Advisory board urges more golf carts for municipal course; council asks for clearer numbers

Jason Banks, president of the Alpha Advisory Board (S4), presented multi-year data on the municipal golf course and urged the council to consider leasing additional carts to ease peak-day demand and improve the course's financial picture.

"In the year 2025, the city paid out $65,817.81 for a cart lease," Banks said, and he cited total golf revenue figures and a multi-year gain used to illustrate the course's return on investment. Banks summarized that leasing additional carts had, in his analysis, produced strong returns and could help bring the course toward solvency.

Operational staff (S6) described peak-weekend demand and the turnaround challenges on shotgun-start tournament days, noting that shortages of carts lead to service delays. "On a typical Saturday... when all the cards are gone... there are no cards," the presenter said, arguing extra carts would allow the course to keep play moving during high-demand events.

Council members pressed for granular numbers. One council member (S2) asked about insurance, wear-and-tear, storage capacity and how cart revenue translates into broader local economic impact, urging staff to provide audited or verifiable figures rather than projections: "Questions are not adversity... the taxpayers have every right to know." The council also discussed an existing contract with Yamaha and a cited figure that cart-related revenue had been $266,000 in a recent year, representing a material share of course income.

Banks and staff said they would supply follow-up documentation and called out Scott Eilers (mentioned in the presentation) as someone who could add on-the-ground maintenance and usage detail. Council members asked Parks & Rec and fiscal staff to return with precise revenue breakdowns, maintenance cost estimates, insurance impact and proposed storage solutions before any decision to expand the lease.

Next steps: staff and advisory-board members will provide the requested line-item figures and storage/maintenance plans for council consideration.