The budget numbers at Quarry Golf Course are the best in years but still not enough to break even.
By DUANE BOURNE
Published May 10, 2004
BROOKSVILLE - Lease the Quarry Golf Course to a private contractor for $1 a year, temporarily close the 9-hole executive course but keep the driving range open until the city can find a lessee, or just shut it down altogether.
Those were some of the options discussed last August, when the City Council considered the future of the golf course and ways to make it profitable.
Council members balked at closing the facility and opted to monitor the course's books for six months before making a decision. The thinking was that if the golf course could come closer to sustaining itself, there might be a chance the city could continue operating it.
The "grace period" has come and gone. City officials said a decision on the course has been delayed indefinitely, partly because of an unsuccessful attempt to attract bidders to lease the property.
"In the middle of everything, we also changed parks and recreation directors," City Manager Richard Anderson said.
Former pro baseball pitcher Mike Walker was hired to replace David Pugh, who retired late last year because of health concerns, and Walker wants to try his hand at making the Quarry a success.
Anderson said he is planning to give the City Council updated figures as early as next month. The figures, from the beginning of fiscal year Oct. 1 through March 31, will show some promise.
"The last few months have been better than the last five years as far as March and April are concerned," Walker said. "I can say that the numbers were the highest they have been since 1998 for the month of April, but where council is needing the numbers to be, I don't know."
The April figures were not available last week. However, a report from the Parks and Recreation Division showed that the course made about $2,000 more on fees and lessons through February, compared with figures from last year.
While the estimates show that revenues have increased over the course of the year, the increases are not enough for the course and driving range to break even, Anderson said.
Officials projected that the course could bring in $80,000 in revenue this budget year. However, the earnings would be far from the $170,000 needed for the Quarry to sustain its own operation, as was intended when it opened. At $112,000, employee salaries are the largest part of the cost, accounting for 65 percent of the expenditures.
"The last numbers will come in higher than ($80,000), but it is not the $170,000 it takes to run the course," Anderson said.
During the past year, officials have implemented a series of measures to cut costs and boost revenues. Rates were restructured. Hours of operation were trimmed. Some full-time employees were reduced to part-time status. That, coupled with efforts to better market the golf course, could bolster revenue, but Walker admitted that it might not be what the course needs to be self-sustaining.
"I think it is going to be very difficult for it to break even," Walker said. "I think it is possible to get the numbers a lot closer to what they are. That is my goal."
Some city taxpayers and council members have criticized the city-run facilities such as the Quarry Golf Course and the Jerome Brown Community Center as being a drain on Brooksville's finances because expenses outpace revenue.
That has created a tug of war between people who think the facilities are valuable assets that should be maintained and officials who are looking for ways to ensure the city's economic livelihood.
Nonetheless, Walker plans to continue finding ways to improve the Quarry because its fate has not yet been sealed and because he believes the course is a community resource.
"I am moving forward to make it work," he said.
"Obviously, being a local person and knowing the strong community ties that made the golf course possible, you would hate for the council to do away with something that was built for the community, by the community. For that reason, I would hate to see it go."
- Duane Bourne can be reached at 352 754-6114. Send e-mail to dbourne@sptimes.com
