Council approves cart purchase, mediates dispute between golf courses

The Mitchell City Council approved a replacement of the city-owned golf course’s fleet of carts Monday at City Hall and attempted to mediate a dispute with the privately owned course.

The dispute was brought to the council by Dave Fridley, a member of a committee associated with the Martin Group Pro-Am event that was held Friday at privately owned Wild Oak Golf Club.

Fridley said Wild Oak had too few carts, and registrations had to be limited because somebody from the city — he apparently didn’t know who — refused to loan carts from publicly owned Lakeview Golf Course.

Fridley said the decision was regrettable, because the event was very big and potentially could have brought even more people to town had the city loaned some carts.

“I guess my request to the council is, since I tend to shake the tree from the top, could you pass down the word that maybe we could share carts?” Fridley said, referring to next year’s event.

Kevin Thurman, the golf and cemetery director for the city of Mitchell, said the request from Wild Oak came too late for the city to act on properly. The city’s insurance carrier requires a waiver of liability before the carts can be loaned out, he said, and the request needs to be considered by the city’s Golf and Cemetery Board.

“A little more notice in advance and we’d have been happy to work with you guys,” Thurman said.

Both men acknowledged that there had been some tense back-and-forth between the two entities.

The discussion occurred during the portion of Monday’s meeting set aside for citizens’ input on non-agenda items. The council took no action, but several council members encouraged Fridley to get the request in earlier next year so that it can be properly considered.

In a scheduled action later during the meeting, the council approved the replacement of Lakeview Golf Course’s fleet of golf carts.

The course currently has 40, 2003-model carts. Thurman said the city will trade in 27 of those carts, with the remaining 13 to be kept for various city uses. The city will buy 40 new carts from E-Z Go Textron, of Elkhorn, Neb.

The purchase price is $136,000, and Thurman expects to get about $49,000 from the trade-ins, bringing the city’s expenditure down to about $87,000.

The council approved Thurman’s proposed funding package by a vote of 4-2, with one member absent and Council Vice President Marty Barington not voting because he was presiding in place of Mayor Lou Sebert, who was absent.

The funding proposal calls for Lakeview to pay $32,000 up front from its own fund, with the city’s general fund financing the remainder at an interest rate of 3 percent over three years.

Voting “no” were Mel Olson and Doug Backlund. Neither explained their vote during the meeting, but Olson said afterward that he’d prefer Lakeview to pay for the entire purchase out of its cash on hand. Thurman said there is enough cash to pay for the carts, but he wants to maintain a healthy cash reserve in case of an emergency.

In other business Monday, council members:

- Noted the withdrawal, during the Public Health and Safety Committee meeting that preceded the council meeting, of a noise-permit application for the Enola Mai Band from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Aug. 9 at 708 E. 12th Ave.

- Approved, during the Public Health and Safety Committee meeting, the installation of a street light at the Sportsman’s Boat Ramp on Lake Mitchell.

- Noted, during roll call, the pre-planned absences of Mayor Sebert and Council President Jeff Smith.

- Were informed by Parks, Recreation and Forestry Director Randy Ahrendt during the citizens’ input session that city workers have sprayed the entire city for mosquitoes two times this summer and are continuing to monitor mosquito traps to determine if more sprayings are needed.

- Sat as the Board of Adjustment to approve the application of Russell Hines for a variance to construct an addition to a garage at 925 E. Sixth Ave.; the application of Ryan Buckley for a variance to construct an addition to a garage located at 908 Court Merrill; and the application of Rolyn Wieczorek (property owner) and Paul Berg (applicant) for a conditional-use permit to operate a construction business at 1100 W. Havens Ave.; and to table the application of Canndi Blasius for a conditional-use permit to operate a dog-grooming business at 809 E. Hanson Ave.

- Set, sitting as the Board of Adjustment, Aug. 17 as the date for hearings on the applications of Heidi Jarding for a conditional-use permit to operate a personal-training business at 1527 Pebble Beach Road; Jennifer Steen for a conditional-use permit to operate a daycare center in her home at 1017 W. Birch Ave.; and Loren Machovsky for a conditional-use permit to place a manufactured house at 24934 406th Ave.

- Were informed by Ahrendt that no companies submitted bids for a base-course project at the Pepsi Soccer Complex, and city workers will now do the project themselves with recycled asphalt.

- Approved the application of the Exchange Club for a special-event malt beverage license at Cadwell Park for the state amateur baseball tournament Wednesday through Aug. 16.

- Approved the application to transfer an on-sale liquor license from Bathke Enterprises LLC to Bathke Enterprises LLC, doing business as One-Eyed Jack’s Casino, located at 1401 N. Main St.

- Approved the application to transfer an on-and-off-sale malt beverage license from David Backlund Jr. to Bathke Enterprises LLC, doing business as Two-Eyed Jack’s Casino, located at 1401 N. Main St., Suite 108B.

- Approved a plat of Lot D of JA Harris First Addition.

- Adopted an amendment to an earlier resolution aimed at getting the city ready to potentially pay off B-Y water pipeline bonds early.

- Conducted the first reading of an ordinance that would rezone Lot B, JA Harris First Addition, from an Urban Development zone to a High-Density Residential zone.

- Conducted the first reading of an ordinance that would rezone Lot B, JA Harris First Addition, from an Urban Development zone to a Single-Family and Manufactured Housing Residential zone.

- Set Aug. 17 as the date for a hearing on the application of the Make-a-Wish Foundation for a special-event malt beverage license at the Lake Mitchell Day Camp for a Sept. 5 music festival.

- Approved an automatic supplement to the sewer enterprise fund in the amount of $235,839 for the Foster Street lift-station project, from SRF/NPS bond proceeds.

- Authorized the finance officer to transfer sewer replacement reserve funds in the amount of $25,724.86 to cash for capital projects, with Councilman Olson verbalizing his disapproval of using funds marked “reserve” when other funds are available.

- Informally approved, with the understanding that a formal resolution will later be considered, the donation of $750 to sponsor one World War II veteran’s participation in an “Honor Flight” to visit the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.

- Formalized pre-approved agreements involving an engineering firm, the state, the federal government and the city on a nearly $7 million federal stimulus construction project at the airport.

- Approved the application of George Streetman, doing business as E-Z Ride Taxi, for a taxicab general license.

- Approved the application of Anita Streetman for a taxicab driver’s license.

- Approved requests to conduct raffles from the Mitchell Prehistoric Indian Village and the Davison County GOP.

- Abated taxes in the amount of $335 and refunded taxes in the amount of $1,754 to Gregory and Darcy Feiner.

- Approved the paying of estimates and bills.

Tags: city council, golf carts, wild oak golf club, lakeview golf course, news, local, golf