Jacksonville aldermen approved a loan to help with the project to revamp the former Northridge HIlls Golf Course after a series of somewhat confusions motions, and finally, a vote.
The city eventually decided on a loan of $125,000 to John Rohn for work on what they plan to call the K’s Creek Golf Club and Wine Bar.
At the last month’s city council meeting, John Rohn made a request to the city for a loan of $250,000 from the city’s revolving loan fund. That $250,000 request was the maximum amount Rohn was allowed to ask for, as it accounted for exactly half of the $500,000 total price tag of the project. City Treasurer Ron Smiljanich, however, informed the council at that last meeting, that Rohn’s initial request exceeded the amount of money in the Revolving Loan Fund, which at that point stood at around $183,000.
After some lengthy discussion at the March 29th meeting, it seemed the majority of aldermen were settled on the figure of loaning $125,000 to Rohn for work on the golf course. Last night however, when the council went to vote on the $125,000 loan, alderman Steve Warmowski had the item pulled for further discussion. He then suggested that the council add another $20,000 on top of the $125,000 loan, for a total of $145,000. According to Smiljanich, as of last night, the city’s Revolving Loan Fnd has around $187,000 in it.
While the vote for a $145,000 loan failed to pass, aldermen did approve the original $125,000 loan to Rohn for the golf course and win bar. Alderman Warmoski says he suggested the extra $20,000 because, if the city was going to approve the initial loanm they might has well use all of the Revolviing Loan Fund money available for what he believes will be a very good investment for the city,and not necessarily stand as competition against Jacksonville’s other courses. .
Warmowski says he believes the Rohn’s new K’s Creek Golf Club and Wine Bar is a really solid investment for the city, especially considering that the city golf course loses money on a yearly basis.
Warmowski also talks about the importance of maintaining high property values on the homes near and around the golf course, and why he believes this is a better investment than some of the other projects that have received loans from the Revolving Loan Fund.