City to begin hiring Golf Course staff

RHINELANDER – The Rhinelander Common Council made it official. The Northwood Golf Course will be managed as a department of city government beginning Jan. 1, 2025. The council voted 7-1 Nov. 26 against renewing the contract with Oliphant Golf Management.

At a special council meeting Dec. 3, city treasurer Wendy Bixby outlined the financial transition that would take place and Rachel Pearson, human resources manager, put together a timeline of hiring and on boarding staff as well as job descriptions for some of the management positions at the golf course.

Bob Lueder made the motion to bring the golf course in-house beginning Jan. 1, 2025 and direct the administration to post the jobs and proceed with interviews.

City Administrator Patrick Reagan said he envisions the golf course being run as a separate department within the city and is focusing only on the coming year.

“If this is what you guys would like to do, getting it transitioned over and getting it up and running – I’m honestly at this moment not thinking of the long term of it. I want to focus on getting it done right,” Reagan told the council Dec. 3. “I’m sure there are going to be a lot of obstacles. It’s going to be a lot of stuff that Rachel and I are going to need to figure out as we go.”

The one vote in favor of renewing the Oliphant contract Nov. 26 was Tom Barnett, who asked Dec. 3 what will be different this time, as opposed to when the golf course was run in-house previously. Barnett has been vocal about selling the golf course.

“I have a fear that it will fail again. And I’m pretty sure it will,” Barnett said. “That has nothing to do with the employees, has nothing to do with the management, it has everything to do with, it’s not going to make money.

“We’re in a budget deficit; we’re in a crisis actually, where we’re talking about laying people off. And I’m really concerned about this that we’re more concerned about a green space than we are about our budget. And we’re going to keep throwing money at this? I don’t get it. I understand that I’m completely alone on this and that’s fine. But I know I have to say my piece about it so that people can know that there other options.”

Alderman David Holt said that integrating Heal Creek and winter events would create a significant change in what might happen at the golf course in the future. Mayor Kristopher Hanus noted the last time the golf course was in-house the city had a part time administrator, a part time legal department and there was no HR department.

“I think those three all the more helping the city be equipped to manage something like this,” Hanus said. So, granted, I don’t know all the details of why they decided to contract it out, but I think those three things also help make it more manageable and efficient for the city to run.”

The council voted 7-1 to make Northwood Golf Course a department within the city government. According to Pearson’s timeline, the city’s goal for having a core management team in place is Jan. 13.