COLUMBUS, Ind. — The Columbus Parks Board has approved a 2021 general fund budget without any funding for golf, leaving it up to the Columbus City Council as to whether the city will support the Greenbelt Golf Course next year.
The parks board decision includes the intention to close city-owned Greenbelt Golf Course and turn over management of Par 3 to Otter Creek’s management team, meaning the parks department would effectively exit the golf business.
However, the board also voted to include in their decision an addendum that the board would be willing to reconsider keeping Greenbelt open for at least another year if the Columbus City Council approves an additional $176,000 for the parks general fund budget.
“If the city council chose to approve a larger budget that accommodated golf, they could make those changes on Oct. 6 and the subsequent meeting on Oct. 20,” park board attorney Michael P. DeArmitt said.
Oct. 6 is the scheduled date for the first reading of the park department’s general fund budget. If the council decides to provide extra funds after the first reading, the parks board has to approve the change.
The addendum followed an impassioned request from city councilman at-large Tom Dell, who attended the meeting. Dell said that he and other city council members would be willing to find the funds for an additional golf subsidy because of how much the course means to their constituents.
“Give everybody a year to find out whether this community really is going to stand up and say, ‘We’re going to support this golf course,’ or not,” Dell said.
He asked the parks department to stay in the golf business, as did fellow councilman David Bush.
For more on this story, see Saturday’s Republic.
