Golf Course

I would hope that those that play golf, and those that are yearly members, that also pay to have their carts stored at the golf course would support the notion to not raise the golf course fees, it will..... in the long term, reduce membership and soon folks will sell their powered carts and walk for the exercise and pay by the round. That would seriously reduce revenue. The golf course Maint. team "is" and "has" done a wonderful job keeping the course in prestine playing condition. Bringing your politics into this entertainment area is a recipt for disaster. There are ways to raise funds to support the course without the City Administrators input...
Hands Off, Please!!!
Life is good in Ortonville, we just need to remember we are a small community and we need to continue to think that way for awhile. Everyone just relax, big ideas bring big problems, take your time, look at all the options. What is best for the lifestyle we currently have?
We see very little repair work done with the conditon of the local streets, are we having a pot hole contest run by the city? Well, the city is winning!

The Golden Ram

Welcome The Golden Ram. Thank you for offering your point of view. You have made a suggestion that never occurred to me. Your comment:

thegoldenram wrote:

There are ways to raise funds to support the course without the City Administrators input...

is interesting. How do you think that will be done? The last figures I saw were that the golf course is already over the projected loss of $60,000. That would be a lot of money for people to raise. I, like you, think the golf course is a great thing to have in this community. There is no complaint to the hardworking employees at the golf course. The objection to the course is with the finances. How the city is managing it. Do all golf courses operate at such a loss? How do privately owned golf courses manage to stay in the black?

I am a little puzzled by your statement:

thegoldenram wrote:

Bringing your politics into this entertainment area is a recipt for disaster.

To what are you referring? If the city owns the golf course one can't help but discuss the financial ramifications. The fact is that there are people in this community who do not golf and are still paying for other people to golf. It also stands to reason that there are people who do not use the pool and they are paying for that. It will be up to the people to determine if they want to subsidize the golf course or the pool. The only way to take the "politics" out of the golf course is to sell it and then it becomes a private business. Exit the politics.

Any entity that is owned by the city be it the golf course, the pool, the hospital, the ambulance, the airport, the campground, or whatever, becomes a political entity. You cannot separate the two. In this time of budget cuts everything should be on the table. The last I heard was that the City of Ortonville is facing a $180 thousand dollar LGA cut. This will have to be addressed. Your suggestion that there are other ways to raise the funds for the golf course is a good one. That is a positive step toward facing the future.

Welcome! We welcome you to the site. When I listened to people about the golf course there was some extrapolation on where I stood. There is still some insinuation that I oppose the golf course. In fact, I did not golf this year because I felt unwelcomed.

It is thie prevalent view that causes me concern. This site is an inclusive site not an exclusive site. We welcome all who wish to discuss these issues.

However to arbitrarily say the golf course is the goose that laid the golden egg. It is a matter of priorities.

The 2010 budget is even in worse shape and cutbacks have to be made. The city spent about as much money on the golf course police as it did on the city police department. Our city streets need infrastructure maintenance.

It was inappropriate to take the money last year out of street infrastructure and spend on golf course maintenance.

There are many in Ortonville who can not afford the money spent on one green per week. Increases to them for electric and utilities increases may force them out of their home.

We need to consider all of the citizens. I hear your priority but we all need to be open-minded as we attempt to resolve budget shortfalls.

ing is good on Big Stone Lake.

The range needs more members.

ing over the area from our airport would be a great birthday gift.

Our are in our prayers.
Have a great day
The Golden Ram

You have made my point. I am not advocating pricing the golf course out of the market. I am not advocating that we should eliminate the golf course.

I stand for the proposition that there is no goose that laid the golden egg. All programs, all income production and all improvements must be examined and all must contribute to eliminate the budget shortfall.

We need all of these. We pay a gas tax to improve the roads and the gas tax is going up. These people do use transportation, not having a car is not prove you are not using the road. How do you get groceries? How do you get to the clinic?

The school, the staff, the educators are tremondous asset to the community and law enforcement is the very crutch of government in this society. Our very Constitutions mandate a judicial system without it you would have anarachy.

I am not opposed to any solution as long as the method we get there is an inclusive method instead of exclusive.

We as citizens need to provide your input and the forums welcomes your opinions.

thegoldenram wrote:

The fact is that there are people in this community who do not golf and are still paying for other people to golf..... say you.......yes this is true, so with that thought in mind, how about the people that do not have a car, that pay for the roads to be repaired....and people that have never been arrested or received a traffic ticket support or local police.

Even though some people may not have a car they still benefit by having paved streets because trucks deliver goods to the stores and they shop there. Even people who don't have cars ride with friends and family and therefore benefit from good roads. As far as the local police one wouldn't expect only the people who get tickets or have been arrested to pay for them. The point of law enforcement is to enforce the laws and to keep order in a society. Everyone benefits by having a safe town.

thegoldenram wrote:

People without children pay for the schools upkeep,

I understand that in the past it was the families that had children who paid for the teachers and the books for their children. Changes started coming about in the beginning of the last century promoting public schools. I would imagine that everyone would agree that an education is a good thing to have. However I do not believe that the schools come under the direction of the City of Ortonville and therefore is not pertinent to this topic. The City of Ortonville does not direct the finances of the Ortonville Public School and therefore has no place in this discussion.

Lady Hawk wrote:

It also stands to reason that there are people who do not use the pool and they are paying for that. It will be up to the people to determine if they want to subsidize the golf course or the pool.

In discussing the City of Ortonville Budget it would be prudent to separate the needs from the wants. First make a list of what the city needs: Water, Sewer, Police, Electric, Streets.......

Second make a list of what the people want: Golf Course, Senior Center, Airport, Lakeside Park, Library, Other City Parks, Pool, etc...

The public then needs to give input as to how the money should be spent in a given area or if they think private funding should support it. I left the ambulance out of the list because it doesn't belong in either category. It should be self sufficient anyway. They charge the patients who ride. The fact that it isn't self sufficient and has to keep dipping into the city coffers shows that it would be better to have it under the direction of the hospital. The hospital operates in the black and would make it a more efficient service. The people would not lose anything and would probably gain by a better running ambulance service under the supervision of trained professionals.

So, thegoldenram, how important do you think the golf course should be in the city budget?