By Betsy Finklea
The City of Dillon Municipal Golf Course was discussed at a recent meeting.
Davis said he didn’t think it was time to jump in the golf course in depth right now because the lease is not up until May 31, 2018, but that didn’t mean they can’t ask questions.
Davis said there are two golf courses in Marion County that are closing and that will hopefully pick up play in Dillon. He said there were rumors about another golf course closing. He said he talked with Councilman Phil Wallace and said they either had to increase play or up their rates. “I agree we can’t keep going the way we’re going with the golf course,” Davis said. He said he asked Wallace and City Manager Glen Wagner to bring something next month about adjusting rates at the golf course. He said that he thought they were too low and needed to see if the golf course could carry that increased fee.
Davis said the time was fast approaching when they were going to have to make a decision. He said based on the rates and the play so far he knew where they were – “in the red deep” and so they were going to have to make a change on some things with the golf course. Davis said they had plenty of time.
Eller said the concern he had and he thought the citizens needed to know this was that the county has given them $200,000 that went all to the golf course. He said that money was lost, and they couldn’t do anything about it. He said then one goes to the hospitality fund and the city lost another $600,000. Eller said this is $800,000, and there is another 15 months in this lease.
He asked if they raise the rates and do all this other stuff, how much time do we give before they say they can’t take anymore. He asked were they going to continue the lease until the end or were they going to three, four, or five months from now say they can’t go anymore. Davis said they had signed a lease. Eller said it doesn’t say in the lease that they can’t get out of it.
Wagner said if they get out they would still owe the balance.
Eller said they could have used a lot of that money at the sports complex to make it pretty and do some things.
“I’m not against the golf course if we made halfway the money, but we lost $800,000,” said Eller.
Davis said that was what he was getting at. Eller said he was going to leave it like that.
Wagner said if they said today they were getting out of it he thought they would be bound to pay out the remainder of the lease which is $30,000 per year and lease of the golf carts at $25,000 per year.
Wagner said it will be a good thing to see those other courses closing if they pick up any play and if they go up on their rates what is going to happen. He said these are questions that will be answered between now and July.
In the council member reports, Mayor Todd Davis noted that there are a number of things that the city does that run in the red. He said the Wellness Center runs in the red. The recreation programs run in the red. The police department runs in the red. The Water and Sewer Department runs in the red. He said there are a “lot of things” that the city does that do not make money on, but they need them.
Councilman John Braddy said that this was such a “valid point.” He said when one talks about economic development and growth and attracting new families that the city has to have a nice-looking downtown, restaurants, and quality of life, such as things to do if there is any hope of attracting and retaining them. He said this is one of the first things they look at. He said if you want to attract new young doctors, professionals, or plant managers, the city has to have a golf course, recreational facilities, a wellness center. He said he felt that this is just one of those things that they know that they have to tighten up on the management of and grow the revenues, but it is a vital part of what is needed in Dillon to help us go forward.
       Councilman Eller then added more comments. He said he wasn’t going to say anything until Councilman Braddy brought it up. He said in the hospitality fund they budget $520,000. He said they pay the mortgage to the Wellness Center out of it for $240,000. He said that they have lost $117,000 this year as they speak at the golf course, and they lost $146,000 this past year at the Wellness Center. He said if that doesn’t take your $520,000 for those three things; we’re not making any money. “We’ve got to do a better job,” said Eller. Braddy said that’s what he just said we’ve got to do a better job of tightening expenses and growing the revenue. “What we need to do,” said Eller, “is get rid of the golf course.” The Council then moved to other matters.