No schedule for Fort Sheridan golf talks, Hahn says
Although an advisory committee studying whether there should be golf at the Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve finally made a recommendation this week, the Lake County Forest Preserve District board may not take up the matter for months, officials said.
The independent facilitator who moderated the meetings won't deliver her final report on the discussions until January, said Tom Hahn, the forest district's executive director. And because the forest board will seat a new president next month and then reorganize its committees, the agency isn't likely to take up the matter quickly.
“The first quarter (of 2011) would be great,” Hahn said.
After more than three hours of discussion Wednesday night, the 10-member committee agreed to recommend the forest board seek construction proposals for a hybrid project that would mix a nine-hole course with trails and other non-golf amenities.
If the forest board eventually consents, the proposals will be sent to golf management companies with the idea the firms finance, construct and operate the proposed course.
An 18-hole layout was part of the roughly 250-acre Fort Sheridan property when the district acquired it from the Army in the 1990s. The deal included a promise to keep a golf course open there forever.
The original course was torn up in 2003 to make way for a planned high-end layout, but the project was put on hold after cost estimates came in millions of dollars higher than originally discussed.
The plan now being considered could cost $14.3 million, according to an estimate given to the advisory committee.
After the committee's report is completed, Hahn will bring it to the new forest board president. That post will be filled during a special meeting Dec. 6.
It'll be up to the president to decide whether the board's committees will debate the proposal or if it will go directly to the full board at a committee-of-the-whole session, Hahn said.
“I think this is probably a big enough issue that it may end up being addressed at a committee-of-the-whole meeting, but I can't say for sure,” he said.
Hahn said he hopes the board decides what to do at Fort Sheridan “sooner than later.”
“I want to move this along,” he said.
Concerned residents can share their opinions about the proposal at the board or committee discussions, which will be open to the public, Hahn said.
A variety of opinions were shared Wednesday night by members of the advisory committee, which consists of county, municipal and park district leaders from the area and local residents. Not all of the members favored the nine-hole plan.
Sandy Hart, the vice president of the Lake Bluff Park District board, said she would prefer the land remain open space.
Highland Park Mayor Michael Belsky said he didn't think the proposal is financially feasible but admitted the forest district had to abide by its agreement with the Army.
Highwood Mayor Charlie Pecaro said he believes a nine-hole course will fail and voiced support for the original 18-hole option.
Most of the committee members, however, saw the proposal as a way to meet the district's obligation.
“We don't need another golf course at this time,” said member Anne Flanigan Bassi, who also serves on the forest board. “There's a reason we're doing this.”