For the week of May 29 - June 4, 2002

Rec District unveils proposal for Quigley Canyon golf course

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By PETER BOLTZ
Express Staff Writer

A Quigley Canyon golf course may not be a certainty, but the Blaine County Recreation District did all it could last week to put to rest some of the fears Hailey residents have about its possibility.

Mary Austin Crofts, Rec District executive director, and a team of experts held public hearings at 1 p.m., 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. May 22 at the Wood River Inn.

Members of the Rec District team answered questions about cost, water, traffic and recreation other than golf with the help of facilitator Bob Werth.

Each session followed the same plan of speakers and information, beginning with Werth telling the audience that "this is an educational forum, because with a project like this we need to deal with a lot of hearsay."

Werth cautioned each audience of about 50 people that the Rec District team did not have all the answers because a possible golf course involves annexation and planning and zoning issues that haven’t been formally brought before the city of Hailey.

"We are not trying to duck issues," he said.

Keith Perry, a Rec District board member, gave a little history of the idea of a golf course for Quigley Canyon.

In 1997, Al Lindley, the current Hailey mayor, and Fred Miller, former Arizona State University athletic director, approached Stoney Burke, one of the owners of the canyon, about a golf course, Perry said.

In the same year, the Rec District conducted 15 meetings at homes throughout the city and learned that residents were concerned about traffic, cross-country skiing, hiking and biking amenities, and the density of homes that would also be part of developing Quigley Canyon.

"People were almost unanimous about annexing the canyon into Hailey because the city would bear significant impacts," Perry said.

He said the district made a nonbinding agreement to build a golf course with the owners Fred Judd and Burke in the fall of 1999.

Citing the success of the district’s management of Galena Lodge, Perry said the district doesn’t take on projects that don’t pay for themselves and that the proposed golf course would not cost taxpayers anything.

"This project has the potential to spin off cash to fund other district projects," he said.

John Gaeddart, of the Corporation for Land Planning and Engineering, and representing Burke and Judd, told the audience that the property is about 1,500 acres.

He said if an annexation was approved, about 860 acres would become part of the city. About 291 residences would be planned for about 187 of the 1,500 acres.

Gaeddart said the entrance to the proposed development would be a new road via Fox Acres Road and the new Wood River High School.

"This is because the old road would be overwhelmed."

Peter Becker told the audience that there were three options for funding the proposed golf course.

The first option is a private placement bond.

Becker said that not more than 32 private investors would buy the bond, which would be exempt from federal and state taxes.

Once the bond was paid off, the golf course ownership would go to the Rec District.

A second option would involve a number of investors who would not have the benefit of being tax exempt.

A third option would be a 6320 Bond, where a municipality could issue bonds on behalf of the Rec District. At the end of the bond period, the golf course would belong to the district.

Wally Morgus, a management consultant specializing in golf courses, said it would take $7 million to finance the golf course.

Debt service would be $550,000 to $600,000 a year.

But with a projection of 20,000 rounds of golf per season (June through Sept. 15), the cost would be affordable.

Morgus said the Sun Valley Golf Course does about 20,000 to 25,000 rounds a season.

He said one way the Rec District could lower its debt service would be through donations.

"For every $1 million raised, the debt service would decrease $80,000," he said.

Morgus said a round of golf would be based on "stadium pricing," which would take into account residence status, time of day, time of season, and other factors.

A draft of the pricing shows a range of $10 to $72 per round of golf.

 

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