An administration report on the city-owned Bowden Golf Course wasn’t ready as scheduled Tuesday evening, drawing ire from Macon City Council members who expected it.
Council members have complained about a lack of communication from Mayor Robert Reichert’s office in the past, and this latest problem highlighted an ongoing concern.
It could also delay some of the mayor’s initiatives until the report is given. Council Public Properties Committee Chairman Erick Erickson said his committee won’t move on any of the administration’s proposals until a full Bowden report is given.
“I’m still frustrated,” Erickson told Reichert’s council liaison, Keith Moffett, on Tuesday. “And it’s kind of sad when somebody who’s with you more often than not is this frustrated.”
Moffett apologized and took the blame for what seemed to amount to a forgotten deadline. He called it “a gross oversight.”
The report was requested in August, shortly after a highly critical internal audit found a lack of cash controls and other problems at the city golf course. A push to sell the course or to contract with a private group for management was put forward, then put on hold to give Reichert’s administration time to study the issue. A report on that effort was due to Erickson’s committee Tuesday but wasn’t ready. Erickson said he expects it by the next committee meeting, scheduled for Jan. 12. Until it’s ready, the committee won’t pass any of the mayor’s other initiatives, Erickson said.
If the report is ready in January, as Moffett said it would be, this may not affect city business at all. But there is at least one significant matter pending before Erickson’s committee: Reichert wants council approval for a land swap deal that will allow the city to expand Rosa Parks Square across from City Hall.
That item was before the committee Tuesday but was delayed after Erickson said there were still details to be worked out.
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