The city council voted to take out a $220,000 tax-exempt loan to purchase a three-year irrigation program, fertilizer/chemical sprayer unit, golf carts, and update the patio and pro shop.
The Palos Hills (Ill.) Municipal Golf Course will get new equipment and renovations to the pro shop with a $220,000 tax-exempt loan recently approved by the city council, the Chicago Tribune reported.
The purchases are necessary to keep up the 9-hole golf course, which, like other courses, has been struggling to attract new players and survive in recent years, officials said. Purchases will include a three-year irrigation program, barrier netting, drag mat, fertilizer/chemical sprayer unit, rough aerifier, mowing unit, sand trap rake unit, golf carts, and patio update. The loan will also pay for a new roof, refrigerator, carpeting, couches and camera system for the pro shop, the Tribune reported.
The city is borrowing the funds from The Private Bank at an interest rate of 2.85 percent. While the council approved the loan without discussion last week and with only one dissension, debate over the purchases previously had been heated. At a council meeting in May, Ald. Al Pasek questioned the importance of new carpeting for the pro shop, the Tribune reported.
“I haven’t seen the golf course revenue go up in the last five years,” said Pasek. “If you put new carpeting in the pro shop, you’re not going to have more golfers.”
But Mayor Gerald Bennett said then the purchases were needed and that “very little equipment has been bought in the last 20 years.” Other aldermen also defended the purchases and golf course staff for doing their best to make the venue work, the Tribune reported.
“That department is constantly picked apart,” said Bennett.
Ald. Pauline Stratton, who voted against the loan, said after last week’s meeting that she had reservations about some of the purchases. While some items, such as the roof, were necessary, she said others seemed excessive and could have been pared down, the Tribune reported.
“Some things like $70,000 for golf carts … I think that’s overkill,” said Stratton.
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