03-08-1974 Council Memo - Enterprise Funds

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� . Enterprise Funds Page 2 The golf course is an olcl facility. The course itself is fifty years old, the clubhouse is an old building and,of particular interest to us at this time, is the condition of the well and the condition of the underground pipes that constitute the sprinkler system for the course. The well is in a continued state of deterioration and we will be in serious trouble should we have any long,hot,dry spells because the well cannot proc�uce a sufficient amount of water under a sufficient amount of pressure to properly water the course under any Iong-term dry spell. What make�s this especially bad, is that we do not have any system to fall back on. We do not have an alternate method in th� event that the well fails. If the well fails in a hot, dry �:��.within forty-eight hours your golf course will start to die. The greens will be first to go and the fairways will be very close behind them. Last year Dick and I talked to Hickok and Associates and had them do some limited drilling to see if there �� water on the back side of the golf course. They did some preliminary testing and their report showed that a well put in on the back side of the golf course would cost approximately $30, 000. At the same time, we talked to the City of Long Lake in an attempt to see what the possibilities would be of hooking up to the end of their water line, which is on Orono Orchard z%; Road, and running the line to the golf course and using their water. The City of Long Lake might still possibly consider it, but they would only do so with the understanding that they would put a shutoff valve �r� at the City boundary and they will shut off the water to us whenever the circumstances arise where they do not have sufficient water to handle their own needs. This could very we11 occur in a long, hot, dry spell and it certainly would accur if there were a fire in the "' City and the fire department would need the water. Needless to say, Fu one of our major concerns is the status of water for the golf course. �'�� The second part of the water problem concerns the existing status of ``; the pipes which constitute the sprinkling method and they are at least fifty year old lead pipes. They are already leaking and we have for the past several years attempted to replace and repair certain sections each year. It is an antiquated system. The pipes cannot stand the necessary pressure required to get sufficient amount of water to the back side of the golf course by the Luce Line Trail and to replace the entire pipe system, it would cost from appraximately $125, 000-$150,000 or more. I guess what all this leads up to is simply that in my belief we have a minimal operation which is going to cost us more to maintain than we will ever get profit or revenue from it. I feel that our past experience on this golf course has proved that to be a very definite fact. Dick Benson and myself have volumes of data which have been collected over the years on the golf course and we can support everything that has been stated in this memo. I have not provided you with all the data for this Saturday' s meeting but comments made in my memo and in Dick' s memo are based on the factual record. - .:� ��: ,� � . '. � , ��;fi ,;