Council considers employee discount at golf club

After some intense discussion, the New Prague City Council approved 3-2 a motion instructing city staff to create a framework that would include giving city employees a 50 percent discount on green fees at the New Prague Golf Club. The proposal at the Monday, May 16, meeting would be under a wellness program and would include discounts for the New Prague Area Community Pool near Memorial Park Baseball Stadium.

The proposal began with a review of survey results from other municipal golf courses and how they handle employee memberships and discounts. The survey included 12 cities that own and operate public golf courses that are mainly throughout the metropolitan area.

Mayor Chuck Nickolay noted that roughly it is 50/50 in that some cities allow some type of benefits or discounts and some don’t. "The reason I’m interested in offering a discount is because we have people going elsewhere," he said. He added that the discount could be a way for the city to increase revenue, rather than lose it.

Council member Amy Jirik was not in favor of the proposal because they already had public tax money going to support the golf course. She had also heard from golf club members who were not in favor of the discount.

Council member Jenna Tuma said she would like to see the discount bundled with a wellness program that would give people an incentive to be active.

Council member Dave Bruzek also would....

To see more on this story pick up the May 19, 2016 print edition of The New Prague Times.