County diverts golf improvements to clear way for cross country

A new driving range and relocated No. 1 hole at Settlers Hill Golf Course will take somewhat of a back seat to construction of a cross-country course on the former landfill as both those projects approach visible next steps.

Now that an agreement is in place with Waste Management regarding future projects, Kane County Forest Preserve Commissioner Mike Donahue said work on the cross-country course will pick up speed.

Donahue told colleagues on the forest preserve district's executive committee Friday there is preliminary agreement on the draft layout for the course with Waste Management and the U.S. Track and Field Association. He expects initial engineering work on the course will conclude within the next two months. Once that's done, phase two engineering will begin as a prelude to actual construction of the course.

With that in mind, the executive committee signed off on a plan that would change the construction schedule for the improvements at the golf course.

Redesign work on the course slowed because of "numerous complex issues relative to development on a landfill," according to a staff memo. Commissioners indicated the issues referenced in the memo aren't anything that could torpedo either project.

To keep the cross-country course on the fast track, the golf course's opening hole will be moved somewhere in the existing back nine layout. A new hole No. 1 is necessary because a driving range will be built on the location of the current No. 1 hole.

The original plan was to create an entirely new hole No. 1 on the landfill site, but that work will be postponed to avoid construction conflicts with the cross country course.

Modifying the back nine holes wasn't supposed to occur until much later in the project, but now that phase will happen sooner to maintain a full 18-hole course. Any new hole placement on the landfill site will now be the final step of the course redesign.

The forest preserve district budgeted $550,000 for the driving range and relocation of the first hole. The change in the work schedule will stay within that budget.

Forest preserve district commissioners also serve as Kane County Board members. They plan to reimburse the forest preserve district that $550,000 by taking money from the county's landfill fund.