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COPS BRIEFS: Man stole ID to get job, agent says
Published Sunday, Feb. 24, 2008 at 4:30 a.m.
A groundskeeper arrested Friday is accused of using a dead
man's ID to gain employment at the Legacy Golf Club here,
a Florida Department of Law Enforcement agent reported.
Authorities arrested Ezequiel Sosa-Zamarripa, 40, a Bradenton
resident and native of Mexico who is in the country illegally,
at the golf club in the 8200 block of Legacy Boulevard, according
to an FDLE report.
Sosa-Zamarripa's application at the golf club included a
Social Security card and a resident alien card that were both
in the name of a man who authorities say is deceased. Sosa-Zamarripa
is charged with unlawfully using a dead person's ID for monetary
gain.
Authorities said Sosa-Zamarripa confessed to using the documents
to get a job. Federal charges are pending. The Immigration
and Customs Enforcement department has requested that Sosa-Zamarripa
not be released from custody.
City looks to redesign the Ocala Golf Club
BY JESSICA GREENE
STAR-BANNER
OCALA -- Councilman Daniel Owen isn't expecting to receive
any Valentines at today's City Council workshop on city golf.
However, he hopes the meeting will clarify how proposed changes
to the Ocala Golf Club will benefit taxpayers and create a
more enjoyable game for players, he said.
The council will meet with golf architect Michael Beebe today
at 11:30 a.m. at City Hall, to discuss preliminary redesign
plans for the city-owned course on East Silver Springs Boulevard,
commonly known as the Muni.
In 2006, the City Council hired Colorado-based golf consulting
group, Golf Convergence, to address deficits that have plagued
the city golf program for years. Over the past three years,
the program has run a deficit of more than $380,000. As part
of a seven-year plan to turn the program around, consultant
J.J. Keegan suggested a redesign of Ocala Golf Club.
Council-driven changes in the golf program, including personnel
changes and fee increases, have created a rift in the local
golf community, said Ed Graff, a golf advisory board member.
"They are doing things without anybody else's input,
except for a few," Graff said.
Many local golfers say they are happy with the golf program
as it is and wonder why approximately $2.5 million in bond
money is being invested in it.
Owen, who has championed revision of the golf program, believes
today's meeting will provide local golfers with greater understanding
of and comfort with the initiative.
The proposed revamp will lengthen the tees at some holes
- No. 16 for example - and will expand them at almost every
hole. Tees at the Muni are currently a maintenance nightmare,
said Owen. Large numbers of golfers tee off over and over
again from such small areas that the tees have to constantly
be repaired, he said.
The cost of upkeep is why Florida's municipal golf courses
are "dwindling," said Judy Comella, executive director
of the Florida Golf Association.
The redesign is not an effort to gut the golf course and
turn it into something it is not, but to create a more economical,
easy-to-maintain course, Owen said.
Another goal of the redesign is to create an affordable and
enjoyable course that strikes a balance between market value
and maintenance costs, said Owen. If rounds are priced too
low, the course receives too much traffic, which drives up
the cost of upkeep, he said.
Affordable play tops the list of things a municipal golf
course should provide, said Comella.
It also tops the list of concerns for those who love to play
the course, said Todd Carstenn, who plays the Muni often.
Their fear is that to recoup its investment, the city will
have to raise rates again, he said.
In a report that will be presented at today's meeting, Keegan
suggests that future price increases may be a reality. But
Owen said Wednesday he does not think that will be necessary.
And then there are the trees. Ocala Golf Club has about 5,000
trees along the course, said Owen. Approximately 200 of those
are currently marked for removal.
Many of those trees look beautiful from far away, but are
full of termites or are rotten inside, said Owen.
In the end it is about being responsible with taxpayers dollars,
said Owen.
"Everybody ought to be able to enjoy" the city
golf program, he said. "But not everybody should have
to pay for it."
Current redesign plans will close the course from May 5 to
around mid-October, said John Zobler, director of Public Works
for the city of Ocala.
Developer Buys Florida Land For Sawmill Creek Golf Course
Lowe Enterprises Investors has bought 698 acres of land in
Palm Coast to develop a 1,469-unit residential golf course
community called Sawmill Creek.
LEI bought the land and existing development rights for an
undisclosed amount June 26 from ALLETE Properties, based in
Duluth, Minn., on behalf of the Lowe Resort Community Fund,
a $108 million discretionary fund involved in development
and redevelopment of resort community projects nationwide.
The first phase of development, scheduled to begin this summer,
will include the construction of 406 residential units, a
Jim Furyk Signature golf course and a clubhouse, and community
amenities. The golf course is expected to open for play in
late 2008.
The project, which will eventually consist of 1,000 acres,
also includes a neighborhood retail and office marketplace,
a community park and a school site. The additional 302 acres
will be acquired later.
"Combined with the beautiful surrounding landscape and
environment and an exceptional golf course, Sawmill Creek
will be a unique community in Northeast Florida and an ideal
place to live," said Bob DeVore, president of Lowe Destination
Development, Southeast.
The planned unit development is within a 4,700-acre, mixed-use
development on U.S. 1 called Palm Coast Park. The park is
being developed by Palm Coast Holdings Inc., a subsidiary
of ALLETE, and when complete will include 3,600 residential
units and 3.2 million square feet of commercial space.
Lowe Enterprises Investors and Lowe Destination Development
are wholly owned subsidiaries of Lowe Enterprises, a national
real estate development, investment and management firm based
in Los Angeles.
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