Staff Reports
City officials are considering a proposal to close city-owned Greenbelt Golf Course and consolidate golf offerings at newly-acquired Otter Creek.
In an opinion column published in today’s Republic, Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop cautions local residents to remember that this is the city’s proposal of where it would like to go — and the ultimate decision resides with the Columbus City Council and Columbus Parks and Recreation Board.
“Yes, we have put a lot of work into charting a course, but if those two groups say no, then we’re back to the drawing board,” the mayor said.
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The city plans to use Wednesday’s planned public information session at The Commons, a Columbus City Council meeting on July 21 and two parks board meetings to publicly discuss the proposal and determine the decision, Lienhoop said.
The first meeting will be from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at The Commons, 300 S. Washington St. The proposal will also be discussed at a Columbus Parks Board meeting on July 9 which will be livestreamed from City Hall. It will also be on the Columbus City Council meeting’s agenda at 6 p.m. July 21 and at a special parks board meeting on Aug. 3.
The city’s golf courses — Greenbelt, Par 3 and the recent addition of Otter Creek — have faced financial difficulties recently, much of it due to inclement weather and the city’s analysis that perhaps there are too many holes available for the city’s golfing enthusiasts.
Pam Harrell, director of business services at the parks department, said Greenbelt’s losses for 2018 totaled $114,800 and Par 3’s were $15,700 — $130,500 between the two courses. In 2019, Greenbelt’s total losses were $136,000 and Par 3’s were $24,000 — $160,000 between the two courses.
“We’ve been thinking about what to do about golf in Columbus since before the start of the year,” said Lienhoop earlier in 2020. “…We now have 54 holes of public golf in Columbus among Otter Creek, Par 3 and Greenbelt, and, as I said earlier on, our intuition tell us that’s too many holes, so there would come a time when we would need to review where we were and make a recommendation as to how we should proceed. I had anticipated that we would do that in the fall when we anticipate doing our budget for 2021. But the pandemic and the associated revenue loss has sort of moved our timetable up a little bit.”
The city assumed full control of Otter Creek Golf Course in January after Cummins Inc. decided to reduce its involvement in the course. After a difficult summer season in 2019 due to rain, Cummins and the Heritage Fund — the Community Foundation of Bartholomew County each loaned the course $250,000.
Also, the city advanced $150,000 from economic development funds to help Otter Creek handle February and March expenses while also preparing for the summer.
Otter Creek, at 11522 E. County Road 50N, was a gift to the city from Cummins, Inc. in 1963, when J. Irwin Miller and the company agreed that a great golf course would increase Columbus’ attractiveness for those who chose to live or visit here, city officials said. An additional nine holes on the course was gifted to the city in 1995.
However, Cummins, which Mayor Jim Lienhoop said has made remarkable investments in Columbus for the past 100 years, decided to reduce its involvement in the Otter Creek Management Corp., the governing board for the golf course.
When the course was gifted to the city, its management was designed to the not-for-profit management corporation, led by a seven-member board. Five members were appointed by Cummins, and two were appointed by the city. With the change, all five Cummins appointees on the board resigned, and new appointments were made by Lienhoop. They are John McCormick, Tom Harmon, Karen Niverson, Dave McKinney and Rich Gold, Lienhoop said.
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Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop provides guest commentary on a proposal to close city-owned Greenbelt Golf Course and consolidate golf operations through Otter Creek. To read the column, see Page B5.
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The city’s meeting about city golf courses will be at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the upper level of The Commons, 300 Washington St. in downtown Columbus. Social distancing will be observed meaning there will be limited seating at The Commons. Those who attend are asked to wear masks.
Those who are not able to attend or are not comfortable doing so can watch the meeting’s livestream at the city’s website at columbus.in.gov/video/live-streaming/. Questions can be sent to [email protected] before and during the meeting; comments may be sent to the same address.
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