UPDATE: This is the most recent story on the golf course as of Sept. 23. If readers missed our first story on the City Council's decision on whether to purchase the golf course in our Sept. 10 issue, read it here.
The City of Lebanon agreed to purchase a golf course Monday evening.
The Lebanon City Council approved a real estate contract to purchase the Lebanon Area Community Golf Course from the Lebanon Area Golf Course nonprofit during its regular meeting Monday. The course, located at 16744 Missouri Highway 64, was formerly known as Lebanon - GreatLife Golf and Fitness.
During Sept. 8’s City Council work session, the Lebanon Area Community Golf Course nonprofit had proposed that the City of Lebanon purchase the course. The nonprofit had recently purchased the real estate of the course from the course’s shareholder group and its business and management from GreatLife.
Board President John Gideon’s Sept. 8 proposal had included a $775,000 purchase of the course along with a golf cart lease payment of around $130,000 that would relieve the course’s debt.
After those initial costs, Gideon had projected another $2 million in improvements would make the course sustainable. While this proposal to the City of Lebanon was a last resort for the nonprofit, Gideon had argued the city’s potential acquisition would benefit residents.
In Monday’s meeting, the City Council approved 6-2 Council Bill No. 6922, which is an ordinance approving a real estate contract with the nonprofit to purchase the 153-acre parcel the course is on for $735,000 in economic development funds, the city staff informational sheet on the bill noted.
The sheet said that the purchase price was below the $1.2 million appraised market value of the property’s buildings and land and would retire all the property’s current debt.
The sheet noted that the City of Lebanon would need to make additional investments “to stabilize the investment and ensure future revenues remain sufficient to cover operating costs.”
The sheet also said that the City of Lebanon would make the facility a public golf course available for area visitors and residents and that it would take control of maintenance and daily operations.
In the work session before the regular City Council meeting on Monday, the Council spent a little over an hour in closed session for real estate. After a brief reentering of open session, the Council moved into its regular meeting where it voted on the purchase.
Jarrad Schomaker, the city’s airport manager and IT director, gave a presentation following up on Councilwoman Sheila Mitchell’s request for more information at the Sept. 8 work session. He said the City of Lebanon had started the process for a master plan for the golf course like the city airport's master plan.
During her no vote on the second reading of the bill – Councilman Gib Adkins was the other no – Mitchell said she was not against a golf course in Lebanon but was concerned about the millions of dollars she said the City of Lebanon would need to borrow for the course in the future.
Councilman Dan Mizell and Mayor Jared Carr thought the purchase was a big step for Lebanon that people would realize was for the best in the future.
Gideon said the nonprofit believed the community needed the nearly lost golf course.
