Lewiston golf course proposal making headway

by
Lewiston Porter Sentinel, April 23, 2005

Plans moving for informational meetings
by Terry Duffy

With the oncoming of spring, discussions concerning the Town of Lewiston Municipal Golf Course, proposed by Mike Dowd of Old Creek Development, are now making headway.

Following an earlier signing off on wetlands issues concerning the project by the state Department of Environmental Conservation as part of its SEQR process, the Lewiston Town Board acted at its April 11 session on approving Tuesday, June 14, as the referendum date for town and village voters to act on moving the estimated $5.7 million project towards a groundbreaking for construction. The project, which encompasses some 200-plus acres in an area bordered by Creek Road on the east, the Robert Moses Parkway on the west, Pletcher Road on the north, and the Boos farm property and town lands to the south, calls for an 18-hole municipal golf course along with clubhouse facilities.

Future plans, not part of the current proposal, call for the development of upscale housing on adjoining lands.

Comfortable With Numbers

Dowd, who met with the Town’s Golf Course Committee Thursday afternoon, told its members that he was comfortable with the project’s preliminary construction numbers offered by Mid-America Golf and Landscape consultants of Missouri.

“These numbers ... $5.7 million ... you should feel comfortable with,” said Dowd, who added these numbers remain “really an estimate” and they can still go down.

With regards to financing, should the project gain voter approval, the Town of Lewiston would be pursuing Bond Anticipation Notes to fund the project. But with that yet to occur, no bond counsel has been retained by the town at this point. The Lewiston Town Board, in past sessions, has indicated that should the referendum pass it would then act on retaining counsel to facilitate the BANs.

Dowd to Solicit Bids

Dowd told the Committee that should the June 14 referendum pass voter muster, he -- rather than the town -- would be doing the actual soliciting of bids to get the project under way. “There would be no town engineering, no legal costs involved with this project at all,” he said. “Old Creek would handle it all.”

Of course, that’s if the project wins approval by both town and village voters.

At Thursday’s session, committee members discussed potential voting locations -- upwards of six sites situated both in the village as well as in the town -- where the referendum vote will take place. Hours for the June 14 vote would be from noon to 9 p.m. And each site would have two voter machines monitored by election inspectors.

“We want to make the locations available and convenient for people to vote,” said Lewiston Town Board member John Ceretto, town liaison for the golf course project, of the potential voting stations.

Informational Sessions

Also discussed by Dowd on Thursday was his intention on having informational sessions for area residents. Potential sites as well as dates were reviewed by committee members -- none of which was finalized at the meeting. Possible meeting sites range from the Lewiston Senior Center to the Lew-Port High School auditorium, and dates discussed focused on mid-May, but again nothing was finalized.

Ceretto stated in coming weeks he will be making contacts and developing a list of proposed sites and dates where the information sessions would occur. He said he will be presenting his recommendations to Lewiston Town Board members for their approval at its May 9 meeting.

Ceretto Upbeat

On the project itself, he was upbeat.

“I feel very comfortable talking with Lewiston residents on this project,” Ceretto said. Once they learn the facts, “I feel they will be very acceptable of the golf course proposal.”

Dowd stated in coming days he would be looking at inviting such consultants to the May sessions as the aforementioned Mid-America group, to discuss its design, and possibly Ryan International Golf Corporation which builds courses nationwide, to discuss the actual construction of the Lewiston course with residents.

He also stated he is the process of developing promotional material and is planning on meeting with local groups to further present his plan.

“We’re putting our best foot forward on this project,” said Dowd. “I’m sure town residents will like what they hear,” as he encouraged residents to attend the sessions.

Look for updates on the information meetings, as well as voting, in future issues of the Sentinel.