The Health and Human Development Committee recommended due-pass approval of ordinances to extend lease agreements between the City of St. Louis and two golf operators that manage courses in Forest Park and to add expanded nondiscrimination language to those leases.

Alderman Shamim Clark Hubbard introduced the measures extending an amended and restated lease dated Aug. 31, 2000, between the city and CF Forest Park ARCS LLC (Arcus Golf), and a second extension of an amended and restated lease dated Feb. 2008 with Evergreen Alliance Golf Limited LP. Director Hayes of Parks described Arcus’s long partnership with the city and said Arcus maintains roughly 300 park acres used for golf.

"They have 27 holes of play at Probstein and 9 holes of play at Highlands," Hayes said. Jeff Raffelson, vice president of operations for Arcus Golf, told the committee the operator hosts about 100 nonprofit events annually and handles nearly 80,000 public rounds each year. "We currently host roughly a hundred nonprofit events a year, and we still do over almost 80,000 public rounds, for the the community," Raffelson said.

Committee members also asked about nondiscrimination language. The sponsor and staff said prior leases already contained nondiscrimination provisions and that the updated language is broader. "This language was already in the previous leases. The new language is just more expansive," a Parks representative stated on the record.

The committee moved both bills forward with due-pass recommendations and noted cosponsor additions for the sponsor. No substantive amendments to the lease terms were offered during the committee discussion; staff indicated the measures must be passed by ordinance and include emergency clauses.