CARRABASSETT VALLEY — Selectmen voted to hire a consultant to help the Golf Course Committee to design and implement the $1.7 million golf course irrigation project that will go before voters at the March 14 Annual Town Meeting. Boyne/Sugarloaf has verbally agreed to pay for half the project.

Selectman John Beaupre, chairman of the Golf Course Greens Committee, set up to be the liaison between the town and the mountain, explained Forbes Golf Design, LLC, of Derry, N.H., had indicated a will- ingness to help the town navigate the details of the project. The cost of their services is estimated at $18,000, of which $7,500 would be needed to prepare the project for town meeting. Beaupre said it is hoped the project could be completed during the 2012 construction season (April to November). The vote allows the town to take the monies from the golf course improvement reserve account to pay the consultant.

At a Nov. 28 board meeting, Beaupre pointed out that the present irrigation system was installed 27 years ago, which exceeds the usual 20-year life expectancy, he said. It’s been on a 10-year wish list, he said. When Sugarloaf indicated a willingness to increase its contributions to the reserve account for this project, he asked, “why not get this to town meeting?” The golf course opened in September 1985.

Since then the Golf Course Greens Committee has held two meetings and has had several discussions with Warren Michaelsen of Environmental Solutions, Yarmouth, Maine, the company that completed recent capital projects on the golf course including drainage improvements, resodding and beautification on holes number five and six, resodding, beautifying and making extensive drainage improvements. They also rebuilt some of the sand traps on 10 and 11 in 2011.

They’ve also conferred with Golf Course Consultant Ross Forbes, who they hired as a consultant on the project at their meeting Monday, Jan. 30.

Beaupre pointed out that even though Michelson could submit a bid for the job, the committee has told them the advice does not give them any edge in the process.

If the project is approved by town meeting, the committee is recommending the town seek two bid proposals, one for materials and equipment, and another for the construction and installation of the project. It is estimated the project will involve one hole a week, with that one hole not playable that particular week.

To keep the golf course open during the project, the selectmen floated the option of having an extra hole constructed. The option of putting a par 3 hole on the 12th fairway is being included in the proposed project. There’s plenty of room for the extra hole and there’s an extra t-box there, Beaupre said.

The golf-course greens subcommittee is made up of Beaupre, selectman Steve Pierce, Town Manager David Cota, Sugarloaf General Manager John Diller and Golf Course Supt. Bob Bruce.

The consultant will help the Golf Course Green’s Committee and subcommittee review materials needed for the project, with the design of an additional green in the 12th fairway, and draft construction contracts and inspection services. By hiring the consultant now, Beaupre said it’s hoped the entire project can be completed in 2012.

Once the golf course flood damage is repaired and all Federal Emergency Management Agency monies from the state and federal government have been received, the golf course reserve will be left with about $130,000. Cota said this number takes into account the payment for the golf course capital projects completed in the fall of 2011, but not the $10,000 to renovate the 11th tee.

The March 2011 Town Meeting approved authorizing the selectmen to use reserve funds for golf course improvements, and the board concurred this vote gives them the authority to hire the consultant because hiring the consultant will help improve the golf course.

Cota pointed out that if the project goes under $1.7 million, those funds could be used to pay for the consultant services, and additional golf course improvements, including drainage upgrades to holes four, seven and nine.

The annual debt service payment would be about $125,712 with Boyne/Sugarloaf agreeing to fund half the annual payment, about $65,856. Cota said the town is researching potential golf course lease amendment options along the lines of increasing the required “Letter of Irrevocable Credit” from Boyne/Sugarloaf from 18 months to 24 months, providing more protection to the town. This is significant because it’s the town that will be taking on the $1.7 million debt. If town meeting approves the project, a one page addendum will be added to the lease agreement with Boyne/Sugarloaf to cover the details of the irrigation project.

The budget committee has recommended town meeting approve the town’s share of the debt service for the project. The town will hold at least one public hearing, possibly during February vacation, for taxpayers to obtain more information about the proposed irrigation project.

At the Nov. 28 selectmen’s meeting, the Golf Course Green’s Committee and subcommittee were given the task to study how the project could be completed with as few disruptions to the course as possible, look at creative ways in financing the project and reduce the town’s liability, and at options to make sure a reserve account for golf course repairs stays in place. Because the system is so old, Bruce had told the board it is becoming increasingly difficult to find replacement parts to repair the system.

Board members Jay Reynolds and Lloyd Cuttler concurred that paying the consultant is a small sum of money to insure the project is done correctly.

Chair Robert Luce, who was unable to attend the meeting, noted his support of the project in an email to fellow board members prior to the meeting.

Beaupre said the town is very appreciative of Boyne/Sugarloaf’s cooperation with this project, making it feasible to pursue it at this time.

The committee has implemented most of the projects in the course’s three-year plan, many of those being drainage improvements on the front nine, Beaupre said. This is the next major step.

The golf course is one of the major assets in the community, contributing to the area’s economy, Cota said. Golf Digest has ranked it as the number one public golf course in Maine over 10 times in recent years. There’s an expectation to have an exceptional golf course, and this will allow that to happen.