The City of Columbus will be organizing an advisory committee to look at the operations of its Greenbelt and Par 3 courses as discussions about the city’s golf offerings continue.
According to director of sports programs Nikki Murphy, the golf advisory committee will include at least two liaison positions, filled by one park board member and one city council member, as well as five other roles that will be held by “qualified members of the community.”
These five members will each focus on one of the following areas: league growth and sustainability; benchmarking and development; ladies’ and youth development; outreach and fundraising; and expansion of course offerings.
Mark Jones, director of parks and recreation, said at Thursday’s parks board meeting that the parks staff is looking at “active” golf course members to fill some committee positions. He said that the liaison positions might potentially be filled by city council member Tim Shuffett and parks board member Josh Burnett. He and Murphy said that city council member and parks board liaison Grace Kestler might also serve as a committee liaison as well.
“The role of the committee will be to help collectively contribute to the continued improvement of course facilities, operations and policies,” Murphy told the Republic. “All of which will offer our golf pro and superintendent additional support and contribute to helping us achieve our annual goals.”
Mary Ferdon, the city’s executive director of administration and community development, emphasized that the committee is intended collect data and provide recommendations to the parks board, but its members should not argue for or against the courses.
“This is an advisory group; this is not an advocacy group,” she said. She added that Mayor Jim Lienhoop plans to also create a larger panel that “looks at golf as a whole” at some point in the future.
Murphy said that the committee, along with parks board and department staff, will also “work to set parameters in place that help us to define ‘success’ on an annual basis.”
“The advisory committee will play a role in assisting the park board and city administration to establish a fair and appropriate annual subsidy amount for both Greenbelt and Par 3 golf courses,” she added. “Their assistance will come mostly by providing data but also offering professional opinions about topics that are associated with this discussion.”
Jones said that the department and city administration will need to have a tentative subsidy number in mind by about May or June of 2021.
Columbus City Council recently voted to transfer $176,000 from its budget into the parks’ non-reverting fund to pay for golf expenses. This amount allowed the parks department to keep Greenbelt open for another year and continue to manage both courses.
The decision was made as part of the 2021 city budget, which was approved on its first reading on Oct. 6. The second reading, which is required for final approval, is set for the council’s Oct. 20 meeting. Jones said that the parks board will vote on its non-reverting budget on Nov. 12.
Parks board president Mark Levett said that while he is “thrilled” to have received the subsidy for 2021, he has heard that the city won’t be able to afford the same level of subsidy for 2022.
He also said that in the future, the parks board will likely discuss the possibility of changing Greenbelt to “be more of a youth golf course” and closing Par 3 as a result. He also hopes to discuss the committee’s potential goals at the board’s November meeting and then vote on the goals in December.
Murphy said that once the advisory committee is formed, the city will post information about the members and their roles on its website, as well as the Facebook page (@ColumbusINGolf) for its golf courses. She also said that the committee will meet over the next couple of weeks to discuss next year’s rate structure for both golf courses, as Levett noted that rates will need to be increased in the future in order to help reduce the golf subsidy.
Murphy said that the committee’s meetings will most likely not be open to the public.
“As these are not formal boards, but rather working groups, we do not believe that committee meetings will be held as public meetings, as we will need to make effective use of time during these meetings to accomplish our agenda items,” she said. “However, there will be opportunities for public input and also public involvement in subcommittees that will undoubtedly arise from the main committee meetings and goals.”
