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driving range

  • Norwalk Planning Commission also says ‘no’ to Oak Hills Park Authority

    NORWALK, Conn. — Even the Norwalk Planning Commission does not support funding a driving range at Oak Hills Park –  at least this year, under these conditions. “I’d love to do it I just don’t see how we can accommodate them,” Commissioner Joel Zaremby said at the outset of a discussion that ended with a recommendation…

  • Barron recommends building Norwalk schools, not driving range

    Updated, 1:40 p.m., comment from Planning Commission Chairman Torgny Astrom. NORWALK, Conn. – The Norwalk Board of Education would get what it’s looking for under the capital budget plan released Monday by the Norwalk finance director. The Oak Hills Park Authority – not so much. Bob Barron’s 2016-17 recommended 5-year capital budget includes $3 million in…

  • Driving range foes to Planning Commission: Just say ‘no’

    An Open Letter to Norwalk’s Planning Commission: P & Z Director Mike Greene, Chairman Torgny Astrom, David Davidson, Frances VC Dimeglio, William Dunne, Steve Ferguson, George McGuire, Nancy McGuire, Walter Mclaughlin, Joel Zaremby Re: The Oak Hills Park Authority’s request for a $3,000,000 loan to construct a driving range in Oak Hills Park. Dear Mr.…

  • Norwalk Oak Hills Authority presses for ‘marginally profitable’ driving range

    NORWALK, Conn. — Appearances to the contrary, Oak Hills Park Authority members would like Norwalk to bond the construction of a driving range – this year. Although Director of Management and Budgets Bob Barron said at Thursday’s Common Council Finance Committee meeting that the Authority had missed the deadline to put in a capital budget…

  • National Golf Foundation’s ‘Light Up the Boondoggle’ analysis

    To the Editor: Light up the Oak Hills Park Authority’s proposed 36-bay double-decker driving range so it can be operated late into the night every day of the year and, in the unlikely event it can be constructed for no more than $3 million, it stands a chance of generating enough revenue to cover its…

  • More beautiful fall days, more beautiful driving ranges

    To the Editor: Will a large 36-bay double-decker driving range in Oak Hills Park be profitable? That is the question the Oak Hills Park Authority, the autonomous body that manages the golf course in Oak Hills Park, paid the National Golf Foundation $21,000 to address. Hence, one anticipates the NGF will conclude the driving range…

  • Opinion: First the conclusion, then the study

    The Oak Hills Park Authority, the autonomous body that oversees the money-losing 18-hole golf course in Oak Hills Park, recently paid the National Golf Foundation $21,000 for a “study” to support its contention that the multi-million dollar double-decker, 36-bay driving range it wants taxpayers to loan it money to construct will be profitable.

  • Two beautiful fall days and three beautiful driving ranges

    To the editor: It was a beautiful fall Saturday in September, so I decided to bike from my house across the street from Oak Hills Park to the Silver Spring Golf course in New York. I wanted to see how many golfers were using its driving range. My thought was that might give me a…

  • Consultant promises honest opinion on proposed Norwalk Oak Hills driving range

    NORWALK, Conn. — Assurances of objectivity were made Thursday by a consultant hired to determine if a driving range at Oak Hills Park would give Norwalk a good return on its investment. “There’s a segment of taxpayers in Norwalk who want to know how objective are you going to be?” Oak Hills Park Authority member…

  • OHPA, Barron defend schedule, process for finding expert advice on potential $3.2M driving range

    OHPA, Barron defend schedule, process for finding expert advice on potential $3.2M driving range

    Updated, 1 a.m. Oct 1, previously unattributed questions now attributed. NORWALK, Conn. — No one tried to pull a fast one, Oak Hills Park Authority Ad Hoc Driving Range Committee Chairman Ernie DesRochers said Tuesday in response to questions about a meeting held on Friday afternoon without much notice. The meeting notice apparently did fall…

  • OHPA OKs $21K study to confirm – or deny – Norwalk driving range feasibility

    NORWALK, Conn. – The National Golf Foundation has been selected to analyze the feasibility of a golf school – a.k.a. the driving range – at Oak Hills Park. The Oak Hills Park Authority on Friday voted unanimously at a special meeting to endorse the choice they said was made by Director of Management and Budgets Bob…

  • Norwalk Council members look to make Oak Hills solvent with loan restructuring; maybe fund driving range

    Updated, 2:17 a.m., full story NORWALK, Conn. — One of Norwalk’s financial gurus tentatively endorsed Thursday the validity of a $3.2 million expenditure to build a driving range at Oak Hills Park while cautioning that perhaps the proposal should go through normal capital budget procedures. Director of Management and Budgets Bob Barron, while admitting that…

  • DesRochers makes pitch to Council members: driving range would make Oak Hills solvent

    Updated, April 12, PDF of financial analysis added NORWALK, Conn. – If the city isn’t willing to finance a golf learning school – a driving range – at Oak Hills Park, the Oak Hills Park Authority will go to a bank for financing, provided the restaurant debt is “taken care of,” Ad Hoc Driving Range Committee Chairman Ernie…

  • Mayor affirms opposition to city paying for driving range

    NORWALK, Conn. – Mayor Harry Rilling said Wednesday he has not changed his mind about obligating Norwalk taxpayers for the estimated $2.5 million cost of building a driving range, of “golf learning center’” at Oak Hills Park Golf Course. “I am not inclined to fund or pay for a driving range,” Rilling said. “Right now…

  • State official: Driving range not part of $1.5 million grant

    NORWALK, Conn. – A “negotiation” with the state over $1.5 million slated for Norwalk’s Oak Hills Park has been downplayed by a state official as a technicality . While Finance Director Thomas Hamilton said, in an email to vocal critic Paul Cantor, that the terms of the $1.5 million grant awarded by the State Bond…

  • Snake oil

    To the Editor: The Oak Hills Park Authority (OHPA) will be seeking $4,205,325 in taxpayer-subsidized loans to fund the construction of a Golf Learning Center and a separate Welcome Center and upgrade the money-losing 18-hole golf course it manages. And this despite the fact that it already owes taxpayers more than $2,500,000.