LYNN — The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to authorize $2.5 million in bonds to pay for the installation of a new irrigation system at Gannon Municipal Golf Course.
The new sprinkler system is a large part of the five-year plan put in place by the city six years ago to update and restore the 92-year-old golf course, which is located on Great Woods Road.
The George E. Ley Company, a Pennsylvania-based golf course construction company, will be installing the system, work that is expected to begin in late September when there is less activity on the course. One hole at a time will be closed to decrease the disruption to the golfers.
“It is very exciting, and long overdue,” said Chris Carter, co-owner of Golf Facilities Management Inc. (GFMI), the company that leases Gannon from the city. “The irrigation system is the bloodstream of the golf course. Without it, the golf course wouldn’t be viable.”
The average life expectancy of a golf course irrigation system is between 20 and 30 years, but the current irrigation system at Gannon is more than 50 years old.
GFMI co-owner Steve Murphy said the plan for the new irrigation system is to add a computer-driven sprinkler system so that there are sprinklers on both sides of the fairways.
Murphy said the current sprinkler system is worked on and repaired almost every day, but seems to break at the worst times.
The new system, Murphy said, will save water and provide better coverage, reaching the fairways and the brush surrounding it.
According to the city’s Chief Financial Officer Michael Bertino, Gannon’s revolving fund currently has $1.068 million, with approximately $460,000 put into the fund each year.
The revolving fund is used primarily for the upkeep of the course, but Bertino said this additional $2.5 million bond is necessary for the irrigation system so the city can keep a good amount of money in the revolving fund in case of emergencies.
It makes sense, Bertino said, to borrow the money needed for the irrigation system and make the payments back over time — at an expected 1.5 percent interest rate — rather than digging into all of the cash balance in the revolving fund.
“If a roof goes or something else major happens and you don’t have time to advertise it and go through the paperwork and bonding, this way you have a planned event to pay for any repairs as they arise,” Bertino said.
The anticipated allocations to the revolving fund will allow the city to make debt service payments and improvements at Gannon such as repainting the buildings, improving the grounds and revamping the parking lot — all while maintaining a sizable balance in the fund for unanticipated expenses.
“If for some reason we have a major emergency, we also need cash on hand to pay for that,” Bertino said.
