Sam Dean | The Roanoke Times

Bob Slackman (left) and Hugh Martin watch Martin's stroke at Countryside Golf Club, which has been under city ownership for nearly three years.

Sam Dean | The Roanoke Times

The city council is also examining the possibility of opening an aquatics facility on the property.

Eric Brady | The Roanoke Times

The Roanoke City Council had originally planned to turn the Countryside Golf Club into a mixed-use development when it acquired the property in October 2005.

Golfers who love Countryside Golf Club can stop worrying and focus on their drives and putts: It appears the Roanoke course's fairways and greens will remain duffer-friendly for at least another five years.

But after nearly three years of city ownership, the property's long-term future is less certain.

The Roanoke City Council on Monday discussed the past, present and future of the longtime golf course. Members reached a consensus that they'd like to examine a number of options that would keep the golf course in its current form.

The council instructed Roanoke City Manager Darlene Burcham to issue a request for proposals to operate and manage the course for at least five years, while also negotiating with Meadowbrook Golf -- the Florida company that currently manages the course -- on a possible extension.

No council member appeared to want to develop the Northwest Roanoke property in such a way as to destroy the course -- at least with the current housing market rendering such a decision a risky proposition, at best.

Councilman Alvin Nash, who plays golf at Countryside on a regular basis, said he saw "a world of potential" in the property and hopes the city will keep it as a golf course permanently.

But the council will have to make more detailed decisions in coming months, starting with a meeting with the Roanoke Regional Airport Commission in September. Up for discussion is a land swap that would give the airport an extra buffer beyond one of its runways in return for 4 acres around the golf course's periphery. Also on the docket is discussion of a lease -- set to expire in mid-November -- that allows the city to use 46 acres of airport-owned land located smack in the heart of Countryside golf course.

Burcham said the length of the lease will depend largely on the city's plans for that land -- and golf is a better use than most.

But beyond the immediate decision to keep Countryside functioning as a golf course, the council also must decide the best way to manage the course. Assistant City Manager Brian Townsend told the council that most municipal golf courses don't make a profit and must therefore be subsidized. The city is currently paying $472,000 for annual debt service on the property, while it makes only $17,500 from leasing the course to Meadowbrook Golf.

The city may be able to strike another deal with Meadowbrook or another company that responds to the request. It could go into the golf course management business itself, though city officials seem not to like that idea as much.

The city council had originally planned to turn the course into a mixed-use development when it voted to pay $4.1 million for the property in October 2005.

Vice Mayor Sherman Lea, who is the only current member who was on the 2005 council, said he warned then the city needed a better plan.

But some council members see the current conundrum as an opportunity. Both Mayor David Bowers and Councilman David Trinkle expressed enthusiasm for building an aquatics facility on the property, which once housed a pool.

"Roanokers have told me they are green with envy over what Salem does in terms of providing recreational opportunities for all the people in the valley," Bowers said. "I think we've got a unique opportunity here to have a municipal golf course, an indoor tennis center, build an Olympic-sized pool and do our share for the entire community."

Golf course advocates left the meeting feeling better about the course's future but with lingering questions.

Valerie Garner, chairwoman of the Countryside Neighborhood Alliance, said she'd like to see the council make a decision to leave the property as a golf course permanently.

"We don't want to be sitting here five years from now, wondering again ... what's going to happen," Garner said.