As Beacon Hill talks on the $28 billion state budget wound down yesterday, one of the most dramatic moments turned not on healthcare, corporate taxes, or education spending, but on a prized, if dilapidated, recreational jewel. DiMasi agreed to lease the course to a private manager who would restore it to its former glory, or at least reasonable playability, according to two sources who have been briefed on the content of budget discussions. The agreement, reached after an hourlong meeting in Murray’s office, will be included in a compromise budget that could be presented today, followed days of wrangling between House and Senate budget writers. What to do about the golf course, which was the subject of a June 16 Globe report, was one of the last remaining items holding up budget negotiations and was among the top reasons the state began the fiscal year yesterday without a budget in place. The Globe reported last month that the state was laying the groundwork for a multimillion-dollar reconstruction of the course, including a new drainage system to stop chronically soggy fairways from flooding and importing truckloads of peat to raise holes that have sunken from years of neglect. Despite protests from House lawmakers that greens fees would soar if a private company took over, the agreement includes no price restrictions, but there are certain standards for the state to decide who gets to lease the course. read more
Technorati Tags: state, budget, golf, house, lawmakers, ponkapoag, golf news
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on Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008 at 11:51 pm and is filed under Golf News.
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