After catching flak from some constituents, East Mississippi Community College trustees voted Monday to reverse a decision to negotiate the purchase of the Columbus Country Club.
The unanimous decision made in executive session comes on the heels of a 6-5-1 vote April 18 to try and buy the club, including the golf course, at its appraised value, which EMCC President Rick Young declined to release.
Two trustees, Kathy Dyess and Charles Rigdon, recused themselves from the vote Monday because both have ties to banks with liens against the financially troubled club.
Dyess, who voted “no” to buying the club last week, said her West Point constituents viewed the board”s initial decision as a move to bail out the “fat cats” at the Columbus Country Club, which she said has more debt now than its appraised value.
“It”s hard to explain to the public that our intentions were (to promote) education and not entertainment,” Dyess said.
Although the 88-year-old country club was not on the market — even though it was in 2010 — the move would have resolved the local landmark”s long-standing cash-flow problems. The club fended off financial ruin last year by laying off six employees, cutting rates and expenses, and opening its course to the public. Some of its supporters also paid off $55,000 in back taxes to Columbus and Lowndes County.
Columbus Country Club officers could not be reached for comment this morning.
Despite public perception, Dyess said, the board had the “good of EMCC at heart.”
The plan was to purchase the clubhouse for the school”s hotel and restaurant management classes and the golf course for a proposed turf management degree, Young said. The club would also have been used for some business classes.
EMCC officials, looking to expand campus to make room for growth, began considering buying the property in January, Young said.
Although the board”s decision has for now knocked the club out of the running, Young said other properties, including the Elm Lake clubhouse and golf course, are still being considered.
“This will only make us look harder,” he added.
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