Grand Island future uncertain in wake of hospital news

LEESBURG — As Lee County moves forward with plans to build a $50 million dollar hospital on the property currently occupied by the Grand Island Golf Club, local leaders say they hope that in addition to adding a significant economic engine to the community, the county is headed toward a future where it is no longer losing money in the golf course business.

Since 2002, the county has ultimately been subsidizing the Ledo Road-area golf course, which has been a bone of contention for many county residents. After Tuesday night’s county commission work session, during which the county signed off on a memorandum of understanding that will begin the process of developing the hospital on the golf course property, Commission Chairman Rick Muggridge said the recent trend has been that subsidies to the 18-hole tract have been in the neighborhood of $100,000 a year.

“To run the golf course, and I don’t have the budget in front of me, we budget $975,000, and what we’re looking at is probably $875,000 in revenue, and that’s all rough numbers,” said Muggridge “We’re in the heart of the year, and hopefully with good weather, if it doesn’t get too hot, those numbers will go up. But that’s been kind of traditional.”

A review of the golf course’s recent numbers shows that in 2011-2012 Grand Island’s expenditures exceeded revenue by slightly more than $80,000, and in 2013-2014 there was a $129,097 difference between revenue and expenditures.

By moving forward with the hospital development plan, the county will eventually no longer have to carry that burden.

“As a county commissioner, I’m thrilled because (ownership of the golf course) has been so incredibly contentious,” Muggridge said. “As a county commission, this is just one less thing that you have to try to weigh out.”

Under the terms of the MOU, the county recreation authority will deed the golf course property to the Lee County Development Authority, which will take control of the golf course operations while simultaneously issuing bonds to finance the construction of the hospital. At that same time, the county will apply for a Certificate of Need through the Georgia Department of Public Health, which will allow for the establishment of the hospital.

Based on the proposed timeline, Grand Island is expected to remain in operation through the end of the year while the CON application process and other requirements play out. After that, the development authority will move forward with breaking ground on a 15-acre hospital site on the Grand Island property, which will force a reduction in the number of golf holes from 18 to nine.

Commissioner Luke Singletary, who also sits on the Parks and Recreation Authority board, said that according to what he’s been told the proposed hospital site is on what is now the course’s back nine, but what holes will remain when ground is broken in February or March has not been decided.

“There’s probably going to be a combination of the two (nines),” Singletary said Tuesday. “I think most of the acreage for the hospital is on the back nine, but I think they may still have to use 10 and 18 (as part of the nine-hole layout). There may be a little mix and match.”

Singletary, who is a supporter of the hospital project, said that when the Parks and Recreation Authority met Tuesday to review and sign off on the MOU, several members of the golf club were on hand to voice their opposition to the plan.

“There were a handful of members there,” said Singletary. “Of course they’re not happy about it, but if they are Lee County taxpayers then they’ve got to understand the benefit and the economic impact that this will have. I think this is a once-in-a-lifetime deal. You don’t get this kind of opportunity very often.”

Muggridge echoed Singletary’s comments, saying that the hospital project had the potential to be one of the most significant things to happen in the county in some time and that it was the economic impact potential of the proposal that drove the deal, not a desire to no longer support Grand Island.

“I’ve always been a proponent of Grand Island; I’ve always voted to keep it open,” Muggridge said. “My thought process has always been, what we’re seeking is the highest and best use. Well, that changes through time. When there was nobody that wanted to buy Grand Island or use the property for any other reason, to me the highest and best use was a golf course as opposed to a vacant lot or a For Sale sign. The county, the Economic Development Authority, we’ve always kept our options open. But as long as there was not a viable option, the best option, the best use, was a golf course.”

While the MOU plainly spells out what’s going to happen to the course during the next six or seven months, Grand Island’s long-term future is still very much up in the air.

Winston Oxford, director of the Lee County Development Authority, said that in addition to the authority spearheading the building of the hospital site and working to develop another 15 or so acres around the hospital, it will also be looking for a developer willing to take on the golf course.

In fact, Oxford said he is already discussing the property with a developer and hopes that a deal will be worked out in the next few months.

“By the time the hospital breaks ground, we’ll know if this will come to fruition,” Oxford said. “We’ve got six months to work with this developer to see if this will come to fruition.”

Oxford said that if the authority does not have any firm interest in the property by that time, it will be up to the County Commission to determine whether to continue operating Grand Island as a nine-hole course.