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MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) - With its future all but sealed, frustration over the decision to close Hiawatha Golf Club remains anything but over.
“If they get rid of this course, what else is there?” asked area resident Jerry Mullen.
“The only input we had was listening to the park board tell us what they wanted to do,” added Bobby Warfield, a supporter of the golf club.
In a 6-3 vote, the Minneapolis Park Board decided to close the course by 2019.
The board cited a recommendation by the Department of Natural Resources that urged a reduction in the amount of ground water pumping; each year, the park board exceeds their state permit by pumping hundreds of millions of gallons.
But those in favor of keeping the course gathered together on Tuesday, arguing that there’s more to the story.
“In the 2017 Barr Report section 10.4, it states there are not ecological impacts to continue pumping… it’s just moving storm water down the system,” Mullen said.
Supporters of the course believe storm water is the real problem, and with infrastructure improvements, past flooding issues could be prevented.
However, the park board disagrees.
The board declined to speak on camera, but said in a statement, “the Board of Commissioners approved a resolution that reduces the amount of groundwater being pumped at Hiawatha Golf Course to an amount that would be permitted by the state of Minnesota.”