The decision to purchase of Lakeview Executive Golf Course in 2017 was one that came with plenty of controversy and the past four years have done little to bridge the divide between those who support the course and those who feel it is a waste of taxpayer resources.
In the intervening years, the operation at Lakeview has continued to be a source of debate and town officials even sought an appraisal of the property with the possibility of selling. However, after reviewing that appraisal this month, the Nye County Commission, sitting as the governing board for the town of Pahrump, made the decision to retain the course, at least for now.
The appraisal cost the town $5,000 and was conducted by Fidelity Appraisals LLC, which gave the 62.49 acre property an estimated “as is” market value of $750,000.
Lakeview Golf Course was purchased by the town for $350,000 with the sale official as of mid-2018. CourseCo. was contracted as the management company in late 2018 and the town has consistently had to subsidize the operation each year. This has been the crux of the argument over the course but as commissioner Debra Strickland pointed out, it’s no different that the town paying to keep the local parks open and maintained.
“The thing is, we’ve got a lot of parks and recreation that we are trying to create,” Strickland remarked. “Even now with the fairgrounds, etcetera. And not all people are going to use things we’re going to build. It’s going to be special needs, like, I’m hoping we get to build a covered arena, I know we are going to build a community center and this is just another park, if you will. And so I am hoping this commission will decide that it is not worth our while to sell this.”
Commissioner Donna Cox, who was highly critical of the decision to acquire the course in the first place, was also leaning toward keeping it, for the time being.
“I didn’t vote for us to buy this, by the way, I didn’t think the taxpayers should have to pay to upkeep somebody’s backyard,” Cox said. “But then I was also leery that they might just let it die. So I found some use in it… I guess we should just keep it, see what happens this year and maybe next year will be better. We didn’t expect to make a fortune off it, in fact, we went into the hole when we bought it. Now we’ve got it and maybe we can add some other things to help it pay for itself.”
Commissioner Bruce Jabbour said he, too, did not think a sale made sense at this time, stating, “Also, it was approximately four or five months ago that we had the management group (CourseCo.) before us, they gave us their plan of action. We agreed to it and I think we are obligated to at least afford them the opportunity to manage and prove themselves, prove their management style and then come back at a future date. But again, I think we are premature here…”
Commissioner Leo Blundo said he had no real “horse in the race” when it came to the issue but he was disappointed with CourseCo.’s handling of the course over the past four years. “Management style, I am not sold or thrilled with what they’re doing over there,” he said. Switching thoughts, Blundo said he was simply looking to drill down to the dollars versus benefit. “If you’d like to keep it, great. If you don’t want to keep it, great. But I think it’s healthy to have the conversation every once in a while.”
The item was ultimately closed with no action taken.
Readers can find previous coverage regarding Lakeview Golf Course online at pvtimes.com
Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com