want money in there for the golf course.”
Ward 4 Councilman Gary Plunk, who said he reluctantly voted yes to approve the budget, and Sullivan said they are happy the city is exploring a way to keep the course open.
“If the golf course has to go away, that is what it is,” Plunk said. “I like this approach of trying to get a different way to handle it before you do away with it.”