OLPE — A dusty road might determine whether Olpe gets a golf course of its own.
If the plan is approved by the city, developers Kevin Pargman of Iola and Kim Pargman of Olpe would build a nine-hole golf course at Olpe Jones Lake. No public money would be used to build the course and the Pargmans would lease the property for 99 years.
At a town-hall meeting Wednesday, few in the audience were ready to commit themselves for or against the course. But several expressed concern about the increased traffic it might bring on the gravel-surfaced Road K-7, the lake road.
“That dust is really a major concern, not just for the property, but for those walking or bicycling,” said Barbara Haag.
She recalled driving behind a car that kicked up a lot of dust when she suddenly saw a boy on a bicycle appear out of the dust cloud. Despite her surprise, she managed to avoid hitting anyone.
“That was a really scary lesson for me that day,” she said.
“There is going to be more traffic and more dust is going to be created,” agreed Mayor Jerry Tempelmeyer.
One possible solution would be to repave the road with the county’s help. That’s been done before on Santa Fe Street where Olpe and Lyon County split the cost of blacktopping the road. The street then became a county roadway.
Tempelmeyer and the council said they would see if the Lyon County Commission was interested in a project on the lake road. Even without the golf course, that could be important -- the city is considering whether to apply for a state grant that would build a fishery at the lake and make needed improvements to the dam and spillway, in exchange for a $20,000 city match. That could also increase traffic.
If the course is built, there would still be access to the lake for fishing, boating and swimming. That pleased Gary Jones, who lives near the lake road and considers the lake a key part of the town.
“I do have to say it’s good for the community,” said Gary Jones, who lives near the lake road. “I don’t swim and ski as much as I used to, but when you’re young, what better fun is there when you’re a kid? What else do you want them to do in Olpe? It’s good cheap entertainment in my opinion.”
Kevin Pargman has been building golf courses since the early 1980s. Olpe could have been his first one, but that council narrowly voted it down. Now, 83 courses later, he and his brother are ready to try again.
“I grew up here,” Kevin Pargman said. “I love this town.”
If approved at April’s city council meeting, he said, the course could be built this summer. If a decision waits until May, that could put it off a year.
The course is planned to encircle the lake, though that will require the purchase of about 10 acres of land since the city doesn’t own quite enough. It would include restrooms, a clubhouse, a maintenance facility and a snack bar, though not a full-scale restaurant. The course would use lake water for irrigation, but Kevin Pargman doubted it would affect the depth much.
“If we pumped for an entire year, we might drop the level of the lake by about six inches,” he said,
When Tempelmeyer called for a show of hands, 10 of the roughly 35 people present said they would probably play on the new course. Jones and others predicted that it could be a good source of sales tax revenue for the town.
“As far as pluses, it’s got to be good for business,” Jones said.
“Are we going to be able to compete with the Emporia golf course?” Councilman Mike Davis asked.
“No,” Kevin Pargman said right away. “I can’t compete with that. This is mostly for the town. If they have a tournament, we might catch some of the overflow, but a nine-hole golf course is not going to compete with an 18.”
Even so, one woman in the audience said, a change of pace never hurts.
“Emporia has a nice course, but you like to play something different at times,” she said.
Pargman is proposing to spend $250,000 on the project, which he acknowledged was a discounted price. No formal plan has been created and the specific lease details have not been agreed to, although both Kevin Pargman and the mayor said that if the course fails, the lease would be null and void.
In other action:
• Olpe water rates will go up by 29 cents, passing on the increased cost charged to the city by Emporia. Inside city limits, that means residents would pay a minimum $16.29 charge for the first 1,000 gallons and $4.29 for every 1,000 after that.
• The city reviewed a housing development that will be going in north of town, developed by Lyco Development. Of the 50 to 55 units planned, all but five will be single-family homes. The others will be duplexes All the homes will be single-story buildings, with garages but without basements. The city council voted to begin the paperwork needed to extend sewer service to the area.