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Abbeville: Golf course negotiations will continue; some share concerns

While negotiations for the City of Abbeville to potentially take over operations of Vermilion Oaks will continue, some question whether the city running the golf course would be a good move in the long run.
During Tuesday’s regular meeting, the city council voted to allow Mayor Mark Piazza to continue to negotiate a lease with Magdalen Square IV, the LLC that owns the course. Magdalen Square IV consists of members of the Broussard family. The council also approved for City Attorney Ike Funderburk to meet with the owner’s attorney to review the lease.
No lease has been signed, and the council did not finalize any agreement during Tuesday’s meeting. All meetings, be it the committee or regular council meetings, regarding the issue of the golf course are open to the public.
Details of the potential lease presented in a letter of intent to the city that Piazza presented on Tuesday include the $1,000 a month for three years, with the possibility of two additional three-year terms. Magdalen Square IV would also put up $20,000 of the projected $90,000 start-up cost to get the course ready. Piazza said the city would negotiate an opt-out clause and that Magdalen Square IV would reimburse the city $50,000 if the course were to be sold at any point during the lease. As per the lease, the city would cover insurance and taxes on the property.
Councilman Brady Broussard Jr., Councilwoman Terry Broussard, and Councilman Francis Touchet Jr. voted to move forward with the negotiations.
Councilwoman Roslyn White, because of her connection to the Broussard family, recused herself from the vote, something she has done each time this issue has come up.
Councilman Francis Plaisance voted against the move, saying he feels numbers presented by the Golf-Country Club Advisory Committee don’t add up to the course not losing money.
“I have sat at all three committee meetings,” Plaisance said. “I still don’t know why the City of Abbeville wants to get involved with an operation that has lost money since 2012.”
Based on numbers presented by the committee, the course lost more than $500,000 between ‘12 and when the course closed in October ‘17. Touchet has said multiple times that those numbers reflect a more extensive operation, including $300,000 in salaries and a full kitchen, that the city has no intention of delving into.
“We are going to focus just on golf,” Touchet said. “I don’t think it’s going to make money. I do think it is going to break even.
“I am going to reiterate; the city is not going to operate it the way it has been operated for the past six years.”
Norma Buford, an Abbeville citizen who attended Tuesday’s meeting, said she is not in favor of the city taking over the course.
“I have concerns about this,” she said. “I don’t play golf, but my husband does. I agree with having something for the children. I have a grandson who plays golf. However, I don’t think it is feasible for the city to invest taxpayer money into something that has been failing for years.”
Touchet said the city would operate the course cost-effectively at every turn.
“We are going to do it better,” Touchet said.
To answer one of Buford’s questions, Piazza said start-up costs would be covered mainly from sales tax, funds that cannot be used for salaries and other expenditures.
“One of the items you can do with sales tax is park improvements,” Piazza said. “Just like the baseball fields at (A.A.) Comeaux Park.
“That’s not money we can use to pay insurance, salaries and things like that.”
Buford voiced another concern that she feels this issue is a “done deal” and that council member’s minds are already made up.
“My mind is not made up,” Councilwoman Broussard told Buford.
Piazza said he doesn’t get the sense of that being the case, either.
“I don’t feel like it is a done deal at all,” Piazza said. “I feel like we have to do our due diligence before we can bring enough information to the table to make an educated decision on whether or not this a good deal.”
Councilman Brady Broussard agreed, saying to let the negotiations play out.
“We can see what the final deal is to determine if it is in the best interest of the city,” Broussard said.

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