Bella Vista clubhouse to get food service

BELLA VISTA -- The Metfield Clubhouse is a step closer to having food service after the Property Owners Association board Thursday.

The board accepted the low bid on the project for about $333,000.

The food service will take the form of a snack bar attached to the pro shop, a concept members vehemently opposed at the Highlands Clubhouse on the west side of Bella Vista. Both Metfield and the Highlands have had multiple lessees since the association stopped operating the restaurants.

Two other clubhouses at Kingswood and the Country Club have functioning restaurants, operated by lessees.

Last winter, a meeting at the Highlands Clubhouse drew a large crowd opposing the snack bar concept and the general manager was asked by the board to look for a full-service restaurant. A new lessee signed a contract for the Highlands space early this summer and should open in early September, General Manager Tommy Bailey told the board.

At Metfield, the menu will be much simpler, although some hot food and drinks will be available.

Along with the new snack bar, other changes will be made to the Metfield building including moving the membership services office into what had been the restaurant's kitchen area, freeing up the former dining room for exercise equipment. The exercise equipment is now in the Dogwood Room and that will become a community room.

One board member, Dave Barfield, voted against accepting the bid. He explained after the meeting the project grew unnecessarily when the board agreed to move the exercise equipment and the Membership Services Department. Membership Services may move again in the future to be more easily accessible to the members.

Also on Thursday, Bailey told the board the Country Club Golf Course will probably open Nov. 1. The greens were damaged by a combination of chemical fungicide and hot weather, he said. The manufacturer of the chemicals had never heard of that reaction before. The fungicide has been used successfully for years, Bailey said. Since there is room on the other village courses, the Golf Department recommended closing the course to reseed the greens.

Board member Pat Laury asked why the greens are being reseeded with bent grass instead of Bermuda, but Bailey said there are still questions about Bermuda greens in this climate. Changing the type of grass is a big decision, he explained, and there's wasn't time to consider all the possibilities and get the course opened quickly.

NW News on 08/21/2015

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