Quincy port discusses golf club purchase

by Matthew Weaver<br>Herald Staff Writer
| March 12, 2007 9:00 PM

Commissioners to hold public meeting Thursday

QUINCY — The Port of Quincy is holding a meeting later this week to gauge public interest in the port district purchasing the Quincy Golf Club.

Commissioner Patric Connelly said the port first looked at purchasing the course eight or nine years ago, at a time when the course was financially in trouble and members of the public approached commissioners.

"We investigated, and we just decided then wasn't the right time for us to do it," Connelly explained.

More recently, members of the Quincy community approached the district asking them to take another look. So the port is holding a meeting Thursday at 7 p.m. at Quincy City Hall to hear from the public.

"It is our understanding the folks that have it now are having some financial issues as far as being able to run (the club) in the future," Commissioner Brian Kuest said. "With all the development going on in Quincy with the Microsofts, the Yahoo!s, the Intuit, we just felt we needed to review the process and see if that's something the community's interested in, maintaining the golf course, and whether or not they want the port to be operator on this."

If response is favorable, Connelly said the course would be something to help in the community.

"With everything that's been happening, it's recreation we can maybe help support," he said. "I don't know if it will work or not, if it will happen or not. We've been through this once before, we've been asked to take another look at it. It's tough for ports to own a golf course. We went through all the legalities before; we'll probably have do it again to make sure there isn't anything we missed."

Kuest wasn't sure what type of response to expect, although he believes there's an interest in the Quincy community through word of mouth.

"If there's a small crowd and folks are expressing some concerns, then we're probably not going to take it too far," he said. "But if we have a big crowd and it's positive, then we'll explore those possibilities."