Above: Selectmen are seeking volunteers to hit the ground running this summer to ensure continuing operation of the soon to be Town-owned golf course. (image posted to Facebook by Neil A. Theriault)
Selectmen are taking the next steps for ensuring preservation of the St. Mark’s Golf Course. One of those is recruiting volunteers for an ad hoc Golf Course Committee. Another is signing off on the Conservation Restriction.
The Town doesn’t own the land yet. Before closing the land deal, Selectmen will need to finalize the CR. That protection was a requirement of Town Meeting voter’s approval for the purchase of the course (bundled with sale of Town land).
The most recent draft of the CR was posted to the Town website for public review following the board’s last meeting. (Click here to read it.)
Still, there are good reasons not to wait for Town ownership of the course before appointing a committee. One responsibility will be to figure out the continuing operation and maintenance of the greens when St. Mark’s School pulls out.
In the longer run, the committee will also need to develop a plan to work around the future public safety complex. That will require working closely with the Public Safety Building Committee which has already been appointed.
And selectmen hope that some work can be funded through the Community Preservation Act. Applications to be granted at next spring’s Annual Town Meeting need to be completed this summer. (Forms will be available mid-July and are due on September 1st. Click here for details.)
To accomplish all of this, the Town is seeking:
up to 7 members, consisting of at-large representatives of the community, with professional backgrounds and qualifications consistent with those needed for design, maintenance and operation of a municipal golf course facility in Massachusetts
Selectmen hope to appoint members to the Golf Course Committee at their next meeting. That is currently scheduled for the evening of Tuesday, July 18th. But, if enough applications come in quickly, selectmen may opt to schedule a meeting sooner.
Below are the duties from the official charge approved at last Wednesday’s Board of Selectmen meeting:
- The Committee shall develop a plan which makes it feasible to maintain a functioning golf course now and into the future and to take the necessary steps to achieve this purpose;
- The Committee shall engage with the current management company for the St. Mark’s Golf Course, to better understand the maintenance and operation aspects of the golf course, as well as opportunities to continue the relationship;
- The Committee shall work collaboratively with the Public Safety Building Committee to explore economies of scale with regards to access, parking, location of clubhouse and amenities, utilities, and course modifications;
- The Committee shall work with the Community Preservation Committee (CPC) to explore opportunities to make application to CPC for administrative, consultant, study and/or design funding for the golf course;
- The Committee shall prepare draft budgets for operations and capital improvements to be considered by the Board of Selectmen for future Town Meetings;
- The Committee shall communicate with town departments, officials, and other resources as needed [i.e. Inspectional Departments, Town Administrator, permitting boards, etc.].
To view the full charge, click here.
Southborough Wicked Local covered the discussion at last week’s Board of Selectmen meeting:
Selectmen Wednesday night approved creating a Golf Course Committee that will develop a plan to maintain a course during construction and beyond, and reach out to the current management company to better understand maintenance and operation of the course.
“We have every intention to continue the use of the golf course,” said Selectmen Chairman Dan Kolenda.
Click here for that article.
To apply to join the committee, click here for the application form. The completed form and an attached resume should either be submitted to the Selectman’s office (at Southborough Town House, 17 Common Street), or emailed to selectmensoffice@southboroughma.com.
