Letter: RedTail’s new decision process

A big, new RedTail clubhouse was being fast tracked. “The goal is to break ground by fall” (Village minutes 4/21/22). An architectural firm made drawings of a 50% bigger banquet hall and RFPs would be out in 45 days (NWHerald 4/5/22). The staff had done its due diligence and prepared financial projections (NWHerald 4/28/22).

Then people started asking questions and it turns out there were no financial projections.

So, on June 6, the Village staff made a presentation on a new decision-making process. The old clubhouse was “at the end of its life.” A new clubhouse would be an “investment.” Golf rounds played got a bump from COVID, so the trend is clearly up. (Nationally, golf rounds dropped from the prior 18 years.)

Finally, Trustee Berman asked the obvious question: Have we ever gotten bids on repairing the existing clubhouse?

The answer? No.

Thank you, Trustee Berman, for being the voice of common sense.

I estimate a replacement building will cost $140,000 a year to pay off. A banquet hall, with a big kitchen and attendant staff costs, will probably cost at least twice that.

Does the evidence favor a big banquet facility? No. D’Andrea closed. Crystal Woods put golf simulators in their banquet room. Turnberry’s banquet room is used perhaps 10 days a year. The golf course banquet facilities around us are losing money.

A rehabbed building, or the smallest replacement building, are the options with the lowest risk to the taxpayers.

Steve Willson

Lakewood