Kino Springs Golf Course wants $400,000 from the City of Nogales for what it says are overcharges for water usage.
The owner of the golf course, Arturo Martori, established the amount for which the golf course would settle all legal claims with the city in a letter dated Sept. 29. He alleged that a defective water meter caused the overcharges.
The NI obtained a copy of the letter last week in response to a public records request filed after the mayor and council discussed the matter in executive session during the Jan. 9 council meeting.
“As we have discussed, and as Nogales has admitted, the Nogales water meter installed on Kino’s property to monitor the water used by Kino was defective. As a result, Kino has been overcharged for water use significantly, a matter only recently discovered,” Martori wrote in the letter.
The letter came just months after the golf course closed in May 2018. At that time, Martori stated that the course lacked the funds to continue operations, but did not specifically cite water costs. The course re-opened in October of last year.
Martori noted in the letter that the city had requested that he put the golf course’s claim in writing. He wrote that he was hesitant to do so, because the letter would be a public record.
Martori added that under the Arizona law, the city would have 60 days to respond before the golf course could take legal action.
A search of state court records available online did not return any related cases.
Deputy City Attorney Michael Massee, who provided the letter to the NI, referred follow-up questions about the case to City Manager Frank Felix, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the golf course’s letter.
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