To say Meridian’s city-owned golf course is experiencing some sprinkler problems is an understatement.
The irrigation system is at “a catastrophic failure now,” Erik Oaas, lessee of Lakeview Golf Club, told City Council members on Feb. 12.
The golf course’s 40-year-old irrigation system began failing in 2002 and needs to be replaced, for an estimated cost of $2.5 million.
To pay for a new irrigation system, golf course staff are considering creating a community infrastructure district, or CID, a special taxing district that would allow Oaas to issue bonds to pay for the needed maintenance.
To do this, Oaas needs the city to give him a portion of the golf course — about 5 to 10 acres. In exchange, Oaas would need to give the city land of equal value, Bill Nary, Meridian city attorney, said.
Oaas would then build high-end condominiums for residents 50 years or older in that district. Those units would all have a fee attached to them that would help pay off the bond, Nary said.
Details of the condominiums still need to be determined, said Scott Turlington, partner at Primus Policy Group, who is working with Oaas on the project. Turlington said the condominiums were essential to the plan because they created a mechanism for repaying the taxing district.
The taxing district would only exist within the acres the city would give to Oaas, so residents of the city would not be responsible for paying it.
Turlington said there was no intention of establishing the CID on any of the golf course’s 70 acres of playable land, leaving a couple of options around the course for development. The 18-hole course is at 4200 W. Talamore Blvd.
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Over the next 30 to 60 days, Oaas plans to develop a financial plan for the CID — determining the number of units required to pay off the bonds — and bring that plan to a neighborhood meeting and then to City Council for approval, said Caroline Merritt, founder and principal of True North Public Affairs and contractor on the project.
If approved, extra funding from the bonds could replace tee boxes and bridges and even pay for paved cart paths and enhanced greens and fairways, Turlington said.
After paying off the bond, any extra money from the condominiums would go toward building a new clubhouse, a restaurant and bar, a special events center, a golf training and fitness center and a maintenance facility, Merritt said.
Merritt said nearby neighbors have requested to host events at the golf course, but the center’s current infrastructure isn’t big enough. She said these buildings would make it “a place for the community to come and gather.”
If approved, the parts of the golf course in the CID would be assessed and a 30-year bond would be issued. Three members of City Council would need to sit on the CID board.
Oaas would take out loans under his name to pay for the condominiums, so if their construction were to fail, he would be liable to pay off those construction costs and the cost of the bond, Merritt said.
On Feb. 12, members of Meridian City Council agreed to hear more details of the plan.
If the district is approved, it would be the first CID in Meridian, Nary said.
Clarification: This article has been clarified to show that Erik Oaas, lessee of Lakeview Golf Club, would need to give the city of Meridian land of equal value in exchange for the 5 to 10 acres the city would have to give him to build the condominium project.
