West Fargo's elected leaders want to know if anyone else will chip in to study the possibility of a golf course south of Interstate 94.
Westport Beach developers, represented by Jim Bullis, are willing to donate 360 acres north of 52nd Avenue West for a golf course.
City commissioners delayed a decision Monday on a feasibility study in order to ask the developers and the West Fargo Park District if they're willing to split the cost.
Boulder, Colo.-based HVS Golf Services would charge the city $13,000, plus up to $3,000 in expenses, to study the idea.
That's not much compared to some feasibility studies the city has undertaken, Mayor Rich Mattern said.
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"I just think it's a good idea at least to take a look at it," he said. "It doesn't mean we have to do it."
But Commissioner Brenda Warren said the fast-growing city is already stretched financially by a long list of needed capital improvements.
Given the city's explosive growth, Warren believes the study would come out in favor of a golf course.
"In the end, if they say build it, we can't," Warren said. "We don't have the money."
Warren also questioned why the city would do a study when golf courses typically are handled by park districts.
The West Fargo Park District has focused more on its community swimming pool than on building a golf course, Warren said. No representative of the Park District spoke at the meeting.
City Administrator Jim Brownlee said the Park District is cash-strapped, and he'd prefer the city do the study instead of the developers.
He said the study could give a better idea of what a golf course would cost. The nine-hole golf course in Osgood cost about $5 million, but a consultant told him a course could be built for less, Brownlee said.
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Warren said her research shows an 18-hole course could cost from $10 million to $14 million.
Commissioners are expected discuss the study again in two weeks.
Also Monday, City Engineer Kevin Bucholz said the North Dakota Department of Transportation plans to add more dirt to the site of an Interstate 94 interchange protection project at Ninth Street East.
Three landslides have occurred on two dirt piles sitting to the sides of the interstate. The extra dirt will create more gentle slopes, Bucholz said.
The project is now due to be bid in January instead of November, Brownlee said.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Andrea Domaskin at (701) 241-5556 Course backers sought Andrea Domaskin 20071016
