THE WEDGEFIELD EXAMINER HAS COPIED AND REPRINTED THE FOLLOWING TO THE BEST OF MY ABILITY. GAPS ARE CAUSED BY PICTURES IN THE ARTICLE NOT PRINTING. THE CONTENT IS WORTH YOUR TIME SPENT READING.
County considers purchasing
Wedgefield Golf Course
Before Wedgefield Golf Course closed, the First Tee
program held weekly clinics and its annual tournament on the course.
Tommy
Howard/South Strand News
Wedgefield residents packed the Family Worship Center
to capacity June 1 for a meeting about the golf course.
Tommy
Howard/South Strand News
Wedgefield residents sign petitions indicating their
support of Georgetown County purchasing the golf course.
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People living in the Wedgefield
community north of Georgetown have their homework cut out for them.
About a year ago, the golf course
at Wedgefield closed. The course, pool, Manor House clubhouse and other
amenities are now owned by a bank, and Georgetown County is considering whether
or not to buy them.
During a February planning
retreat, Georgetown County Council directed Brian Tucker to look into a
possible purchase of the golf course.
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Tucker, director of Economic
Development for the county, has been looking into the various amenities.
After several months, with
various rumors circulating about the golf course, Tucker asked for a meeting
with all interested property owners in the Wedgefield community.
Several hundred people came out
June 1 for a meeting at the Family Worship Center on Wedgefield Road.
Roger Armistead, who heads up an
ad hoc committee formed to arrange the meeting, told a capacity crowd, “We’re
here to listen to Brian Tucker … He will tell us what’s going on about the
purchase of the golf course.”
The bottom line is, the county
buying the golf course is a definite maybe.
Tucker said several interested
parties have come out to look over the various amenities. One group was to
visit Wedgefield Friday, in fact, with engineers, a brick mason and others to
help in performing due diligence for that private group.
If a business group or partnership
is interested and decides to purchase the golf course and other amenities from
a bank that foreclosed on the property, then the county would step aside.
Tucker told the crowd that he
likes to play golf, and he enjoys it, but he’s not one who would be able to
manage a golf course.
On the other hand, if that
particular prospect or some other party does not buy it, the county would
consider stepping in.
If that were to happen, he
explained, a likely scenario would be the county would buy the property, put it
out to bid for a company to manage the golf course, and work to get it in good
shape to make it into a public golf course open to the general public.
This is where the homework
assignment comes in to play.
Benefits and downside
Tucker said a number of Wedgefield
residents have talked with him or sent him e-mails about the property.
“We absolutely understand both
the direct and indirect benefits of the course to be operational,” he said.
Local high school golf teams have
had difficulties finding a place to play. Also, the First Tee program helps
youngsters learn about golf and it also incorporates a number of life lessons
into the program.
“Recreational opportunities are a
benefit” as well.
“I can promise you, we have
looked at the direct and indirect benefits.”
“We also realize,” he continued,
“there are some downsides.”
Tucker said those include the
cost to buy, fix up and operate the golf course and the other amenities.
Operations and Maintenance expenses are unknown, he added.
“We try to be careful in spending
your tax dollars. We believe we could purchase the golf course for about
$700,000,” he said. "Renovations would be expensive. We have been told a
range from $300,000 up to $1 million. You could get it playable for $300,000.”
“If you go to the opposite end of
the spectrum at $1 million, it would look great and everybody would like
it," Tucker said. "We can operate it for about $500,000 – but it
would not be the showplace you want it to be.” To do that would take more
money."
Income and revenues
“We estimate between actual
rounds and memberships, that there would be between $400,000 to $700,000 per
year in revenues - all of those are big spreads," Tucker said. "We do
not know right now, the purchase, operational cost and revenue. We anticipate a
$200,000 to $300,000 deficit per year for three to five years ...
“I think this course is a
phenomenal asset,” he told the crowd.
Step back
“As a local government, we really
have to take a step back," Tucker told the crowd. "Is there a role
for us in operating a golf course? The core function of government is to do
things the private sector cannot do. We are very leery about pushing into
private sector business. Also, our charge is to take into consideration the
best interests of our local residents ...
“I am not saying we will not buy
it. We want to give the private sector the opportunity.”
What’s next?
“Let’s go forward, say several
months, if the real estate agent tells us no one is going to buy it. Then
still, we have to pay for it, figure out how to operate it,” Tucker said.
"As far as I know, there’s nobody I know in county government that has
ever run a golf course. If I were to make a recommendation to my bosses, I
would say we buy it, and bid it out to find someone with a track record to
operate it. If we do that, still, how do we deal with it? There’s a potential
loss for several years. The only thing that makes sense, is the community has
to buy into it ...
“For it to work, and for the
county to pursue it, there’s going to have to be a financial commitment from
Wedgefield property owners.”
Do the math
There are about 500 property
owners in Wedgefield, Tucker said. If you figure an estimated $250,000 loss per
year, “that’s $500 per property owner per year for as long as it takes to make
it profitable.”
“There’s two ways to approach
that – a homeowners assessment or a special tax district,” Tucker said.
For the second way, “you come to
us, say you want to do this.”
Part of that process would be
determining such things as whether people who live on the golf course would pay
a higher fee than those who have property further away from the golf course.
Later, someone asked about a fee
for an undeveloped lot.
For all of that, Tucker said, it
would be up to Wedgefield residents to come up with a plan that they can agree
upon.
“If the county owns it, it has to
be available and affordable to other residents of the county.”
He pointed out that Wedgefield
property owners could potentially play a round of golf for $25, for example,
while a non-Wedgefield golfer would pay $30 or more per round of golf.
This is where the homework for
the Wedgefield residents comes into play.
The right questions
“The thing we’re doing right now,
we’re trying to ask the right questions and come to the right
conclusions," Tucker said. "We think there is considerable private
sector interest. I would be happy right now if somebody would show up and buy
the golf course."
Under South Carolina law, setting
up a special tax district would require that 75 percent of the property owners
would have to agree on a petition to the county, with requirements set out with
the fee structure included.
“The solution is not simple, it’s
not easy, and it’s not fun. It’s just the unpleasant reality,” he said. “I like
simple. Simple does not exist right now.”
Tucker stressed that whether the
private sector or the county buys the golf course and other amenities, “the
Wedgefield property owners will have to support it in order to make it work.”
After a series of questions from the
audience, Tucker asked people to sign a paper indicating their support of the
county buying the golf course and related amenities. He assured people their
signatures are simply to figure out the level of support. They carry no legal
weight, he said.
“I legitimately am trying to
figure out where we are on this,” Tucker said. “Within this neighborhood, you
are going to have to get real and honest with each other and reach decisions.”
