Here's an editorial from the Eagle in 2014 which references the vote you cite. It helps explain the hard feelings still present in the community
Please stop trying to eliminate Bryan Municipal Golf Course
- Eagle Editorial Board
Here we go again. The Travis B. Bryan Municipal Golf Course, a bright spot of green smack in the middle of town, is under attack by Mayor Jason Bienski and others.
Bienski just can't help himself. He is determined to turn the municipal course into something else -- this time a "super park," with athletic fields, a skate park, volleyball courts and a walking trail -- what is a golf course but a walking trail with greens?
The Super Park is a wonderful idea, just not on the golf course site. There are plenty of other places to locate such a park, places with room to grow to serve the increasing needs of a city that is doing well, thanks in large part to the vision of city council members over the years.
The mayor believes -- wrongly we think -- that turning the golf course into a super park is in line with what the voters of Bryan said when they voted in 2011 to keep the land as dedicated park space. We ask you to consider whether that cleverly worded ballot initiative was designed to fool voters into believing they were voting to keep Bryan Muni a golf course, when actually they were voting simply to keep it as park land. A second option, to purchase Briarcrest Country Club, was a red herring to lull voters into complacency.
It didn't work.
We believe the majority of the voters in 2011 thought they were voting to keep Bryan Municipal as a golf course. The mayor and the council should honor voters' commitment to Muni and stop trying to do away with the course.
The mayor has pointed out that Bryan Municipal will lose more than $315,000 in taxpayer money this year. New York's iconic Central Park has an annual budget of $58.3 million, 75 percent of which is funded by the Central Park Conservancy under contract with the city. That still leaves New York taxpayers on the hook for more than $14.5 million each year. Sure, Manhattan could make a lot of money selling Central Park to developers, but that isn't what the people of the city want.
The point is, parks aren't designed to make money -- but few city services are. Do streets pay for themselves? The police department? No, but we are glad to have them, just as we are glad to have several fine parks, including a nice city-owned golf course. Parks are amenities that improve life for all of us and help attract businesses and new people to the community.
Mayor Bienski has said that a super park at the Bryan Muni site could help spur redevelopment of South College Avenue. While that area certainly can use renewal -- and we applaud the exciting changes already happening -- it shouldn't come at the cost of the golf course. That's too high a price.
So, once again, the golfers who play Bryan Municipal -- some on a daily basis -- are up in arms. They have been mislead and deceived by a feckless city council. This constant assault on the golf course has to stop.
Briarcrest has become the fine new Phillips Event Center and it is offering Bryan Muni players and others a chance to play on its course. Many may do so, at least from time to time, but the fees are somewhat higher than at the city-owned course. Even that slight increase may keep some golfers away.
Bryan Municipal is a pretty little course. It has its challenges, as any good course should. Perhaps its biggest challenge is the lack of care and maintenance by the city, whether by design or simple neglect. Perhaps spending some money to upgrade the course and facilities would attract even more golfers.
We are blessed in this area to have really good golf course, including Miramont, Traditions and Pebble Creek, in addition to Phillips Event Center at Briarcrest and a newly redone A&M course. They are all outstanding facilities, but simply are not affordable to many golfers in the area.
It is nice to have course available in every price range and all of them add immensely to the quality of life in the cities of Bryan and College Station. All of them, including Bryan Municipal, bring in golfers from outside the community, golfers who buy golf equipment, gasoline, food and other items while they are in town.
In the end, this isn't really about Travis B. Bryan Municipal Golf Course. It is about respect and the lack of it that some members of the Bryan City Council are showing to the people who elected them. Many on the council display an arrogance, an attitude that they and they alone know what is best for Bryan.
Maybe they should hold community forums and let the people say what they want.
What a novel idea.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothing is a real cool hand