Quoted Text

Golf course funds are kept separate in Sch’dy

    Re: the Sept. 23 letter by George Ferro, “Sch’dy golf course doesn’t need any costly improvements”: Let’s get the story about the golf course straight because you have been lied to and people don’t know the truth.
    The Schenectady golf course is separate from the general fund — it has nothing to do with taxes or snow removal or streets or anything else. It is separate so the fund can’t be taken by politicians, like they [Congress] did with Social Security. The golf course pays its own bills and [gives] the city about $120,000 per year. The golf course improvements will be paid by golf course proceeds.
    If you had a home that had bad plumbing and was constantly fl ooding, would you fix it or let it fall down around you? The course was closed for more than seven days this year due to wet conditions. We had sunny days for over a week, so, of course, the course would be dry, Mr. Ferro. Go out there today [Sept. 23] and see it.
    I know people want the city to be fixed; so do I. My neighborhood has turned into a hole, but [fixing] it won’t come from golf course money because it can’t, due to separation from the general fund.

    WILLIAM MARINCIC
    Schenectady

http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00904&AppName=1

Thank you Mr. Marincic. Guess putting $3 million taxpayer dollars into a yearly return of a little over $100K doesn't seems logical.

Again, someone is getting a kickback somewhere.

None of them ever ran a business, They wouldn't understand. They got a check every Friday like clock work and every year it shot up.

A defender for fiscal incompetence! The bonding for the needless "improvements" are not separate. On top of $25 million bonding for the garage these DEM morons want to add an additional $3.3 million for golf course drainage. The course was playable after Irene. McCarthy stepped in the rough and will not get another mulligan.

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Muny doesn’t need a great big makeover

    I am a Schenectady resident who plays frequently at the city’s excellent municipal golf course.
    Schenectady Muny is a beautiful golf course designed and operated to provide access to golf for the middle class. It has an excellent young pro in Brian Damon and, although the course could use some improvements (most courses could), a few sand traps and a new tee or two do not cost $3 million.
    I suspect that the motivation for this whopping investment is to convert the course into one that attracts golfers willing to pay much more to play. This strategy will price the course away from the middle class for which it was intended when built in 1935 — and for which it is operated today.
    I do have a positive suggestion that will almost certainly make the facility more attractive to the public without altering its mission. The patio area above the small putting green and north of the 18th hole could be improved with a nice outdoor patio, where food and drinks could be served to golfers and the public. If three small pine trees between the small putting green and the 18th hole were removed, the patio would have a good view of golfers playing the fi nal hole.
    I don’t know what such a project would cost, but probably $100,000 or so would buy the city a nice outdoor patio area that would be attractive to golfers and non-golfers alike. I predict that the return to the city from such a modest investment would be substantial and immediate.
    Right now, the only food and drink option, other than those wonderful drink cart girls, is the bar, which has no view of the course, and a rather dreary public room off the pro shop. A snack bar is available on weekends, but this is a temporary setup. There is a single picnic table whose view of the final hole is obscured by those three small pine trees.
    I encourage city authorities to rethink plans for the golf course and consider a modest upgrade to the existing facility that would make it more attractive to the public, produce improved fi nancial returns to the city, yet still retain its 76-year-old mission.

    RICHARD ALVAREZ
    Schenectady

http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01104&AppName=1

probably not a good idea mr. mcc

Come on now SB....McCarthy needs to find a place for all those tax-exempt millionaire Downtown businessowners to go when they come in the City...you know when they pick up their Plex checks.

Maybe the people are waking up from their slumber. Careful now, November might not be what you or McCarthy hoped for.  

it's F'EN golf......yes....just golf......

Quoted Text

Muny improvements
needed, would be paid for strictly by golfers

    Recently, a number of letters and news articles regarding improvements at Schenectady Municipal Golf Course have raised questions about the wisdom of spending money on the golf course at this time. [But] they have not fairly represented the facts. As chairman of the city’s Golf Advisory Committee, I would like to provide some information important for proper understanding of this decision.
    First, the city does not have the total project cost of $3.3 million. The funding mechanism that will be used has not yet been finalized, but will be some split between money that has already been generated from the golf course, pay-aswe-go, or borrowing. The ultimate decision will be [up to] City Council.
    It is the intent of the Advisory Committee and the city to fund the entire project from golf revenue. Second, the money currently available from past years was raised with the promise to improve the course.
    Regarding planned work: The current manually operated irrigation system is quite old and inadequate. It needs to be replaced, which will save on electricity and water. Many of the holes on the course have little or no drainage, which has resulted in several lost golf days because of standing water. The course would be damaged if not closed.
    There are many dead or dying trees that need to be removed and areas opened up for good air and sun exposure. Many of the greens and tee boxes are very small for the amount of play they see, which causes the surfaces to take a beating.
    The master plan was a cooperative effort that included a professional golf consultant, Muny’s pro, the course superintendent, the Advisory Committee and golfers. The result is a sound plan to improve the course, to restore its beauty, improve speed of play and facilitate good maintenance practices for a wide variety of golfers. These improvements are essential to assure the course will remain a valuable revenue source for the city and a great community asset.

    GORDON FURLANI
    Schenectady

http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01100&AppName=1

Keep pushing McCarthy hot mess Gordo. Increasing greens fees will lead to more rounds played? Too hilarious. Typical nonsense from the working together morons. Maybe trolls from the sticks will make up the loss in revenue? lol.

Utterly ridiculous! Here's the City unable to pay the schools, unable to permanetly fix the roads (they can't afford sidewalks) and the golf pro is worried about the beauty of the golf course?!?!?

Also, the City just found a way to use the taxpayers money for 'fees' to balance other portions of the budget. I have no doubt that the City would find a way to circumvent the system yet again to totally fund this project.

The City can no longer afford to wantonly spend money on pet projects anymore. The taxpayers money is being wasted time and time again on non-necessities with little-to-no profit generation.

It's time to let homeowners hire their own private company for waste collection and fine those who do not have regularly scheduled pickups.

Stimulate job growth, enhance private employment statistics, reduce workers comp and insurance costs, reduce the cost of maintaining city vehicles and let the free market dictate the prices.

And that's the last I'll say about THAT

Here is a suggestion - sell memberships to the golf course -   if you donate $3,000 to the Democratic committee you get a 12 month membership to the Schenectady Golf Course.   Of course, they would have to build an indoor pool and spa for the winter months  -- but that will pay for itself in no time.

How about if you just raise the greens fees, and as the money comes in, once you have enough in the bank, you can go ahead and make the improvements, one by one.  You know, do it like any normal person would do it, buy things WHEN YOU HAVE THE MONEY!

Well if we sell memberships for $3,000 per donation -- we could buy lots of nice things.