Jasper Country Club management board accepts city’s offer for property
Jasper — The Club Management board members of the Jasper Country Club approved an offer made on the property by the City of Jasper in a meeting this morning.
The city is interested in purchasing the 63 acres that make up the golf course; the country club and access road from Newton Street are not part of the offer.
The city’s offer was approved on Tuesday by the Jasper Economic Redevelopment Commission. They made their offer after seeing the two appraisals of the property but those appraisals and the subsequent offer amount have not been released.
The purchase of the property cleared another hurtle last night when the Jasper Planning Commission voted 7 to 1 that the purchase was in line with the city’s comprehensive plan. The vote occurred with members Bernita Berger and Martin Loya absent, and Commission President Brad Schnarr recusing himself due to a personal interest in the property.
The lone dissenting vote came from commission member Ben Krapf.
“I think all this is very exciting to talk about,” Krapf said before explaining he didn’t see how the purchase fit into the city’s comprehensive plan.
Krapf stated he was also concerned about the purchase pulling money away from further development of the Jasper Riverwalk in addition to requiring more employees for the parks department.
Redevelopment Commission President John Bell explained the opportunity should be a serious consideration for the further development of the city and that the funding for the purchase would be offset by the sale of several underutilized properties. Those properties include the Lechner property near Precious Blood, Bockelman property north of Municipal Golf Course, the 30th Street Park, and a property at Truman Road and St. Charles Street for a total of about 70 acres.
Bell also told the commission that Parks Director Ken Buck has stated the purchase would require the department hiring one more full-time parks employee and two part-time employees for the summer.
Redevelopment Commission member Rick Stradtner told the Planning Commission the Riverwalk was being developed as more of a tourist attraction and the country club property was a major city improvement for the benefit of the residents and could be a draw for companies wanting to move here or expand in the area.
The Jasper Public Library, the Greater Jasper Consolidated School Corporation and the Jasper Arts Commission have also shown interest in portions of the property, but have allowed the city to take the lead on negotiations for the entire property.
The issue will be before the council at their regular meeting on Dec. 19.
Should I assume the land is up for sale then? I would hope that land goes on the market before the end of the year. I have heard the deal is not dependent on the other land selling. It would be nice to hear the city council make available the actual plans for the land (designs, so forth), the cost, and be as transparent as possible. Has a traffic study been done to figure out how much additional traffic will go down 15th st? Go through the US231-15th st light? Will major intersection work be required there? Will the city shut down Jaycees park? This all very important information I would figure has/should have been talked through and cost calculation been made before deciding whether to buy the land.
Also, a statement about the new go forward decision on city parks and if the city is going to start selling little parks to build large parks? The big parks is nice for NW Jasper but sucks for southern and eastern Jasper.