Pricing new grass for Black Gold Golf Course
Next month, the full City Council is expected to tackle one of Yorba Linda’s thorniest financial issues: turf replacement options for the city-owned Black Gold Golf Course.
Recently, the matter has been before the city’s Finance Committee, whose members include Mayor John Anderson and Councilman Mark Schwing. For the past few weeks, the group has narrowed the project and substantially reduced costs from initial estimates.
Last June, the outlay for converting about 170 acres from ryegrass to Hybrid Bermuda was estimated to be nearly $4.8 million, plus a revenue loss of $2.4 million to close all 18 holes at once or $2.7 million to close nine holes at a time during the renovation period.
Earlier this month, the finance body looked at a plan to convert 112 acres of fairways and rough from ryegrass to kikuyugrass and perform soil enhancement for about $1.7 million, with further adjustments likely to be presented at a committee meeting this week.
The change to kikuyugrass would take place over a five-year period “and have the least amount of negative impact on the revenue-generating potential of the course and the golfing experience during the conversion process,” according to a study by city staff.
Anderson stated the $1.7 million estimate was “a huge improvement” but still “beyond our means,” while Schwing’s goal is “to do it within [the golf course] revenue stream.”
Schwing, a member of the council that planned course construction in the late 1990s, commented last May that the course’s anticipated annual $1 million profit, after bond payments, “hasn’t yet been achieved.”
A determination of Black Gold’s profit or loss status depends on what bottom line figure is examined. A report prepared for a May 2009 council meeting listed a “projected to close” number of $742,965 as “net income from operations” for the 2008-9 fiscal year.
But “net income after direct/indirect revenues/expenses” was a $645,493 loss and “net income for financial statement purposes,” with depreciation, was $1,647,706 in the red.
And beginning two years ago, council voted to forgive interest payments on the city’s loans to Black Gold. So far, forgiven interest totals $226,944, including $178,269 for 2007-8 and $48,675 for 2008-9, according to Finance Committee minutes for Sept. 1.
A FINAL NOTE
“End of an era” isn’t a cliché when applied to the death of Paul Armstrong at age 82: he was this community’s longest-serving elected official, with 40 years on the Yorba Linda School District (1969-1982) and Yorba Linda Water District (1982-2010) boards.
Armstrong moved his family to Yorba Linda from Anaheim in 1961, promoted cityhood in 1967, was a Boy and Girl Scout leader and was active on the United Way, Civic Light Opera, Historical Museum, YMCA, Placentia-Linda Hospital and Vet Memorial boards.
Recently, the matter has been before the city’s Finance Committee, whose members include Mayor John Anderson and Councilman Mark Schwing. For the past few weeks, the group has narrowed the project and substantially reduced costs from initial estimates.
Last June, the outlay for converting about 170 acres from ryegrass to Hybrid Bermuda was estimated to be nearly $4.8 million, plus a revenue loss of $2.4 million to close all 18 holes at once or $2.7 million to close nine holes at a time during the renovation period.
Earlier this month, the finance body looked at a plan to convert 112 acres of fairways and rough from ryegrass to kikuyugrass and perform soil enhancement for about $1.7 million, with further adjustments likely to be presented at a committee meeting this week.
The change to kikuyugrass would take place over a five-year period “and have the least amount of negative impact on the revenue-generating potential of the course and the golfing experience during the conversion process,” according to a study by city staff.
Anderson stated the $1.7 million estimate was “a huge improvement” but still “beyond our means,” while Schwing’s goal is “to do it within [the golf course] revenue stream.”
Schwing, a member of the council that planned course construction in the late 1990s, commented last May that the course’s anticipated annual $1 million profit, after bond payments, “hasn’t yet been achieved.”
A determination of Black Gold’s profit or loss status depends on what bottom line figure is examined. A report prepared for a May 2009 council meeting listed a “projected to close” number of $742,965 as “net income from operations” for the 2008-9 fiscal year.
But “net income after direct/indirect revenues/expenses” was a $645,493 loss and “net income for financial statement purposes,” with depreciation, was $1,647,706 in the red.
And beginning two years ago, council voted to forgive interest payments on the city’s loans to Black Gold. So far, forgiven interest totals $226,944, including $178,269 for 2007-8 and $48,675 for 2008-9, according to Finance Committee minutes for Sept. 1.
A FINAL NOTE
“End of an era” isn’t a cliché when applied to the death of Paul Armstrong at age 82: he was this community’s longest-serving elected official, with 40 years on the Yorba Linda School District (1969-1982) and Yorba Linda Water District (1982-2010) boards.
Armstrong moved his family to Yorba Linda from Anaheim in 1961, promoted cityhood in 1967, was a Boy and Girl Scout leader and was active on the United Way, Civic Light Opera, Historical Museum, YMCA, Placentia-Linda Hospital and Vet Memorial boards.
posted by Jim Drummond at 12:00 PM
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