In a series of four public meetings in coming weeks, Columbia Association President Maggie J. Brown will address the angrily debated proposal to close Hobbit's Glen Golf Club for nearly a year to repair damaged greens.
The discussions about the golf course plans - which are hotly contested by some longtime golfers - will begin tomorrow at the Dorsey's Search Village Board meeting.
"We know this is something that more people will want more information about," Brown said.
Three other meetings with village boards will follow through next month in Long Reach, Kings Contrivance and Harper's Choice.
Brown said those villages were chosen because they are spread throughout the different regions of Columbia. Residents of all villages are welcome to attend the meetings.
At tomorrow's meeting, scheduled for 8 p.m. at Linden Hall, a 15-minute presentation on the golf course proposal will be explained by Rob Goldman, the association's vice president for sport and fitness. Association staff members will then answer residents' questions.
The plan to rebuild the greens is opposed by a group of golfers who call themselves the Ad Hoc Committee from Hobbit's Glen Golf Club.
The golfers maintain that the course's management - not its physical condition, which association managers have attributed to a variety of causes, including poor original construction, turf disease, drought and age - is the primary source of problems at the golf club.
"Rebuilding the greens out there, in my opinion, will solve the problem temporarily," said Don Wheeler, a member of the ad hoc committee. "But unless you solve the management problem, the [greens] problems are going to return - it's that simple."
In October, the Columbia Association board of directors voted - in straw votes - to rebuild 16 damaged greens at the course. The 35-year-old golf club would close in August 2003 and reopen in May 2004, depending on weather.
A decision on the possible reconstruction of the golf course would not be final until the fiscal year 2004 capital budget is approved by the board in February.
Construction would cost $679,000, while the net business loss from closing the 18-hole course would be $529,000. Columbia Association staff members had estimated that the rebuilt greens would not deteriorate for at least 30 years.
The series of discussions with the village boards follow other "Meeting with Maggie" public talks that began in May, during which Brown has met with community groups and also hosted online chats. "My whole point is ... to put the information out as close to the people as possible," Brown said.
The three other village board meetings that Brown will attend are: Long Reach at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 17; Kings Contrivance at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 18; and Harper's Choice at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 21.