Updated: Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2001 at 22:41 CST


High cost of golf project exasperates city officials; Council members are told that an $85,000 computer system ended up costing the city more than $500,000.

By Ginger D. Richardson
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

FORT WORTH -- Through a series of mistakes and mismanagement, the city paid more than $519,000 for installation of a high-tech golf-management computer system that was valued at $85,000, Parks Director Richard Zavala said Tuesday.

The disclosure angered City Council members, who got their first full report on the issue during an afternoon work session.

"This is like I had a bad dream," Councilman Chuck Silcox said. "We spent a half-million on a project that was supposed to be $85,000, and I want to know why. That's absolutely ridiculous."

The computer system tracks sales, tee times, appointments and inventory at some of the city's golf courses. The system, which is standard in the private golf industry, has been paid for from the Golf Enterprise Fund, which gets its revenue from golf-related sales, Zavala said.

The Golf Point of Sale program was installed in 1996 to serve the city's Pecan Valley, Meadowbrook and Sycamore Creek golf courses. But in late 1998, the company that owned the system refused to sign an affidavit ensuring that it was Y2K-compliant, and city officials began shopping for new equipment, Zavala said.

In February 1999, the city contracted with Integrated Software Solutions to build a new system for $85,000 plus about $10,000 for hardware and training.

The installation was thought to be running on schedule, but in December 1999, the company walked away from the project without finishing the work.

The city's in-house computer service department, IT Solutions, got the system running Dec. 15, officials said, after taking more than $400,000 from the Golf Enterprise Fund to pay programmers, analysts and administrative costs.

Zavala and acting City Manager Bob Terrell acknowledged Tuesday that the staff had mishandled the purchase of the system and assured council members that such a problem will not occur again.

"Some bad decisions were made down the line," Terrell said. "We can't cover it up, we can't deny it. I have no defense."

Officials could not provide any information Tuesday about Integrated Software Solutions, including where it is based, but they said the city had worked with the company before.

"Until this incident, they had been a reliable contractor," Zavala said.

Some council members, including Fort Worth Mayor Kenneth Barr, suggested that the city should consider pursuing legal action against the company.

"I think we've been defrauded, and I think we ought to pursue that," Barr said. "It's almost as if we're saying, `Yeah, we got ripped off, and we're not going to do anything about it.'

"And I don't think that ought to be allowed."

Star-Telegram

-- Anonymous, February 14, 2001