(File photo/northeastNOW)

By Cam Lee

Humboldt council

City supporting Humboldt Golf Club with $100k grant

Jan 28, 2025 | 2:43 PM

The City of Humboldt is lending a helping hand to the Humboldt Golf Club (HGC).

Council passed a motion to provide the club with a $100,000 grant, but with a couple of conditions.

The caveats are that the HGC cannot take on any new debt or lease obligations without prior city council approval, and the course provide no less than two positions on the board for City of Humboldt representatives.

Coun. Larry Jorgenson told northeastNOW the money will be helpful for the course as they have little to no income during the offseason. The golf club first came to Council about their financial issues a couple of years ago, and council formed a governance committee to help look at solutions that didn’t involve taxpayer money if possible.

Jorgenson said the golf club’s budget will have more scrutiny from city council than it has in the past. That decision wasn’t made to micromanage, according to Jorgenson, but rather because the course has had to refinance loans and hasn’t been able to pay them back as quickly as they need to be.

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“If they didn’t have the debt that they have, that golf course could make money,” Jorgenson said.

He said the city’s goal is for the club not to take on more debt while still paying off their current debts. Jorgenson added having city representatives on the club’s board would allow them to hear about the challenges the club’s facing, and to possibly offer solutions or insight to help turn the club.

“How can we turn this around so that public funds aren’t needed to operate this golf club in perpetuity,” said Jorgenson.

Several members of council commented on the motion.

Coun. Marilyn Scott said if the city were to lose the course, they would never get one again due to the high cost of the land that would be needed. Coun. Karen Siermachesky said there has been a lot of misinformation about the situation in the public, and she welcomed the promise of an open house on the topic. Coun. Dave Rowe also mentioned at the meeting that the golf course has been doing its best to fundraise over the past few months. Mayor Rob Muench also weighed in, saying the course is a huge investment in the community and it would be a shame to lose it.

“We can’t afford, as a community, not to have a golf course,” Jorgenson told northeastNOW. He and several others on council said the golf course attracts people to the community both as tourists and as permanent residents. He added a city that professes to be all about growth cannot afford not to help the course, and Humboldt needs to compete with other communities regarding recreational opportunities.

Jorgenson said it’s about the bigger picture.

“If businesses can’t get employees to move here, then businesses aren’t going to set up shop here either.”

He noted the other recreation facilities in Humboldt, like the swimming pool and the arena, are subsidized by the city and don’t make money on their own. That’s the case in virtually all municipalities, and Jorgenson said recreation comes at a cost, and if they charged the public what would be required for those facilities to break even, nobody could afford to use them.

Councillors that supported the motion to help the HGC agreed with the conditions placed on the city’s support, with the prevailing mood being that they don’t want to have to provide grants or other monetary support forever.

Not every councillor was on board, however. Coun. Sarah McInnis voted against the motion, telling council that she does not support city funds being used to prop up the HGC.

In the end her vote was the only one against the funding proposal, and the motion carried.

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Cam.lee@pattisonmedia.com