Golf, boating short on subsidies, chairman says.

Warren County Parks and Recreation Commission members will have an extra $20,000 to manage such leisure activities as golf and boating this upcoming year, despite its budget estimates showing this year’s operations cost about $40,000 less than expected.

Since supervisors adopted their spending plan last week for 2006-07, supervisors have agreed to advance $20,000 for what Ken Bufkin, commission chairman, called &#8220unbudgeted issues.”

&#8220What we’re generating and what we’re getting through the subsidies just isn’t enough,” Bufkin said while he and fellow commissioners Elijah Johnson and Don Biedenharn appealed to supervisors.

The county commission oversees operations at Clear Creek Recreation Area, public boat launches at LeTourneau and Eagle Lake and the Culkin baseball fields.

Jumps in what is paid to cover electricity and fuel costs make up most of the uncovered expenses, Bufkin said, adding that the increases totaled 18 and 39 percent, respectively.

In its budget this year, Warren County allocated $220,000, as it has done the two previous years, plus subsidies and other general county revenue totaling about $300,000.

The commission estimated its 2006 revenue through September at more than $843,000, less than the $886,305.23 it estimated in its budget request.

Irrigation pumps that ran all through the hottest parts of the summer to keep the golf course at Clear Creek playable helped run up utility bills, Biedenharn said. The sprinkler pumps themselves are aging and in need of repair, he added.

County Administrator John Smith said, with agreement among commissioners, that a five-year plan is needed to address the most pressing needs of the year-round course, built in 1978 as the only public course in the county.

A renovation of the back nine holes similar to one made to the front nine in 2004 is needed, along with new cart paths. The front nine restoration cost $250,000 and went toward replacing greens depleted by a root infection in the Bermuda grass.

Paving the main parking lot and replacing the maintenance building is another project, the funds for which have not been determined.

According to yearly recaps provided by office manager Teri Young, 23,106 rounds of golf were played at Clear Creek in 2005, up substantially from the renovation year of 2004. The course had averaged about 30,000 rounds played yearly until then.

Much of the commission’s revenue comes from golf rounds, averaging about $730,000 the past seven years.

A concession building is on the way, with supervisors accepting bids for construction Aug. 14. The bids are still under advisement.

Roof repairs for the pavilion and the soccer complex, damaged during last year’s hurricanes, are also in the offing.