County golf course future could include alcohol sales

It was September when Sebastian County Judge David Hudson revealed that the golf course at Ben Geren Park would lose $150,000 during fiscal year 2013, the third year of losses for the county-owned recreational facility.

Hudson has previously said the golf course is a reflection of the national economy.

"The golf course is a direct reflection of the economic times and the golf market's been flat, so we actually came closer to running it with our revenues several years ago and we haven't the last few. We're going to be at least $150,000 short of our expenses over our revenues this year and a lot of that remains to be seen – how we operate the rest of the year, what we spend and what kind of play we have."

In previous years, natural gas royalties have also assisted the golf course in breaking even or turning a profit, a funding mechanism Hudson said Wednesday (Nov. 20) would be seriously lacking this year even though a natural gas well still sits on golf course property.

"In the revenue estimate next year, there's $685,000 from golf revenues and $15,000 from (natural gas) royalties," he said. "That's fluctuated over the years. It's gone way down from what it was in the past. It's probably been $60,000 (at its peak). It's been $50,000 or more. It's been a lot higher than it is lately."

In an attempt to stop the bleeding, the county's budget for next year includes the elimination of four full-time positions and replacing those positions with part-time workers in addition to reducing some maintenance and upkeep costs. In all, the cost saving measures included in the county's budget reduce operational and personnel costs by $121,158, not enough to fully break even.

With the golf course projected to lose money for its fourth consecutive year, the county has looked at measures which include leasing the golf course to an outside company for operations and possible maintenance, though Hudson said there are no interested parties.

Another option, it was revealed at Tuesday's (Nov. 19) Quorum Court meeting, would be to sell alcohol at the club house. The Parks Advisory Board has discussed the issue, though Justice of the Peace Shawn Looper said the matter was never communicated to himself or other Quorum Court members.

"I read it in the paper. The judge hasn't mentioned this to nobody, as far as I know. He wants to let the city annex that so he can sell alcohol," Looper said to Parks Advisory Board member and former County Judge Frank Glidewell during the public comment section of Tuesday's meeting.

The reason annexation of county property would be necessary is because Fort Smith is the only section of Sebastian County to be considered "wet," or legally able to sell alcohol by the drink.

Hudson said the "lightning rod issue" of serving alcohol at Ben Geren was still just an idea, and not yet at the step of needing a legal opinion on how the process would go, and whether it would have to be brought to the Quorum Court.

"I haven't brought it to fruition as far as legal advice as (to) what all the steps are. I don't know what all the steps are," Hudson said.

Looper said he felt as though the Parks Advisory Board and Hudson seek to enact policy without the input of the elected members of the Quorum Court, and attacked Hudson's lack of knowledge on annexation laws in relation to county-owned properties.

"It's a pretty big detail. That's a pretty big detail, when you're looking at alcohol sales and it looks like you're going to circumvent this board to do that. That's what it looks like to me."

Fort Smith Deputy City Administrator Jeff Dingman said Wednesday there were two ways for the county to pursue annexation of the golf course into Fort Smith – by election or by request.

"If they want to be annexed, we just have to get approval from the county – I believe the county judge – and the (Fort Smith) Board of Directors," he said. "The other way is by election. But there's no residents in the park, so that wouldn't really apply."

And even though Hudson is legally entitled to approve a property moving from county to city, he would still have to go through the Quorum Court since Sebastian County has ownership of the golf course, Dingman said.

"The county is the owner of the property. For them to make a request, probably the cleanest way for that to happen is a resolution of the Quorum Court to seek annexation of the property and then the Quorum Court gets treated as any other property owner at that point."

As for why the county does not just serve alcohol as a private club, Hudson said "it just wouldn't make sense." Asked to elaborate, he simply said it did not make sense to him and provided no further explanation.