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Council Bluffs officials may privatize city golf course after losses

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After years of losses, officials in a western Iowa city are considering privatizing a 90-year-old city golf course.

The Daily Nonpareil reports that the City of Council Bluffs is considering transferring management of Dodge Riverside golf course and its restaurant to a private manager.

The city-owned course was created in 1927. Mayor Matt Walsh says the facility lost just over $300,000 in both fiscal years 2014 and 2015.

Walsh says city officials met with staff before the 2016 season to come up with a plan to bring down expenditures. The course eliminated two staff positions and increased green fees by about $2. Despite an increase in revenue, the course still lost just over $250,000.

Walsh says the city will request proposals from golf course management companies in July.