Above: Southborough voters will decide on whether to increase CPA funding for watering the golf course. (photos by Beth Melo)
Between now and the Special Town Meeting on Saturday, October 17th, I’ll be covering the Articles that voters will be asked to decide.
Today, I’m focusing on Article 3, a request by the Golf Course Committee to fund improving the irrigation system at the Southborough Golf Club. It’s one of two requests on the Warrant to increase previously authorized spending of Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds.
The Article will face opposition by the committee that advises Town Meeting voters.
In March 2024, Annual Town Meeting voters approved using $553,750 of CPA funds to improve the irrigation system for the Town owned golf course — the Southborough Golf Club. The pitch was that the system would more efficiently water the greens at the Southborough Golf Club. It was meant to replace an over 50 year old system “which is leaky, prone to failure requiring frequent repair, and time consuming to operate.
Over two years later, the committee hasn’t been able to proceed with the work which was more expensive than anticipated. Below are photos I took a few weeks ago at the course (when it was less rainy):
The new Article seeks to add $433,546 of CPA funding and extend the project timeline. According to the Warrant:
After the 2024 funding approval, the project went out to bid and came back substantially higher than was funded. An independent technical review provided materially new information that was not available at the time of the 2024 Town Meeting vote. The evaluation also identified inadequate water pressure, necessitating the addition of a pump station.
While the Select Board unanimously voted to support the Article, Advisory Committee members voted to not support it.
If the Article is approved, the total project budget will be $1,087,296 with only $100,000 of that coming from the Southborough Golf Course Revolving Fund and $987,296 appropriated from CPA accounts (including $141,821 in contingency funding).
Advisory member Howard Rose recalled that when the Town originally approved purchasing the golf course, the pitch was that after initial investments it would become self-funded. Some members expressed willingness to use CPA to cover some portion of the budget. But all opposed having the course revolving fund cover only 10% of the project with 90% covered by the Town’s CPA fund.
They discussed the need to explore other funding options, including increasing users’ green fees. Member Erik Glaser suggested the Golf Course Committee could even look at holding fundraisers to cover more of the project costs.
