By KEVIN CHIRI
Slidell news bureau
SLIDELL – A new approach for Slidell to purchase Pinewood Country Club could offer more benefits for the city that would assure the future of the longtime establishment here.
After Slidell City Councilman Bill Borchert sought approval from the council at its last meeting to use some of the $12 million in street and drainage money to purchase the club, only to have the resolution tabled until the Dec. 6 meeting, a new proposal to buy the club is being considered.
The new plan is for the city to use some of its fiscal year 2016 supplemental money, considered to be in the $2 million range, to purchase the club for its $1.2 million asking price.
Using supplemental money would allow the city to do whatever it wanted with the 96-acre property, which would likely mean the country club and golf course could keep operating to pay back the city purchase price in less than 15 years.
The city is currently netting close to $1 million a year because they agreed to purchase the Textron building and land from the federal government several years ago, making the prospects for the Pinewood clubhouse and golf course offer a similar deal for the city, without actually going into business themselves.
The new proposal is being studied by city officials at a time when the Louisiana Bond Commission told the city late Tuesday that it appears the use of $12 million in street and drainage money would allow for the Pinewood purchase, as long as drainage improvements are proven in the transaction.
Pinewood hit on hard times in the past five years due to changes in the golf and country club industry and even though improvement came in the way of changes to its food service and banquet business three years ago, a large loan of over $800,000 to Regions Bank has been looming over the club. The club also owes over $300,000 to club members or other vendors.
A number of Slidell City Council members began looking into the idea of the city purchasing the club for what appears to be a host of reasons that could benefit the city. Not only could the city lease out the country club and banquet facilities to the current tenant Louis Ochoa, who has made it clear he wants to stay, but leasing the golf course to a private entity could also bring more money to the city without Slidell having anything to do with being in the golf business.
“It’s such a win-win for the city to purchase this property,” Borchert said last week. “And where else do you get 96-acres of land in the city limits for only $12,000 an acre?”
Slidell Mayor Freddy Drennan said he was not “100 percent for the idea of using supplemental money to purchase Pinewood and I’m not 100 percent against the idea.” The mayor said he has asked the city engineering department to study the property to determine what drainage benefits could result from the city owning the land.
Drennan, while not committing to anything yet in terms of the supplemental money, did acknowledge “to buy 96-acres of land in the city would be a good business decision for the city in years to come, but the question is can we afford that and is it a good way to spend the city money right now.”
It was in 2009 that the city spent approximately $400,000 on the Pinewood property to enlarge many of the retention ponds there, resulting in great drainage improvements for many areas north of Gause Boulevard. Borchert said it seems clear that more improvements could be made for city residents if Slidell owned the entire property.
“We’ve already been told that the land can do a lot to help drainage for hundreds of homeowners,” he said. “I don’t think there will be much argument about those benefits.”
Drennan will draft a recommendation to City Council members in December on how he would like the supplemental budget money to be spent, then council members will have the final say on the money that must be spent on one-time expenditures with no recurring expenses.
Regardless what does eventually happen, Pinewood Board President Renee Warren said unequivocally the country club and golf course will not be closing anytime soon.
“All our bills are paid and we have kicked this can down the road a while already, something we can do a while longer if necessary,” she said. “No, we cannot continue like this forever, but we have made good financial improvement with our new restaurant tenant Louis Ochoa, and we are continuing to operate with business as usual for the foreseeable future.”
When Borchert put forth the amendment last week at the City Council meeting to purchase Pinewood with the $12 million of bond money it was defeated by a narrow 5-4 margin. Councilman Warren Crockett voted against it at the time, but said he saw good reason to purchase Pinewood if they could do it with other city money, something the supplemental proposal would accomplish.
Regions Bank reportedly has more than one developer interested in purchasing the property to turn into residential or commercial developments.