ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, May 29, 1996 TAG: 9605290090
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: S.D. HARRINGTON STAFF WRITER
A consultant from the National Golf Foundation said Tuesday night that a golf course at Mowles Spring Park in Salem could be a sound investment for the city.
And on that note, Salem City Council said it will hire an architect and study the issue before going ahead with what it hopes will turn a closed 283-acre park into a money-maker for the city.
Darrin Davis, project director for the National Golf Foundation Consulting Inc., said the Roanoke Valley's economy, population and demand for golf could support another golf course in the valley.
After hearing the report, council directed a committee, which it appointed nearly a year ago to study the golf course idea, to interview architects and then recommend one for the city to hire.
That way, "we can know pretty much to the penny what a golf course is going to cost us," said Councilman Alex Brown.
"Until we know what it's going to cost, I can't make an intelligent decision."
The golf foundation's study offered a rough estimate of what an 18-hole golf course could cost at the site - $3.8 to $4.4 million if the city provides engineering services or $4.8 to $5.5 million if all services are contracted privately.
The consultants also estimated the city could make between $1.1 and $1.2 million initially in gross revenues.
Davis said as a rule of thumb, the consulting group makes conservative estimates.
"They set the floor, but not the ceiling," he said.
Making money on the park is exactly what council wants to do. The park has been closed to the public since 1994.
About 20 acres of the park was used as the city's landfill before state regulations forced Salem to close the landfill in 1993. After digging up a significant portion of the park's soil to cap the landfill, the city closed the park.
Now, Salem is paying as much as $35,000 annually to maintain the capped landfill.
"We're going to have to devise some ways to generate income to take the tax burden off the taxpayers," Brown said.
Some residents at the council meeting were not as excited about a golf course replacing what once was a destination for hikers and family picnics.
"My main concern is having an area to go walk and ride bikes" in Salem, said Chris Remines.
Having both a golf course and parklike features is a possibility. Davis said that the average golf course needs only about 150 acres.
While no decision has been made on whether to include park facilities, Mayor Jim Taliaferro said maintaining the land as a park would only increase the city's maintenance costs.
"The golf course has the potential to turn red numbers into black numbers, in time," he said.
Another Salem resident, Warren Robertson, asked council if Salem residents would have a chance to vote on the golf course by referendum.
"I don't believe in referendums," Taliaferro said. "I don't believe in the mob rules."
But Taliaferro noted that he most likely would not have a vote on that decision. He is retiring from council at the end of June.
"I won't be here," he said. "So somebody else will have to do that."
No other council member addressed the referendum issue Tuesday.
The only council member who has said he would favor a referendum, Howard Packett, was absent from the meeting.
Councilman-elect Harry Haskins said during his campaign that he would like to see a referendum on the golf course.
Haskins will join council after July 1.
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