Buyer in escrow says Castle Oaks can be saved if city secures reliable irrigation; council awaits state sign-off on Title 22 report

At the Ione City Council meeting on June 3, 2025, Jeff Christiansen, owner of Sierra Golf Management, told the city he is in escrow to buy Castle Oaks Golf Course and urged the council and city staff to secure a reliable water commitment so his company can close and invest in the facility. Council staff and outside counsel updated the council on the city’s tertiary wastewater plant and the Title 22 engineering report now under review by the State Water Resources Control Board’s Division of Drinking Water.

Christiansen said the course is “distressed” and that his group is operating under a short due‑diligence window. “It’s a beautiful golf course. I played it for decades,” he said. “It’s a little, obvious, a little distressed right now…we’re very desirous of making a deal. We want to go quick.” He said his plans for the first year included bunker work, irrigation fixes and purchasing equipment, adding he expected to bring roughly “three quarters of a million dollars worth of equipment” to restore the course’s condition.

City wastewater staff told the council the city has been redirecting well water to the golf course while the tertiary plant remains offline pending regulatory approval. Justin, a city wastewater representative, said the city has delivered about 5.8 million gallons to the course since May 7 and that recent lab results show the irrigation water is “of excellent quality and possesses no health risk.” He also described planned plant upgrades — a programmable logic controller and SCADA work — and a pipeline that would bypass the plant’s conveyance to deliver an additional roughly 50,000 gallons per day directly from the well to the golf course.

Michelle Chester, special counsel advising the city on wastewater matters, described the regulatory posture. She said the Title 22 engineering report prepared by Ione is with the Division of Drinking Water in Sacramento and that the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board has used its discretionary enforcement authority to restrict operation pending that approval. “There are potentially daily financial penalties, ranging between $5,000 and $15,000 per day for the violation,” Chester said, and she warned that the regional board could seek injunctive relief or pursue other remedies if it determines the city is operating outside regulatory requirements.

Council members and residents pressed for faster action. Several council members and members of the public asked staff and counsel whether the council could pressure the regional or state boards to speed review, and whether the city should consider turning on irrigation before approval. Chester cautioned the council that operating in defiance of the regional board could expose the city to significant financial penalties and other legal remedies; she also said the city and partner agencies had escalated the issue to higher levels of regional and state staff to seek expedited review because the irrigation season does not allow months of delay.

Council discussion produced specific operational direction: the city manager has been given staff direction to pursue short‑term improvements to the well and piping to increase delivered flow, and to continue coordination with the Amador Regional Sanitation Authority and other regional partners to press for expedited review. Council members also discussed drafting a letter to regional/state water officials urging expedited review and raising concerns about dam safety and potential property damage; no formal vote to send such a letter occurred at the meeting, but several council members said they supported a letter and asked staff to draft one for possible special meeting consideration.

Public commenters included residents and representatives of ARSA who urged the council to pursue all available channels to get water flowing, and some speakers raised concerns about possible contamination associated with other water sources. City staff clarified that the well currently supplying the golf course is of good quality, that SR/ARSA coordination is ongoing, and that additional well piping and mechanical work could increase output if the council supports it.

The sale to Sierra Golf Management, Christiansen said, is a private contract between the buyer and the current owner; the city’s involvement will be limited to the lease and any renegotiation of terms once the buyer seeks to operate the facility under a new management arrangement. City staff also reminded the council that the city’s agreement with the current manager includes termination fees that can vary with timing: if a sale/transfer occurs before certain dates the city could be responsible for a larger termination payment to the manager, an issue staff said would be part of any lease renegotiation with a new operator.

Why it matters: Castle Oaks’ survival depends on both a commercial buyer’s willingness to invest and the city’s ability to ensure a reliable, legal supply of irrigation water during the summer season. A months‑long regulatory review could leave the course damaged and imperil a private sale and local jobs and revenue; conversely, operating in defiance of a regional or state board order could expose the city to tens of thousands of dollars per day in penalties. The council left the record open for continued staff action and said it would return to the question quickly if regulators did not accelerate review.

What’s next: City staff will continue to pursue pipeline and well improvements intended to increase direct well deliveries to Castle Oaks and will continue coordinated advocacy with ARSA and other partners to ask the Division of Drinking Water and Central Valley Regional Water Board for prioritized review. Council members said they may reconvene for a special meeting if the state agency does not provide a timely response.