EL DORADO — The El Dorado City Council has several issues to sort out regarding Lions Club Municipal Golf Course, including rumors that the city might close the financially embattled facility.
Aldermen are expected to address the issues when they convene for a regular meeting at 5:30 p.m. today in the Council Chamber of City Hall.
Discussions about the golf course budget have intensified over the past several months as city officials and the El Dorado Parks and Playgrounds Commission dealt with a significant drop in play for 2016 at Lions Club.
Play was down by approximately 2,000 rounds for the year.
Aldermen called on all city departments to tighten their belts while preparing a 2017 city budget that was expected to have a $1 million revenue shortfall in the general fund.
A major part of the budget preparation process focused on the golf course, which has operated in the red for years.
Last year, state legislative auditors cited the city for continuously carrying over a negative balance for the golf course — a finding that forced the city to transfer more than $100,000 from its general fund to make sure the Lions Club budget remains in the clear.
While the golf course came in under-budget for the year, income remained low and the gap between revenues and expenditures continued to widen.
City council members said drastic measures were likely needed to cut costs at the golf course, as well as ideas to boost revenue.
One step the parks and playgrounds commission took in late January was a vote not to renew the contract Lions Club golf pro Mike Hoelzer, who was hired in April 2014.
Hoelzer’s contract expires on March 31.
As a cheaper alternative, commissioners and city officials agreed to hire a manager to oversee operations at Lions Club.
Speculation about the facility’s future have led to questions about if Lions Club will remain open if it does not become financially solvent.
There has been concern about some golfers deciding not to renew their Lions Club memberships because of the rumors, city officials have said.
Hoelzer is embroiled in a battle for the city to assume the lease of a golf cart fleet that he procured after the city council and parks and playgrounds commission voted in December 2015 to amend his contract, allowing him to purchase the city’s then-aging fleet of golf carts and lease 40 new carts for Lions Club.
The matter became a point of contention during a parks and playgrounds meeting earlier this month when Hoelzer said that he entered into the lease only upon the assurance that the city would assume it if he left Lions Club for any reason.
Forty-two months remain on the lease with monthly payments of $3,017, for a total of cost of $36,000 to the city, should the city take over the lease.
The terms of the lease also allow for golf cart repairs at no cost to the city, Hoelzer said.
City officials have said there is no written document that supports such an agreement between the city and Hoelzer.
Hoelzer previously said that former parks and playgrounds commission chairman Sandy Sanford worked out the arrangement on behalf of the city.
Sanford later said that the matter boiled down to wording in the contract amendment, and he planned to submit a letter to the city clarifying things.
Robert Edmonds, director of public works, said Wednesday that he was not sure if Mayor Frank Hash has received a letter from Sanford.
Hash was out of town and unavailable for comment late Wednesday afternoon.
Edmonds said he plans to present options for golf cart leases to the council today, noting that there are no allocations to cover golf carts in the 2017 city budget.
Also on the council’s agenda is a proposed ordinance to close a portion of Pony Street near Block to make way for facilities that are under construction as part of an $80 – $100 million project to develop an arts and entertainment district on downtown El Dorado.
El Dorado Festivals and Events, Inc., who is implementing the plan, requested the closure as part of negations to purchase property from Union Pacific Railroad.
Tia Lyons may be contacted at 870-862-6611 or by email at tlyons@ eldoradonews.com.