Clark County won’t be selling Tri-Mountain Golf Course to the Cowlitz Indian Tribe after all.
“The Cowlitz (tribe) did pull out of purchasing the golf course, so we do have some decisions to make about moving forward with the course,” Michelle Schuster, director of internal services, told the Clark County Council on Wednesday.
The council voted unanimously to keep the property open as a public golf course, at least for now.
The Cowlitz Indian Tribe and Clark County seemed poised to finalize the sale at the start of the year. While Schuster did not specify why the sale fell through, the county’s requirement that the property continue to operate as a public golf course was raised during the bidding process.
The tribe submitted two bids for the property in November, both coming through its Cowlitz Economic Authority. Tri-Mountain Golf Course, 1701 N.W. 299th St., Ridgefield, lies about 2 miles south of the tribe’s ilani casino.
The $3.6 million bid, which was slightly higher than the minimum bid set by the county, was based on a July 2023 appraisal. The tribe also submitted a higher bid of $5 million, which would have required all restrictions and covenants terminate after five years.
With a budget shortfall looming and the expense of operating and maintaining the course more than the income it gets from user fees, the county had hoped to sell the property to reduce the ongoing drain on general fund revenues. Schuster also said that deferred maintenance costs will have to be addressed soon.
“In total, since 2005, we have spent about $1.16 million on maintenance and operational charges from facilities on the course, and that does not include the overhead factor,” Schuster told the council.
In addition to about $1.5 million in building maintenance for the clubhouse, driving range house, range shelter, maintenance building and other buildings on the grounds, Schuster said another $380,000 in repairs need to be done to the roofing, heating and air conditioning system, and siding.
“Overall, we’re looking at just over $3 million of deferred maintenance we need to do on the course,” she said.
Councilor Wil Fuentes asked if shuttering the course during the winter, when fewer golfers use it, would be possible.
“I don’t know anything about golf. But what I do know is that we have rainy weather here in the winter, and it doesn’t pick up until warmer weather, drier weather. Have we explored the option of potentially closing for a few months out of the year?” Fuentes asked.
Schuster said closing the course to the public during the winter would be possible, but she said some grounds work and maintenance would still be required. She said the council has several options for what to do with the property.
Those options include going out to bid again to sell the course with the same covenant restrictions in place; requesting bids from management companies for operating and maintaining the property in hopes of finding a more affordable solution to its current management contract; bringing management in house; negotiating with another governmental agency — La Center, for example — which previously expressed interest in the property; or selling it without any restrictions.
Councilor Glen Yung said keeping the property as a public golf course may not be an option at some point.
“I think if we move forward and we cannot find a way to sell the property with the covenant restriction that it stays a golf course, then I think we owe it to the taxpayer(s) to pay them back, in the sense that we sell it at its highest use value. That’s long term,” he said.
Councilor Matt Little said he was optimistic the golf course could be kept open and within budget. Little said he would like to give the golf course another two years before making a decision on selling the property. That would give time for the county to gather more information on the budget impact, as well as community use, he said.
“I don’t golf, but I definitely want to advocate for the community who does. This seems like a good option for affordable golf and outdoor recreation on our land. That’s something that we should support,” Little said.
Keeping the property operating as a golf course was important to Councilor Michelle Belkot as well.
“I was just looking through some emails today, and it’s very important to our community. I’ve had a couple of discussions with different community members about it staying and remaining a golf course. That’s just very important to everybody,” she said.
The county council is scheduled to further discuss management of the property next week.
