The Jersey Village City Council unanimously adopted the city budget for the fiscal year 2016-17 at a Sept. 19 meeting, but not before voting to delay a major capital improvement project that residents spoke out against during a public hearing. The city originally planned to include a $760,000 gray water transfer project for the city-owned Jersey Meadow Golf Course. The project, which was listed as an expense in the capital improvements fund, would have involved developing an irrigation system to bring water to the course. Jersey Village Mayor Justin Ray said the project was intended to save the city money in the long-term by eliminating the need to pump water to the course, a task that currently costs the city an estimated $200,000 per year. “Irrigation would pay for itself in five years and save the city $200,000 each year after that,” Ray said. However, several residents who spoke at the hearing called for the city to invest in what they saw as more immediate needs related to flood mitigation, and to revisit the irrigation project after flooding was more comprehensively addressed. Some residents also called for the golf course itself to be redeveloped for flood protection purposes. “The [projected] gray water savings assumes [the land] will still be a golf course in five years,” resident Michael Brown said. “As I see it, the golf course is the last big piece of land in our watershed that could protect our town now and in the future. It seems to be a no-brainer to have a long-term plan that includes keeping it permanently green, but in a flood preventative way, not the flood additive fashion that it currently exists in.”

Flood study

Council voted 4-1 to delay the project and revisit it next year with Council Member Gary Wubbenhorst being the nay vote. Council members who supported the decision said they wanted to wait until the conclusion of a city-funded flood protection study before making a decision. “We need to see the research showing the golf course can actually be used for flood detention,” council member Greg Holden said. The study, which is being carried out by Dannenbaum Engineering over the next six months, will identify long-term flooding solutions for Jersey Village. Representatives with Dannenbaum said the study will include an analysis of Jersey Meadow’s effect on flooding as well as potential alternative uses. Ray and several council members said they were in favor of keeping Jersey Meadow as a golf course. “It’s a very attractive feature, and I think it’s one that sets us apart,” Ray said. “We have to take what we have and make it as attractive a feature as possible.”

Questions over profitability

Residents in favor of repurposing the course suggested it has become a money sink for the city. Budget data shows golf course expenditures—the bulk of which cover course maintenance and club house operation—exceeded revenue from fees and charges in FY 2015-16. The city transferred $434,000 from the general fund into the golf course fund to cover the difference. Data shows similar transfers in previous years, but most of this money was used to cover depreciation expenses and not operation expenses. The 2016-17 budget shows projections of $1.78 million for both revenue and expenditures. However, only $1.44 million of the revenue is projected to come from fees and charges for service, while $331,000 is being made available through a transfer from the general fund. “Jersey Meadows Golf Course should pay for all of its operating costs because it is being run as a business,” resident Mark Malloy said at the Sept. 19 meeting. Resident and former council member Tom Eustace spoke at the meeting in favor of keeping the golf course. He stressed that course made money for nine of the past 11 years, and that repurposing the course would come with a cost of its own. “If you repurpose [the course], you’re still going to deal with the cost of converting the land,” he said. “You will also continue to pay maintenance costs, but you will no longer have the offsetting income the golf course brings in.” Council examined the golf course last fall as it worked on a comprehensive plan update that was adopted in February. At that time, most council members said they wanted to wait until Hwy. 290 construction was completed to make any major decision on the future of the golf course. A recommendation to develop a marketing strategy for Jersey Meadow was also included in the new comprehensive plan.