Closing Huron Hills would be a mistake
I live in Canton. Each spring I purchase an annual pass to golf at Huron Hills and Leslie Park in Ann Arbor. While Leslie Park is the nicer golf course, Huron Hills is where my wife and I golf on a regular basis.
Huron Hills is a unique course (par 67), in a beautiful setting. It is one of the few courses in Southeast Michigan that allows us to walk the course, often without needing an advance tee time.
Why am I writing a letter to Ann Arbor.com and the Mayor of Ann Arbor? I have recently been told that the city of Ann Arbor wants to close the Huron Hills course for other purposes. Most often I hear it is to make a driving range run by Miles of Golf.
This would be such a shame. It is hard to imagine that the city of Ann Arbor (and Miles of Golf) are so short sighted that they want to close a municipal course that benefits so many people with differing backgrounds and golfing abilities (male, female, young, old, white, black, Asian, etc). My hope is that the people of Ann Arbor and surrounding cities are made aware of this situation and take the initiative to contact city council members to voice their concerns.
Don’t take away a beautiful golf course that benefits the people of Ann Arbor, Canton and SE Michigan. Mark and Sandy Bergeson Canton Township
Comments
Rasputin
Wed, Jun 16, 2010 : 7:20 a.m.
@ The Picker, that would be us, the taxpayers. Furthermore, it is rather self evident that MOST A2 residence DON'T play golf, so, therefore, it would be nice to actually see our tax dollars going to something more rewarding like the Greenbelt, rather than a golf course which is (and has) been running a deficit!
Jay Thomas
Tue, Jun 15, 2010 : 10:15 p.m.
Yes it would, and I don't even play golf. I just identify with it as it is. So much of Huron Parkway has already been developed, it's nice to leave some places as they are. If it is public owned the kids can still sled down the hill in the winter time (private who knows). If the city parts with this particularly scenic stretch of green space, you can't say with absolute certainty what will happen down the road. Sell the other less prominent course if necessary.
The Picker
Tue, Jun 15, 2010 : 7 p.m.
David, Where does the greenbelts money come from?
Rasputin
Tue, Jun 15, 2010 : 12:09 p.m.
What if the city where to turn the golf course over to the green belt action committee? I could see the green belt utilizing this tract of land rather nicely while still maintaining the golf course?
pragmatic
Mon, Jun 14, 2010 : 10:46 a.m.
A possible workable solution to making Huron Hills profitable would be to privatize the operation and maintenance of the course. Detroit has done this with two of their courses that have been losing money for years and the private firm has brought those courses into the black. Another option would be to close the front nine and convert it to a driving range and a skatepark. A driving range would be far more profitable than a golf course.
Blue Marker
Mon, Jun 14, 2010 : 6:18 a.m.
All interesting posts and points. I will say I enjoy the back nine. It's short but challenging. Bring your bug spray though!
Stephen Landes
Sun, Jun 13, 2010 : 4:37 p.m.
I agree with ChuckL and do not believe reports that these facilities "lose money". There is so much of what I consider shading accounting in our City's government operations that it is unlikely we really know what makes money and what does not. I have been on the receiving end in corporate life of such accounting practices where good projects were rejected because of allocations (in my case the cost of an electrical substation added to the project cost even though the project would use about 1% of its capacity just because the project was "the next one up" -- stupid). If the City continues to allocate overhead the way it does then we can't really get a solid reading on what anything costs or whether any project justification is real.
Me Next
Sun, Jun 13, 2010 : 2 p.m.
If citizens want to retain ownership of public property - work a deal with Officials. Reject the sale. Let it sit idle until real revenue returns to the area under common Policing Duty. For users of the property, provide the same upkeep taxpayers have been doing. Raise the annual fees to offset your (the citizen users & volunteers) private expenses. Get those who love the place involved in it's privately funded upkeep & security. I'd make sure my labor or money didn't get usurped by people with no vested labor but abuse your labor. Maybe get some of the Rules & Regulations changed about Upkeep & Security for more affordable (for Citizen Coalition) Continued Use.
John Galt
Sun, Jun 13, 2010 : 1:51 p.m.
Golf is a game/sport that caters to a small subset of the Ann Arbor population. It is not the same as police, fire, education and roads. In these times we need to prioritize our spending. I'm glad that you (as a resident of Canton) enjoy the courses and come here to possibly spending time/money (helping the local economy, no doubt). But we cannot subsidize these types of activities when budgets are shrinking. If there is a way to fund it by increased user fees or private investment, fine. But every local tax dollar spent must be closely examined for maximum effectiveness. Police, fire, infrastucture and schools should come first.
ChuckL
Sun, Jun 13, 2010 : 1:39 p.m.
There is a myth that the golf courses lose money. Another one of Mayor Hieftje and Roger Fraiser's bucket victims. A strong case has been made at a2politico.com that unrealistic overhead charges were arbitrarily added to the operating budgets of the golf courses to push them in to the red. Why do this? Well, if you want to justify selling a valuable public asset to private investors, what better way than to claim it is losing money.
The Picker
Sun, Jun 13, 2010 : 9:43 a.m.
If its a nice enough course, people will be waiting for a tee time! P.S. Is that new BAR at Leslie baking bread yet?
Brad
Sun, Jun 13, 2010 : 8:45 a.m.
The city pools all operate at losses as well. The community centers are subsidized, too. As we know, no Ann Arbor parks generate profits. Are we going to just sell everything? Or just the things that *you* don't use? At one point non-residents were charged higher greens fees. So they just golfed elsewhere.
The Picker
Sun, Jun 13, 2010 : 8:26 a.m.
The use of taxpayer funds to own and maintain such a large tract of land and run it at a loss, is stealing from the citizens. Privitize it! If after a trial period it still won't bake bread (show a profit for the citizens) Its time to sell it and refund that money to the taxpayers!
pseudo
Sun, Jun 13, 2010 : 7:05 a.m.
Clearly the people who are not Ann Arbor residents DO subsidize by buying their annual passes.
The Watchman
Sun, Jun 13, 2010 : 6:14 a.m.
Maybe Canton and surrounding areas in SE Michigan can subsidize the deficit that the golf courses continually runs. That's an idea. If you are out of district, you get to pay more in greens fees. Let's balance the budget on the backs of the visitors to the fine city of Ann Arbor. I forgot, we already want to do that with parking increases. Oh well, continue the gouging.