By Nick Worth Continuing vandalism at Holbrook’s Hidden Cove Golf Course has caused some changes in the way the course is taken care of, according to City Manager Ray Alley. “We lost another golf cart last night,” Alley said. “Somebody ran over a garbage can and a ball washer, and damaged the cart. I don’t know how badly yet. It absolutely had to be on purpose.” Alley said the problem has gotten so bad he has considered making a drastic change. “I thought about doing away with the carts entirely, but most of the people out there are good people,” he said. “I don’t want to make the 90 percent pay for the actions of the 10 percent.” Each cart costs more than $4,000, according to Alley. “We’re down to 21 carts from 30,” he said. He said one cart was “mud bogged,” one had the engine ruined by shifting it from drive to reverse repeatedly and others have been damaged through reckless driving. Alley said golfers at Hidden Cove pay for their golf on the honor system. Members of the course pay a $30 membership fee per month that covers greens fees and the use of the carts. Non-members are expected to pay a $5 per day fee for the use of the carts and to cover greens fees. Alley said he is aware that many golfers abuse the system and don’t pay for their golf rounds. “What bothers me the most isn’t the money,” he said, “it’s the vandalism. “If we catch them, we’re suspending them,” he said. Alley said in order to curb the ongoing vandalism, he is installing more security cameras at the golf course. He is also reassigning some city employees to act as “ranger” at the golf course over the weekends. City employees from various departments are watching things at the course every Friday through Sunday. A city employee will also be at the course every evening throughout the week, all summer long. In the end, Alley said he might have to take a more definitive step. “I might have to hire somebody,” he said. “I’ve been looking at hiring some kind of recreation director.” He said the ability to do that rests on the outcome of the upcoming override election. Despite the problems at the golf course, Alley said the city is investing time and other resources to improve Hidden Cove. “We’re working on the driving range,” he said. “We’re still filling and leveling it.” City Finance Director Randy Sullivan added that city crews will attempt to seed the driving range with grass next spring, but that it would stay as dirt for this summer. “It’s hard to grow anything on all that alkali soil,” Sullivan noted. According to Alley, city crews were also busy last week cleaning out and refilling sand traps, reseeding dead areas of grass and painting the maintenance buildings. “We’re going to spend a lot of time and effort out there to make it nice for the golfers this summer,” Alley said. Asked about progress on the city’s Petroglyph Park, located next to the golf course, Sullivan said the process is going slow. Requirements for the grant continue to change. “The funding is secure,” Sullivan said. “We won’t lose the money. We just need to take more steps in order to get it.” He said Arizona State Parks, which is one of the entities funding the grant, has stipulated that a lot of the extra preparation be done by the city, including preparing a management plan for the park. “We don’t have anyone who can do that right now,” said Sullivan. He said the city is running short-handed as it is. “If the override doesn’t pass, we’ll be hurting,” he said, echoing Alley. Sullivan made it clear the city can still meet its budget goals, but there would be no room for anything extra. New, full-color field guides to Hidden Cove Park have just been received from the printers. The guides feature illustrations of 70 different species of birds, as well as 18 mammals, 17 reptiles and 14 species of plants common to the park. Asked if the park would soon be open to the public, Sullivan said, “By appointment only. We just don’t have the money to hire somebody. There’s no way we can hire anybody right now.” He said he would look at using volunteers to man the park, if they can be found. Sullivan added that it would be some time before the actual work on the park can start. “We have a lot of work before we can even get started,” he said.