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City Considering Forgiving Golf Course Debt

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The chance that the municipally-owned Northwood Golf Club will make money for the City of Rhinelander anytime soon is slim, and a recommendation would have the city wipe away decades of debt and start over. The amount of money owed the city coffers is more than a million dollars. The city has been covering the losses for decades. The city hired Green Golf Partners to run the course to try to turn the financial picture around.

City Administrator Daniel Guild asked the common council to consider giving the course managers a financial break...

"...My recommendation is simply this: to have the General Fund forgive the Golf Course Fund of all debts that it is owed. To close the golf course enterprise fund at the end of this fiscal year and to create a special revenue fund that all golf course operations will be managed in going forward in perpetuity...."

Green Golf Partners CEO Matt McIntee said the Rhinelander course is among the finest municipal courses in the nation, Golf Digest rating it four-and-a-half stars.

He says that asset means much for Rhinelander, with an estimated $4.5 million dollar economic impact.

"..All-in-all as a business, it's being run much sharper. Public perception has improved. The most important thing, we ran a survey last year, the patrons of the golf course are happy. This year we're getting more events, we have more events booked than we have had in years. People are coming back. The restaurant is getting busier."

The council took no action and moved the issue to future meetings. In other action, the board decided to pay a nearly $8,000 claim filed against the city by the Hodag Water Shows after their ski ramp was damaged by city snow plows this winter.

The council voted 7-1 to pay the claim so the show could get another ski jump before the season.

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