The city is looking to create a park and ride location downtown, but it will need to purchase one property and lease another.

Council will consider legislation tonight — though a vote is not expected until March 19 — to purchase property at 42 N. Main St. for $20,000, and then lease the adjacent property, owned by Wausau Paper, for a $1 a year, according to Denise Hamet, the city’s economic development director.

“Staff will work with Butler (Regional Transit Authority) to apply for funding to create a park and ride project for the site,” Hamet said. “The funding would provide about 80 percent of the cost to demolish (the building) and create the site.”

Butler RTA will take over the Middletown Transit System later this spring after system manager Steve Murphy retires.

The project, Hamet said, “creates the opportunity to leverage city resources.”

“The marketing of the Manchester combined with the growth of Cincinnati State and other downtown facilities is creating more demand for parking,” Hamet said.

The property at 42 N. Main St. is across from the YMCA and a half-block north of Cincinnati State Middletown.

The property was appraised in 2012 for $26,230, which is less than half of its appraised value in 2010.

City staff had been discussing potentially demolishing some city-owned buildings for additional downtown parking, but Doug Adkins, Middletown Community Revitalization director, said other than a few long-term ideas, nothing has been discussed, planned or budgeted at this time.

Weatherwax work session

City Council will discuss at a work session before tonight’s business meeting the future of the Weatherwax Golf Course.

Council will discuss, among other options, whether to place a parks and recreation levy on the November ballot, sell the course, or just stay the course and pay down the golf course’s $1 million debt.

“It is staff’s position that any long term policy decisions made regarding operation of Weatherwax Golf Course should not affect the 2013 golf season operation in any manner,” Adkins said. “Policy changes should be limited to affect only 2014 operations forward.”

The 2012 golf season was “literally the tale of two seasons,” he said.

For the first six months of the year, the course had 4,015 rounds and was more than $135,000 over 2011 revenues. This was due to the success of the marketing plan attracting new players from the Dayton and Cincinnati areas, Adkins said.

However, after July 1, the course received “almost no water,” Adkins said, causing playing conditions to deteriorate. A water meter for irrigation needed replaced, but it was replaced with a smaller meter and it was not noticed until after word spread about the poor conditions, he said.

From July to December 2012, the course had more than 2,600 fewer rounds than the same time last year. Revenues for the past six months of 2012 were nearly $112,000 under 2011 revenues, and nearly $459,000 under 2012 revenue projections.