Commissioners still considering mini-golf course at Mingo
Miniature golf might be getting another mulligan at Mingo Creek County Park.
Two months after the Washington County commissioners delayed a decision on building an 18-hole putt-putt course at the county park in Nottingham Township, officials are possibly reviving the idea.
The county commissioners during their Tuesday workshop meeting decided to place on the agenda for Thursday’s voting meeting a motion to extend the window to receive proposals on the project for another 30 days.
Commission Chairman Nick Sherman called it a “procedural move” to give them options, while fellow Commissioner Larry Maggi questioned the decision after he thought the matter had been settled during their May voting meeting when they tabled it.
“Why don’t we take it off (the agenda) and be done with it?” Maggi asked.
“It’s just a procedural move,” Sherman said.
County officials previously received backlash from residents who did not want a miniature golf course at the county park over concerns that it would change the character of the rustic retreat along Mingo Creek that features covered bridges, hiking trails and walking paths.
The commissioners tabled a motion at their May 7 meeting that would have authorized them to spend more than $300,000 on the 18-hole mini-golf course behind the park office.
In November, the county approved a study on the project, paying $73,659 for Remington & Vernick Engineers of Ross Township to perform engineering reviews on two possible locations for the amenity. A request for proposal was later advertised and the commissioners considered the $318,595 estimate from Michigan-based Adventure Golf & Sports, with optional “water features” for an extra $131,121.
Maggi questioned during Tuesday’s workshop meeting why they were extending the request for proposal process following backlash from county residents who plainly stated they did not want a mini-golf course at the park. Maggi asked Commissioner Electra Janis what she thought about the proposed project, and she indicated she was in favor of it but open to more discussions.
“I was 100% for it, but I need to look into it more,” Janis said.
Sherman said extending the request for proposal date allowed them to have more debate on the topic, although it appeared the three commissioners would have those discussions in private rather than in public at the meeting. Sherman previously suggested they could conduct a “poll” to allow county residents to decide whether they wanted a miniature golf course at Mingo or some other attraction.
“We can have more of a discussion on it,” Sherman said.
“We don’t have to (have more discussions) if we’re not going to do it,” Maggi said while asking for the agenda item to be removed.
County officials originally broached the topic of a miniature golf course at Mingo last August, but put it on the back burner over concerns about charging visitors a fee to use the facility at a county-run park. They revisited the idea in November and asked for proposals this spring, getting two that were reviewed by the commissioners ahead of their May voting meeting.
The commissioners meet at 10 a.m. at the ground floor meeting room at the Crossroads Center building in Washington.