City officials want input from the community on the city’s proposed plans for the club, 6001 Salem Ave.
The city is in the process of acquiring the 171-acre club that is being donated by Larry and Tina Harris of LGH Properties LLC. Council voted unanimously on Dec. 18 to accept the donation.
The club property includes a 65,000 square-foot banquet center, clubhouse, Junior Olympic-size pool, baby pool, driving range and an 18-hole golf course.
Cheryl Carroll of Dayton booked her wedding reception at Meadowbrook before the club was donated. Carroll told the council she was concerned about the city honoring agreements for upcoming events.
“I have been calling the city of Clayton and they have been trying to reassure me that you don’t have to worry about anything if you’ve had something already in place,” Carroll said. She added that city officials have told her that they would be honoring its current contracts, but have given no specific details about how the city plans to do so.
Carroll was also interested in the city’s plan to possibly make Events by Elite Catering the club’s exclusive caterer.
The city’s catering firm selection committee is proposing that the city award the club’s catering contract to Elite, which manages the Leo Bistro in the Dayton Art Institute.
“It’s my wedding that we’re talking about. So, I need the food to be good. I need the service to be excellent,” Carroll said. “I expected that from Meadowbrook and now that their staff is no longer here, I need to know as much as I can about their proposed caterer.”
Several people interviewed after the hearing on Feb. 12 said they were pleased that the city would be taking control of the club, which was established in 1924.
“I would just like to see it be successful,” Mike Elliott of Clayton said. “As they figure out new recreational activities, it might become more interesting for (myself and my wife) personally.”
It was good to hear that the club had been donated to the city, Elliott said.
“On my way here I was wondering if that (donation) could ever serve as an example or a model for other people to (do similar donations),” Elliott said.
Billy and Kassaundra Anderson of Clayton said they were concerned that the city is focusing too much on golfing as opposed to any other activity at the club.
“It seemed like they were catering to the golfers,” Kassaundra Anderson said. “Everybody in the city doesn’t golf…I like the facility. It’s nice. I would use it for events, but what else could we do here?”
“I’m just concerned about it being all golf,” said Billy Anderson. He added that he hopes the committee in charge of creating the city’s new parks and recreation board will consider activities for children or possibly a water park.
Lionel Balcom of Brookville said he was happy to hear that the city would be taking over the operations of the club, but thought that some of the proposed golf fees were a little high.
For example, the city is proposing that its residents pay $1,025 for a premier golf pass while non-residents would pay $1150 for that pass.
“The fee to be able to play all the time seemed excessive for me personally,” Balcom said. “From what I have been accustomed to, it’s not reasonable.” However, Balcom added that the city’s proposed rates could have something to do with the offering of amenities like the use of a locker room and the club offering to clean golf clubs. “I’m just thinking about the fee to play golf. I have been getting better rates than what they are offering,” he said.
Gene Slaton of Englewood said he has played golf at the club many times in the past and was glad to hear that it would be open to the public. He also said he was more pleased to hear about the league fees that the city proposed.
“The league rates are competitive to where we played last year,” Slaton said after the hearing. “The league fees are very good, I think.”
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