City buys golf club

THE ISSUE

The City Council on Tuesday voted 4-0, with one abstention, to buy the Florence Golf and Country Club for $2.03 million with the intention of expanding the landfill on Alabama 20.

What's the rush?

That is among the many questions that linger after the City Council voted Tuesday night to buy the Florence Golf and Country Club.

Mayor Bobby Irons - who somehow knew he had the council's blessings to negotiate the deal despite no authorization from councilmen at a public meeting - said he wants the city to use 25 of the 157 acres to expand the landfill on Alabama 20.

Council President James Barnhart and his fellow councilmen were in such a hurry to approve the action Tuesday night that they couldn't wait for Councilman Dick Jordan to return. Jordan represents the district where the property lies and said he couldn't attend the meeting.

They were in such a rush that no one would second a motion by Councilman Barry Morris to delay a vote for two weeks for further consideration.

They were in such a hurry that they could not allow time to investigate claims from the audience that the property lies on the worst possible terrain for a landfill and it will likely pollute Cypress Creek.

If there is a legitimate reason to act so quickly, the mayor and council did not explain it to the residents who filled the council chambers to protest the action.

Is the $2.03 million deal so good that someone else might beat the city to it?

At $12,738 an acre for scenic creekside property inside the city limits, the price certainly sounds reasonable although it's not a bargain compared to the $1,500 an acre that the Franklin County Commission paid recently to expand its landfill.

The mayor warns that the city is running out of landfill space. But the present landfill has seven years of life remaining, according to projections from city officials, and the mayor says the city doesn't plan to vote on expanding the landfill for another four or five years. It doesn't seem likely that a two-week delay would hamper the landfill expansion.

So, again, the question lingers. What's the rush?

While it isn't clear whether a hasty decision is in the best interest of the residents of Florence and the environment, it is probably in the best financial interest of investors in the country club. They are ready to unload their financial burden to whoever comes up with the money.

Local residents, who brought up many good reasons to delay action Tuesday night, didn't hear any explanation on the need to rush this decision.

The mayor and council seem to be operating under the philosophy that "father knows best" and the people who oppose them are to be dismissed as chattering children.