From: Terry Trautman
Columbus
I am writing in response to the recommendation by the city to close Greenbelt Golf Course. I realize that a new option is now on the table in which a serious buyer would be considered that would keep the course open. However, if that doesn’t happen and the recommendation reverts back to the possible closing of Greenbelt, I have a question.
In the original article, appearing in the Friday, July 10, issue of The Republic, was the following quote, “Greenbelt would be put into the parks department’s 2021 master plan and possibly turned into either a greenspace or a People Trail…”
Whatever that master plan becomes, it will come with an attendant cost. What will a greenspace or People Trail cost compared to losses sustained by Greenbelt as a golf course?
Actually, cost in this situation is twofold: the cost of conversion (the initial investment especially if trails are constructed, trees and shrubs planted, park benches added, etc.) plus what the maintenance costs will be (mowing, weeding, equipment maintenance expenses, labor, etc.).
I assume there will be no revenue generated with this conversion.
In other words, will a greenspace be any less costly than a Greenbelt?
