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Editorial: Support for Cedars Edge
Op-Ed · July 28, 2016
The housing development planned for Cedars Edge Golf Course’s western edge brings refreshing news for that section of town, and we hope the City Council agrees that the unique circumstances deserve extra help with building infrastructure not normally given to developers.
West Branch’s only golf course came to town in the 1960s, and changed hands many times in the past five decades. Yet the previous owners, who operated it as Fox Run Golf and Country Club, decided to close it in March.
For 67 days the course stood largely idle, save for practice sessions for the two high school golf teams. Jerry and Tammy Sexton, emboldened by a community promising support, stepped out in faith and negotiated a contract with the owners, mother-son team Pamella and Rick Miller. The Millers still own the property, yet the Sextons have taken over the business.
The Sextons hope to make the golf course self-sustaining in this town of 2,300, and many golfers, friends and family stepped it to help.
When the Sextons announced the deal, scores of people jumped in to help, mowing, trimming, cleaning, repairing and more. Jerry Sexton reported to the City Council at its July 18 meeting golfers returning and memberships growing.
The preliminary plat lays out 33 lots, with eight driveways connecting to Cedar-Johnson Road, a road that needs nearly $400,000 in work.
“There’s a lot of interest in single-family (homes),” Sexton noted.
The city has incentives in place to tempt home-building because the community expressed a strong interest to grow and the demand for more housing is greater than the average Iowa community.
This incentive is is good, and it is a good practice to treat developers fairly. However, fairly does not always mean equally, and in this case we see Cedars Edge giving the city more than a typical development by rescuing the golf course.
The late mayor, Mark Worrell, convinced the City Council to consider buying “a” golf course just a couple years ago. There was only one golf course in town, though, and the most recent listed price reached about $1.2 million. In 2001, the Millers purchased it for $553,000.
The Sextons report that they do not have an accounting of the golf course’s expenditures and revenues, so it may take some time to figure out what it takes to sustain the business. In the meantime, selling parcels for homes will help.
So how much should the city be willing to spend for saving the golf course? That’s a tough question to consider, yet we hope the council certainly will consider it. Had it not been for the Sextons, the golf course could possibly be cropland now and likely never to return as a golf course.
City Administrator Matt Muckler and council member Colton Miller made strong points toward supporting Cedars Edge and the Sextons.
“We wanted to buy a golf course, and (improving Cedar-Johnson Road) is a lot cheaper,” Miller said. “This might be some of the best money we spend.”
“If you’re not saving an amenity like a golf course, we’re not having this discussion,” Muckler added.
And how about this: KLM Investments partner Brad Larson, who attended the meeting regarding his own housing development nearby, also suggested the council partner with the Sextons. Even a competitor feels Cedars Edge deserves extra support.
The community wants to see the golf course succeed, and it would be in the interest of the city to help preserve this amenity in an effort to draw more people to live and work here.
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