Audience campaigns for Berksdale

n The POA board is working to decide the golf course’s fate.

There weren't enough seats in the board room for the audience at the May meeting of the POA Board of Directors.

Most of the people in attendance wanted to talk about the Berksdale Golf Course, which was damaged by the April flood and won't open this summer.

The meeting was Thursday at the Country Club.

Although a discussion of flood damage was on the agenda, general manager Tom Judson assured the crowd that there would be no decision on closing a golf course made at the meeting. More information is needed for a decision, he said, including an expert study on the area's hydrology.

Golf maintenance manager Keith Ihms said it will take about $540,000 to reopen the 18-hole course. The flood on April 29 damaged most of Bella Vista's seven golf courses, but Berksdale suffered the most. Little Sugar Creek runs through the "valley" courses -- Berksdale, Kingswood and the Country Club -- and was the cause of the problem.

Since Berksdale is the first course after the Lake Bella Vista dam, it had the heaviest damage. The force of the water eroded the creek bed in several areas, including two spots where erosion is close enough to the cart path to be a safety hazard. The worst spot is where golfers pass under the U.S. Highway 71 bridge. The path is undermined and there's no place to move it, Ihms explained.

The state should help repair that area, a member of the audience suggested. But Ihms said that when the Arkansas Highway Department inspected the area after the 2015 flood, he was told that, until the bridge is damaged, the state was not interested in helping.

Many of the members who spoke from the audience shared a theme.

"We have lost trust in the board," one man said. Another asked, "What's really going on?"

Judson tried to reassure them by promising open meetings and forums before any final decision is made about the fate of Berksdale.

Several members wanted to know if the banks of the creek could be strengthened to prevent future damage. Ihms said that where the creek was repaired after the 2015 flood, the repairs held. The problem is that no one knows which area will be damaged next.

Debris in the creek, large rocks and trees, will force the water in new directions, board chairman Bob Brooks explained. There's no way to predict where a fallen tree might end up during a flood.

Together, Berksdale and Kingswood -- the two courses that make up the Kingsdale Golf Complex -- present the ability to hold a 36-hole tournament. That's rare in the area, one member said. Walmart vendors should be happy to set up charity tournaments and keep the courses busy every weekend.

A separate agenda item, the purchase of 14 parcels of land from Cooper Communities, was brought into the Berksdale discussion when a member demanded to know how the POA could consider $500,000 too much to spend on golf but then spend more than $2 million on land.

The 14 parcels of land have all been leased from Cooper for years, Judson explained. The POA has invested money building on those parcels. Infrastructure, including Tanyard Creek Park, the parking lot at Kingsdale Golf Complex -- even a few pieces of the Scotsdale and Dogwood golf courses -- are on the list.

"We can't risk losing this property," board member John Nuttall said. "It would change Bella Vista forever."

The lease is only for $1 a year on each parcel, but Cooper has indicated the property could be sold. A new owner, Judson pointed out, would have no obligation to the POA and might want to use the property. POA staff have been negotiating with Cooper after determining a fair market value, and Judson believes the price -- $2,646,500 -- is the best deal they are likely to get. The board voted to purchase the property.

Last week's meeting was the last meeting for Brooks, who chose not run for re-election to his board seat. The new board, which begins June 1, includes two incumbents and one new member, David Bradenburg. The board planned to meet on May 30 to elect a new chair and vice chair.

General News on 05/24/2017